Friday, June 11, 2010

Scam - Payment of Fees for International Patents & Trademarks

The Patent Baristas June 9, 2010 blog entry contains a warning about unsolicited mailings to applicants and owners of international patents, designs and trade marks inviting them to enter their intellectual property in various registers, publications, or databases for a fee. The mailing are in official looking envelopes and come from official sounding organizations.  To read more about these scams, access "A Warning About Requests for Payment of Patent Fees" by Stephen Albainy-Jenei.

Tuesday, June 8, 2010

Free Bulk Patent & Trademark Data

According to a June 2, 2010 press release, the USPTO has entered into a no-cost two year agreement with Google to provide patent and trademark data to the public in bulk form.  This arrangement will serve as a bridge until the USPTO can set up an agreement with a contractor capable of providing the data.

Data provided through Google will include:
  • Patent grants and published applications
  • Trademark applications
  • Trademark Trial and Appeal Board (TTAB) proceedings
  • Patent classification information
  • Patent maintenance fee events
  • Patent and Trademark assignments
In the future the USPTO and Google also plan to add  patent and trademark file histories and related data.