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Patent It Yourself - PDF Archive

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Appendix 2 | RESOURCES: GOVERNMENT PUBLICATIONS, PATENT WEBSITES, and BOOKS of use and INTEREST | 455<br />

established a new office aimed at providing services and<br />

support to independent inventors. The PTO expects to<br />

eventually offer seminars and expanded educational<br />

opportunities for inventors. For more information, call:<br />

800-PTO-9199 (800-786-9199) or 703-308-HELP.<br />

Ronald J. Riley’s Inventor Resources (www.inventored.org).<br />

Comprehensive links and advice for inventors.<br />

United Inventors Association (UIA) (www.uiausa.org). A<br />

national inventors’ organization. For more information,<br />

write to P.O. Box 23447, Rochester, NY 14692-3347,<br />

Phone: 716-359-9310; Fax: 716-359-1132, email: UIAUSA@<br />

aol.com.<br />

2. <strong>Patent</strong> Law and Intellectual<br />

Property Law Websites<br />

Copyright Office (www.loc.gov/copyright). The Copyright<br />

Office has numerous circulars, kits, and other publications<br />

that can help you, including one on searching copyright<br />

records. These publications and application forms can be<br />

obtained by writing to the Copyright Office at Publication<br />

Section, LM-455, Copyright Office, Library of Congress,<br />

Washington, DC 20559. Most Copyright Office publications<br />

can be downloaded directly from the Copyright Office<br />

website. Frequently requested Copyright Office circulars<br />

and announcements are also available via the Copyright<br />

Office’s fax‐on‐demand telephone line at 202-707-9100.<br />

European <strong>Patent</strong> Office (EPO) (www.european-patent-office.<br />

org/online). Agency that implements the European<br />

<strong>Patent</strong> Convention—a simplified method of acquiring a<br />

patent among member nations—by granting “regional”<br />

European patents that are automatically valid in each<br />

European <strong>Patent</strong> Convention member country.<br />

Fedlaw (http://fedlaw.gsa.gov). Source of federal law links<br />

with a thorough collection of intellectual property<br />

statutes, case law, and readings.<br />

Government Printing Office (www.access.gpo.gov/#info).<br />

Searchable source for U.S. Code of Federal Regulations,<br />

Congressional Record, and other Government Printing<br />

Office products and information.<br />

Intellectual Property Mall (www.ipmall.fplc.edu). IP links<br />

and information.<br />

Internet <strong>Patent</strong> News Service (www.bustpatents.com). Source<br />

for patent news, information about searching, and patent<br />

documents, news about patents, and information about<br />

bad patents, software, and business methods.<br />

Legal Information Institute (http://lii.law.cornell.edu).<br />

Intellectual property links and downloadable copies of<br />

statutes and cases.<br />

<strong>Patent</strong> & Trademark Office (PTO) (www.uspto.gov). Offers<br />

a number of informational pamphlets, including an<br />

introduction to patents (“General Information About<br />

<strong>Patent</strong>s”) and an alphabetical and geographical listing of<br />

patent attorneys and agents registered to practice before<br />

the PTO (“Directory of Registered <strong>Patent</strong> Attorneys and<br />

Agents Arranged by States and Countries”). The PTO<br />

also has an online searchable database of patent abstracts<br />

(short summaries of patents). For purposes of patent<br />

searching, this database is an excellent and inexpensive<br />

first step in the searching procedure. Most patent forms<br />

can be downloaded from the PTO website, as can many<br />

important publications including the Manual of <strong>Patent</strong><br />

Examining Procedures and Examination Guidelines for<br />

Computer-Related Inventions. For a catalog listing all the<br />

products and services available from the PTO online and<br />

off, call 800-PTO-9199 and ask for the “U.S. <strong>Patent</strong> and<br />

Trademark Office Products and Services Catalog.”<br />

PCT Applicant’s Guide (www.wipo.int). PCT information<br />

and software for facilitating completion of the PCT forms<br />

is available through the PCT’s website.<br />

Trademarks (www.uspto.gov). Trademarks are examined<br />

and registered by a division of the PTO. An introductory<br />

pamphlet about trademarks (“General Information<br />

About Trademarks”) and information about the<br />

operations of the <strong>Patent</strong> and Trademark Office are available<br />

from the Superintendent of Documents, Government<br />

Printing Office, Washington, DC 20402, or from the PTO’s<br />

website at www.uspto.gov. This site includes the relevant<br />

applications and trademark office forms.<br />

3. <strong>Patent</strong> Searching Online<br />

Here are several organizations that offer computer searching<br />

of patent records and a description of their services. Several<br />

of the “for fee” databases also provide foreign patent<br />

information.<br />

U.S. <strong>Patent</strong> & Trademark Office (www.uspto.gov/patft/<br />

index.html). Free online full-text searchable database of<br />

patents and drawings that covers the period from January<br />

1976 to the most recent weekly issue date (usually each<br />

Tuesday). In order to view the drawings, your computer<br />

must be able to view TIFF files. The PTO’s site is linked to<br />

a source that provides a free downloadable TIFF reader<br />

program. For faster searching there is also a Bibliographic<br />

Database that contains only the text of each patent without<br />

drawings.<br />

Google <strong>Patent</strong>s (www.google.com/patents) is an excellent<br />

free resource that includes U.S. patents back to the<br />

beginning. I strongly recommend this site.

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