Patents, continued
• US
• International Patents
Sept 2001
Adele Hoskin
International Patents
• Patents granted by sovereign states, so
only valid within that jurisdiction.
• US patents – valid in US and its
territories only
• Geographical Protection
Sept 2001
Adele Hoskin
Harmonization Efforts
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Paris Convention – 1883
PCT/EPC – 1978
NAFTA
GATT
First to file vs. first to invent
Pre-grant/post-grant opposition
Sept 2001
Adele Hoskin
Effects
• Harmonization – success on application
process – uniformity of recognition for
priority date, foreign nationals same
privileges as nationals.
• Same information for application:
inventor, claim,
• Growth of international patent
documents
Sept 2001
Adele Hoskin
Patent Application
• Must contain:
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Sept 2001
Name of inventor
Enablement/Best Mode
Drawing
A Claim
Adele Hoskin
Basic Parts of a Patent
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Title
Abstract
Background
Summary of invention
Brief description of the drawing
Detailed description
Claims
Sept 2001
Adele Hoskin
PCT – Patent Cooperation
Treaty
• Uniform filing; designate states for
ultimate granting
• Preliminary examination by World
Patent Information Organization
(WIPO)
• Published 18 months after filing
• Application only
Sept 2001
Adele Hoskin
www.wipo.org
Sept 2001
Adele Hoskin
International Patent
Classification
• Format: ANNA NNN/NN
• Section, class, subclass for first four
characters
• Successive characters further define field
• Hierarchical relationship
• IPC information:
www.wipo.int/classifications/en/ipc/brouch
ure/struct.htm
Sept 2001
Adele Hoskin
Example
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C07c 45/50
C- chemistry
07 –organic chemistry
C-acyclic compounds
45/00 – preparation
45/50 – prep by oxo reactions
Sept 2001
Adele Hoskin
EP – European Patents
• Not same as European Union
• Authority to grant patents for several
countries
• Both applications and granted patents
• Publishes both application and granted
patents
• ECLA – classification scheme
• Inventor may be a corporation
Sept 2001
Adele Hoskin
www.european-patentoffice.org/espacenet
Sept 2001
Adele Hoskin
Patent searching
(US, EP, PCT)- free
• USPTO: http://www.uspto.gov
• PCT at www.wipo.org
• EP at www.european-patentoffice.org/espacenet
• www.piug.org has lists of other patent
offices.
Sept 2001
Adele Hoskin
Patent searching - Vendors
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STN (SciFinder)
DERWENT
DELPHION
Micropatent
Questel-Orbit
Dialog
LexisNexis
Sept 2001
Adele Hoskin
Searching fields in addition to
subject
• International patent classification
number
• Patent application and priority number
• Patent countries
• Patent numbers
• Structure
• Inventor / Assignee
Sept 2001
Adele Hoskin
STN/CAS
• Patent coverage in Chemical Abstracts
– http://www.cas.org/EO/caspat.html
• Lists countries covered
• Lists IPC classes covered
• Patent searching user’s guide
http://www.cas.org/ONLINE/UG/ugcov
er.html
Sept 2001
Adele Hoskin
Kind Codes
• US United States
• A Granted US Patent (issued prior to
Jan. 2, 2001)
• A1 US Patent Application (issued on
or after Jan. 2, 2001)
• B1 Granted Patent (no pre-grant
publication; issued on or after Jan. 2,
2001)
Sept 2001
Adele Hoskin
Patent families
• Use of fluoxetine or norfluoxetine as antianxiety agents - pref. administered orally as
hydrochloride salts
• Patent Assignee: (ELIL ) LILLY & CO ELI
• Author (Inventor): STARK P
• Patent Family:
• Patent No
Kind Date
Examiner Field
of Search
• GB 2137496
A 841010 (BASIC)
• AU 8426457
A 841011
• DE 3413093
A 841011
• DE 3467704
G 880107
Sept 2001
Adele Hoskin
Patent Families, 2
• Patent No
Kind Date
of Search
• DK 166479
B 930601
• DK 8401132
A 841009
• EP 123469
A 841031
• EP 123469
B 871125
• GB 2137496
B 861001
• IT 1175977
B 870812
• JP 59193821
A 841102
• JP 94035382
B2 940511
• US 4590213
A 860520
• ZA 8402457
A 851001
Sept 2001
Adele Hoskin
Examiner Field
PCT Patent
• WO 9606391 A3 960509 364/496; 364/497; 364/499; 395/600
• Derwent Week (Basic): 9615Priority Data: US 288503 (940810)
• Applications: US 288503 (940810); AU 9533202 (950810); EP
95929457 (950810 ); WO 95US10171 (950810); JP 96508133
(950810); US 883165 (970626)
• Designated States (National): AM; AT; AU; BB; BG; BR; BY;
CA; CH; CN; CZ; DE; DK; ES; FI; GB; GE; HU; JP; KE; KG;
KP; KR; KZ; LK; LT; LU; LV; MD; MG; MN; MW; MX ; NO;
NZ; PL; PT; RO; RU; SD; SE; SI; SK; TJ; TT; UA; US; UZ; VN
(Regional): AT; BE; CH; DE; DK; ES; FR; GB; GR; IE; IT; KE; LI;
LU; MC; MW; NL; OA; PT; SD; SE; SZ; UG
Sept 2001
Adele Hoskin
Patent examples
• Chemical structure searching
US 4642762; US 5577239; US 5950192
• Scriptgen Pharmaceuticals
• Cubist Pharmaceuticals
Sept 2001
Adele Hoskin
Summary
• Patent searching is exciting – it shows
what is new
• New methods and sources are
appearing every day to make this
searching easy.
• This has been a quick overview—but it
is like everything else – practice,
practice, practice.
Sept 2001
Adele Hoskin