SEARCHING FOR COLOR, SOUND, SCENT AND TRADE DRESS: a GUIDE TO NORTH AMERICAN DATABASES

PRODUCT EVALUATION PURCHASING, and RETRIEVING COPIES OF FOREIGN PATENTS IN THEIR ORIGINAL LANGUAGE Professor Jon Cavicchi Penny Dean Finding a source for foreign patents can be frustrating. Here are some of the larger companies that provide sources for foreign patents when the patent number is provided to them as well as government and library sources. This product evaluation does not encompass searching services or a prior art searches although these as well as many other companies do provide those type of services. Most companies will tell you that Australian patents are almost impossible to obtain, South African patents are unavailable, Spanish patents are unavailable because we do not have a treaty with Spain and have not had once since the Spanish-American war, and that Canadian patent numbers above 2,000,000(most recent) are applications and are unavailable to us in the US and must come from a second vendor. Canadian patent numbers in the 1,000,000 are at the offices of Faxpat in Virginia as well as in house at many other purveyors as well. Faxpat( http://www.faxpat.com/,1-800-866-1233, international number 1-703-684-9709, fax 1-800-666-1233, international fax, 1-703-684-9788) offers document photocopying for foreign patents. Their office hours are Monday -Friday from 8:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m., Saturday 11:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. Eastern Time. They have two locations in the United States, one located at 2201 Jefferson Davis Highway, Arlington, VA, 22202 and one at 1319 Powhatan Street, Alexandria, VA, 22314. In clarifying the pricing structure, I made several phone calls to Faxpat, and in all instances if the person I was speaking with did not know the answer, the answer was quickly obtained. Faxes were sent within minutes, unlike SourceOne. I am still waiting for a fax providing information from SourceOne after the SECOND request. The services evaluated are simply that of providing a copy of a foreign patent, when the patent number is known. The documents provided are in the language that the patent was filed in, and are copies of the original document. All purveyors of these services warn in large type on all of their ads that I have seen: WARNING Page counts are not known for these services, nor do our foreign associates provide courtesy calls for long page counts. Keep in mind some documents may be as long as 100 pages or more. Faxpat=s prices for foreign patents are: $25.00 per document (no page limitations) 1 2 to 2 weeks $80.00 per document (no page limitations) 3 business days, overnight service included $30.00 for the document plus $6.00 for every page faxed (this service takes 24 hours to complete) BEWARE!!With the exception of the $80.00 service, none of the services include delivery. Delivery of foreign patents is $2.00 per page faxing charge($10.00 minimum). UPS rates as of 2/3/96(and provided to me on 7/19/96) were: UPS Ground Service locally starts at $2.52 UPS Ground Service to the West Coast starts at $3.24 (Prices in this category are weight sensitive) However this is for domestic shipping. UPS ships to and from most foreign countries(remember is does not deliver to P.O. boxes), however the rates are very steep. A large file can easily weigh 4 pounds and a 5 pound package shipped UPS regular (NON-EXPRESS) to Japan is $80.00. Hard copy backups can be sent for $3.00 per document( plus shipping). For file histories of foreign patents one must go to the country of origin to obtain them. I have not yet found a purveyor that provides this service. Remember the times listed are retrieval times, not delivery times, the delivery turnaround will depend on the service you select, and remember time is money so if you need it in a hurry you will pay a stiff premium. Realize that there are TWO charges when a foreign patent is ordered. One is for the document itself(a minimum charge of $12.00). And the second is for shipping or faxing(delivery) of the document(a $10.00) minimum charge. Thus if one wanted simply the first page of a foreign patent, the charge would be $22.00. Unfortunately their webpage lists $1.00 per page as the charge for foreign patents, however a telephone call to confirm that resulted in the price list presented here. Faxpat has EP patents numbering from 460,000 to 720,000 available in their office, and thus available for Aimmediate delivery@ which means that you can usually expect fax delivery within an hour. WP patents are also available at their office if the number ranges from 92-0000 to 96-9098. If one is requesting a EP patent B version, it is necessary to provide the application date. If a Japanese patent or a German patent is requested, again the publication date can be helpful. Many countries Arecycle@ their patent numbers, and thus one patent number query may retrieve several documents. Another source for foreign patents is Knight-Ridder Information, Inc.(fax 415-254-8331), SourceOne. Ordering on line (Dialog) is time consuming. The Dialog menu interface is free, you are charged only for the telecommunications charges. Type Aorder@ from any file or choose the SourceOne document delivery choice from the DIALOG Homebase. Much information is required and if you do not enter the information in exactly the correct spot, you cannot correct it but must start the order process again. The salesperson I spoke to while attempting to confirm and clarify prices and AStaffed Sources@ claimed that SourceOne has access to every registered patent office in the world. When I asked specifically what foreign sources were Astaffed@, I did not receive a definitive answer. SourceOne offers a Digital Collection that includes: PCT International Applications from 1990 forward(WO 90+) EP Patent Applications from 1978 forward EP Granted Patents from 1985 forward The international patent collection is updated weekly. Patents ordered in the U.S. from the digital collection are $12.00 by fax, $5.00 by U.S. mail, and $16.00 by express mail. Within the U.S. hardcopy backup for fax orders is an additional $2.00. The non-digital collection(about which I called three times for a definition and specification of, and was promised faxes twice which have yet to arrive)has confusing information on prices. I have reproduced the tables provided to me by SourceOne. The non-digital collection(again which is not defined, the salesperson simply recited the list of what is included in the digital collection to me, and when I asked for clarification and specifics, and specifically asked that he please find out and fax the information to me...) . Non-Digital Collection First Class Mail $32.45-Non US Patents $17.45 US Patents Fax $1.00/per page minimum $20.00 charge Express Mail At Cost _________________________________________________________________ Standard Service and Rush Service Non-Digital Collection U.S. Foreign U.S. Foreign First Class Mail $12.95 $19.95 N/a N/a Fax $19.95 $26.95 $30.95 $35.95 Fax Plus Hardcopy Backup (via first class mail) $21.95 $28.95 $35.95 $40.95 Express Mail $22.95 $29.95 $30.95 $35.95 Standard Service takes two business days from the date of order until the patent is received at KR SourceOne. _________________________________________________________________ North American Delivery Staffed Sources(as yet undefined) Includes first class mail or Internet delivery Standard Rush SuperRush Outside source Turnaround 48 hours 24 hours same day 1-2 weeks avg. Time Basic Fee $12.95 $26.95 $29.95 $12.95 + Document costs* * Again, when I asked for examples of what-if costs, I was not given a direct answer or even a variable. Fax Delivery $5.00 $5.00 $5.00 $5.00 Express Mail At cost At cost At cost At cost Delivery SourceOne claims that all orders have their first fulfillment attempt in less than two hours, and that many will be delivered in just minutes. Dialog claims that because the images are digitally stored in optical storage banks, their fax delivery is much cleaner and crisper than other fax services that have copies hand-fed into the fax machine. They also claim to have a fully automated service, with orders being processed as they are received, and the system automatically re-tries a fax transmission up to 32 times whenever it receives a busy signal or no answer. You also have the availability to check the status of your order online. You can set individual charge-back codes with each order and you can also designate that documents be sent to separate fax numbers. Most people are surprised to know that the New York Library has a large amount of foreign patent holdings. (Http://www.nypl.org/research/sib/patents/frn-pats.html) Photocopying services are available, but archival photocopies(i.e. more $$) may need to be made for some older paper items. Call the copy services division at (212)930-0809 or Corporate Services at (212)930-0910 for more information on fees. The New York Library has the full text of patents available on microfilm for recent patents, and usually in paper(book)form for older runs. Some of the offerings include: Belgium. 1950-58, 1962-73 Canada. April 3, 1979- August 4, 1981, 1986 Denmark. 1985-present European Patent Office. A1/A2 1978-present, A3 1988 present, B1/B2 1981-present France. 1899-1970, 1982 present Germany. Patent #s 1-977,889 and 1957-present Japan. 1910-1941, 1950-1973, 1982-present Sweden. 1885-present Switzerland. 1984-present United Kingdom. (Great Britain). 1673-present USSR (Russian). 1987-1992 World Intellectual Property Organization (i.e., World or PCT Patents). 1981-present. Another on-line consideration is the Linda Hall library. (Http://www.lhl.lib.mo.us/pubserv/ref/patents/patents.htm). Although Linda Hall deals only with United States patents and trademarks, the library provides, without charge, the tools and instruction for performing a patent or trademark search, and reference librarians are on hand to provide assistance. The British Library (http://portico.bl.uk/sris/pexpress.html or gopher://portico.bl.uk/00/portico/services/repro/srisrep.txt) via SRIS offers not only self-help and while-you-wait photocopy services to those using the reading rooms, it also offers a document delivery service worldwide. Choices include regular service offering completion within 48 hours of receiving an order or the RUSH service offering same day or overnight delivery to most destinations. Customers can send requests via post, fax(toll free from North America, 1-800-325-2221, others +44 171-412 7930), telex( 266959 SCIREF G), or telephone(+44 171-412 7926/7/8/9), or online using DIALOG and ORBIT, 24 hours a day, seven days a week. E-mail is also available at patent-express@bl.uk. Completed orders can be dispatched by first class post, fax or courier. Customers using the while-you-wait service are charged per page. Orders received from the UK and overseas customers are charged per document. Payment can be made by credit or deposit account, and itemized invoices are sent monthly, with statements available on demand. Transcript, a document translation service is also available. A good starting point in seeking overseas websites is the Foreign Patents Menu, which offers governmental Internet resources to the EPO and WIPO among others, all with links. (http://lawlib.wuacc.edu/washlaw/doclaw/forpat5m.html) If that website does not respond, try the PATLIB Network(http://www.epo.co.at/epo/patlib/indix.htm), a network of patent information centers comprising the national patent offices of each member and state of all regional and patent information centers. In total, 116 such centers in Europe exist, and each office will provide the names of contact persons in other member offices if they are unable to provide you with the necessary document. If that does not provide the document sought, Where to find Patent Information on the Internet is like a great table of contents (over four pages in length), for a >where to find foreign patents book= (http://www.epo.co.at/epo/online/index.htm#DATAB) with links to the Japanese patent office(http://www.nisig-net/~japio/) as well as providers that charge a hefty subscription fee such as Dialog, STN and Questel.Orbit. There are links to register($$) for services on-line, for complimentary trial subscriptions, and links for persons wishing to simply order a single document. Providers here claim to provide most documents within minutes assuming that the document will be delivered via modem. Do not forget that many foreign governments have websites with patent offerings in the native language. France has a national patent office with several patent information centers.(http://www.epo.co.at/epo/patlib/patlb033.htm) Another online source for patents is the FOREIGN GAZETTES at SIBL containing both patents and trademarks (http://www.nypl.org/research/sibl/patents/frn-gaz2.html) To look up any patent or trademark in these titles you must first know the date of publication. An example of their unusual offerings which include some relatively old documents: Argentine Republic. Patentes y Marcas. Direccion de Marcas de Fabrica, de Comercio y de Agricultura. 1908-1912. Argentine Republic. Patentes y Marcas Direccion Patentes de Invencion. 1903-1940. Australia. Patents, Trademarks & Designs Office. Australian Official Journal of Patents, Trademarks and Designs. 1931-1987. Greece. Patents and Trademark Journals. 1931-1939 Israel. Patents, Designs and Trademarks Journal. 1960-1982. Malawi. Patent Journal and Trademarks Journal. 1976-1991 Netherlands. De Industrieele Eigendom. Fabrieks-en Handelsmerken. 1913-1948. Venezuela. Fomento Ministerio. Marcas de Fabrica y de Commercio y Patentas de Invention. 1922-1930. This is just a few sources that provide foreign patents on-line. Several of the sources listed say they are planning to add more patent documents to their on-line connection, and others(such as libraries)say that patent information now in their print collection that can only be ordered and not retrieved on-line may eventually be made available on-line.

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