The USPTO launched the first service for Global Dossier on November 20, 2015, an online database providing public access to the file histories of related applications filed at the IP5 offices: US, Japan, Korea, China, and the EPO. This free resource will allow patent practitioners to manage intellectual property (IP) protection by monitoring competitive IP. Patent practitioners could delegate the initial research to an IP paralegal to perform the search and retrieve information such as:
- Patent family for a specific application
- Classification
- Citation data for these applications
- Office Action Indicators to help users identify applications that contain office actions
Entering patent US 9212977 in the Global Dossier database as an example, it shows 24 Members in Patent Family. Here is a snapshot of the search results:
Patent Family Search Result
All Documents Search Result
Classification and Citation Search Result
The paralegal should be able to export, organize the data to an Excel spreadsheet, and prepare a report for the attorney’s review and further analysis. Copies of the documents in a particular US or foreign application can also be retrieved and included as part of the report. What is impressive is it will provide access to information in the Korean, Japanese, and Chinese patent office databases in the English language. Give it a try. Global Dossier is available at globaldossier.uspto.gov.
If you need further information or assistance, please contact us to speak with one of our Virtual IP Paralegal (VIPP).