PatBase user news
4th September 2023
Export Wizard
• The graphical summary feature in exports is now live. Click on 'Advanced options' at the bottom of Step 3 to select which graphs to include.
• The export date will be added to Excel exports when the Search History is included.
Updated 'Image' display format
• Viewing results in the 'Image' display format will now show 10 images by default. Click on the drop-down list next to Display Format and select 'Image' to view this.
Machine Translation
• New language combinations have been added to support translations between non-English languages.
Alert Reports
• Admin users have the option to download a summary of their users' alerts. Under Menu, select 'List/manage alerts', click on 'My users alerts' on the right, and then the yellow 'Download alerts report' button.
Results Display
• Searches run within the current session will now be displayed in bold in the Search History.
Highlighting schemes
• Folder highlighting schemes can now be included when a folder is published by selecting 'Include Folder Highlighting'. The highlighting scheme will also be supported in PatBase Viewer.
• Sharing highlighting schemes with other users within the same company is now possible.
• Searching through saved highlighting schemes is now available.
Image Mosaic
• PatBase will now remember which jurisdictions have been selected or deselected, when viewing images in the image mosaic tool and navigating through different families.
Query Builder
• It is now possible to remove extra rows added by clicking '+Add another field'.
Family Notes
• When adding text to a folder from the Full-Text view, it will now specify the claim number if it comes from a claim.
• To prevent lost notes, the text box pop-up and folder description box will only disappear after clicking 'x'.
Corporate Tree
• Clicking on the parent company will now automatically select all affiliated assignee names. Irrelevant names can then be removed individually.
Designated States
• Unitary Patent States table has been added to the bottom of the Designated States pop-up. Click on the question mark icon to view this.
Custom Display Formats
• New field for 'Independent Claims' has been added.
Family Table
• Dead or alive tags will now be included when copying and pasting family tables from PatBase.
18th May 2023
Family Insight
• New Family Insight section provides a Patent Valuation Score (PVS) out of a maximum of 100%.
• Sort results in the 'View' or 'Browse' pages by ascending or descending Patent Valuation Score.
3rd May 2022
New Legal Status Event Group
• A new legal status event group has been added to PatBase. This is ‘UPO’ for Unitary Patent (UPC) Opt-Out legal events
1st December 2022
Export Wizard
• New "Advanced options" feature available in Step 3.
• Choose the legal status information included in the export by filtering by one or more of the following criteria: Country Code, Event Group, Event Code, or Date Range.
• It is now possible to export specific Custom User Fields rather than all available fields.
15th September 2022
New Custom Display format design and functions
• All available fields are now listed in a selection box and grouped under sub-headings making them easier to find. Fields can also be filtered using the search box. Double click on a field or use the right arrow button to add fields. Similarly, double click on a field or use the left arrow button to remove fields.
• It is now possible to choose the order of display. Use the up and down arrow buttons to rearrange the order of selected fields.
New results header and jump to record function in View/Browse results
• Results header updated with a more modern look.
• New jump to record function. Simply enter a record number and press enter to jump to a particular record. In View mode, this option is available in the results header. In Browse mode, this option is available in the top left-hand corner within "show options".
Export Wizard
• Family/publication information is now split into separate fields. Select all fields or choose to include country code, patent number, publication date, application number and application date.
• New field separator option for CSV exports. Select from comma, semicolon, and tab.
Full text
• The displayed publication is highlighted with a blue border in the full text menu.
2nd August 2022
Search forms & Command line
• The search boxes within the Search form, Query Builder, and Command line can now be expanded. Once the search box or command line has been expanded, drag the bottom right corner of the box to re-size further.
• Number searches within the Search form and Query Builder are now automatically quoted ("").
Family level exports
It is now possible to export the representative information from another publication rather than the master patent number.
19th July 2022
New Family bar & Folder shortcuts design
• Family bar updated with a more modern look.
• Folder shortcut names display more characters making it easier to identify different folders.
Continue viewing the last record
When logging off from the results display page (View, Browse or Hits) it will bookmark the last viewed record in your result set. Upon next login there will be an option to "continue viewing" the bookmarked record.
30th June 2022
Language preference added to Custom Display Formats & Export Wizard
• It is now possible to choose a preferred language to display and download. This is particularly useful for EP or PCTs which are available in multiple languages. Select from All languages, English only and Latin languages only.
31st March 2022
New family table design and functions
• All icons now appear on the right-hand side for consistency
• A new icon with three vertical dots will open a quick access menu to view the claims, description, TextMine, Family Explorer and any translations with one click
• Use the headers in the family table to sort the columns by publication number, publication date, application number or application date
The display of FDA and SEP information has been updated to match the family table
Consolidated IPC codes field
IPC 1-7 and IPC 8-9 fields have been combined in the family display, effectively removing duplicates.
11th October 2021
Alerts
New publications matching alert query will now be highlighted in the Family table when reviewing alert results in PatBase or PatBase Express.
Export Wizard
Improvements to Word, HTML and PDF format exports:
• "Custom Export" option available in Step 2 allows selection of family-level export or publication-level export and any available fields
• Filters available for publication-level Word, HTML and PDF exports
• New "Include table of contents" option
21st July 2021
SEP data now available
As of 21st July 2021, just over 50,000 families have SEP data available. The data is collected from the ETSI IPR online database.
SEP data, where available, will be displayed directly below the abstract in PatBase.
This means, if a custom display format is used on a PatBase ID, the Abstract will need to be included to display the SEP data.
Using the Export Wizard, the user can export SEP data in table format exports (Excel, XML and CSV) by selecting the brand-new option "Standard-Essential Patent(s)". For text format exports (Word, HTML and PDF) the SEP table is included with the Abstract field.
• SEP – searches for existence of SEP field
• SEPPROJ – searches the terms in the projects column
• SEPSTD – searches the standards code in the standards column
Fuzzy search option added to Browse Index
A fuzzy search option has been added to the keyword and assignee sections of Browse Index. This will search for variations in the spellings of assignee names and keywords and works similarly to the "%". To use the Fuzzy Search option when looking up keywords, the user needs to select the radio button for "Fuzzy search" at the bottom of the Browse Index.
To use the fuzzy search option when looking up assignees, the user needs to select the name or word that they want to apply the similar search to and then click the "Search similar" button.
1th June 2021
Export Wizard
• Excel, CSV, XML, RIS exports layout and speed improved
• New publication filter options available, including 'Highlighted publications only'
• Full keyword and KWIC highlighting included in Excel exports
• New export fields available, including original or DOCDB patent/application number formats
• Open links added to Publication explorer from patent numbers in export files
• The family number links to the Family explorer module
• The exporter can include notes with the export email
Analytics V3 Agent Analysis
• Analyse Agent data by Legal Events, Dead or Alive, or by Time to Grant
Analytics V3 Data Locator
• All Dead/Alive and Time to Grant charts now clickable
PatBase 2.0, 7th September 2020
Publication level searching
Users can now search at a publication level, there are two ways to do this:
• If using the command line, use the SPUB=() command
• If using the Search Form or Query Builder, tick the "Search within the same publication" checkbox, located at the bottom of the search forms.
Combined Latin and non-Latin searches
• Latin and non-Latin text is now indexed together so non-Latin text can be searched across all search forms and combined with Latin search terms.
Search across machine translations
• Users can choose to search across all machine translated text, this can be done when searching text fields in the command line by adding an "MT" at the beginning of the textual command, e.g. MTFT=, MTTAC=, MTAB=, MTCL=
• To search across all machine translated and original text, add "A" at the beginning o a textual command, e.g. AFT=, ATAC=
• If using the Query Builder or Search Form, you can choose to include searching across all machine translated text by ticking the checkbox located at the bottom of the search forms.
More flexible searching with new commands
Many new commands have been added, please refer to this list of all command and behavioural changes for more information.
Full text coverage update
Hungary (HU), Saudi Arabia (SA), Panama (PA), Algeria (DZ), Ecuador (EC), Peru (PE) and Armenia (AM) full text collections added, bringing the total up to 74 full text jurisdictions.
Search History table
• New shortcut buttons to "Save Search History", "Clear Search History" and "Export Search History" have been added above the Search History table.
• On each search query row, a shortcut has been added to export the query’s results.
• When a search has been run, a new shortcut to the Optimise tool will appear next to "Explore Search" and "Edit and Resend Search" above the table.
Search forms
• "Publication type" and "Status" dropdowns have been added below the search fields in Query Builder.
• Next to the search fields in Query Builder and the Search Form, the number of results are shown, the total number of results for the query is shown at the bottom.
• Interactive Search is no longer an option in Semantic Search. Instead, the Optimise tool can be used to exclude/limit information in a search by technology area – also by company, jurisdiction and publication date, if needed.
Browse Index
• A Keyword tab has been created so keywords can be searched across indexed words.
• Sort Browse Index results by number of publications or alphabetical order. This is available on the Assignee, Inventor and Keyword tab.
Optimise
• Optimise now works across the entire result set, regardless of size.
• Users can now include or exclude selected entries.
Highlighting
• Automatic highlighting in full text view now considers the syntax of searches.
• Hits showing the auto-highlighting only preview the sentence where hit appears on the Hit Analysis page.
• In full text view, there is now highlighting in the family publication navigation menu to indicate where in the publication there is a keyword match.
• Full publication matches to a search query will have a solid highlight in the family table, partial hits are highlighted with a gradient.
New modern interface for viewing Smart Claims in full text view
Export Wizard
New option has been added to Export Wizard to "Use last settings" on the Format step.
Explore Search
• Explore Search has a new design with a table breaking down each search term and field and a query explanation.
• Details about the result set, e.g. earliest publication date, number of jurisdictions covered, have been added at the bottom of Explore Search.
Snapshot
• Snapshot now offers an instant analysis of an unlimited number of families with no sampling.
• More detailed analysis has been added under Legal Status, now showing: Dead or Alive by Application, Granted or Not Granted by Application, Dead or Alive by Family, Granted or Not Granted by Family.
• Citing and cited assignee analysis has been added.
Search language changes
• There have been many new commands added, please go to the New Commands and Behaviour Changes
27th May 2019
PatBase and PatBase Express new login page
New simplified PatBase and PatBase Express login pages.
Data coverage update
The addition of North Macedonia data brings the total collection of authorities available to search in PatBase to 106 jurisdictions.
Full text coverage update
Costa Rica (CR), Lithuania (LT), Latvia (LV), North Macedonia (MK), Malaysia (MY), Slovenia (SI) and Slovakia (SK) full text collections added, bringing the total up to 67 full text jurisdictions.
Family Insight
• New Family Insight module in PatBase provides a quick overview of a single patent family
• Access Family Insight from the family bar within the 'View' or 'Browse' page
• Information includes basic information, competitors (based on citations), technologies (derived from CPC classification), assignee overview, inventors and legal status browser
• Family Insight information can be shared to both PatBase and non-PatBase users
Analytics V2 Citation Network updates
• New sharing options added to the Citation Networks, including PNG, JPG and PDF download formats or printing options
• New analysis settings added for Citation Networks making it easy for users to run a general citation analysis by jurisdiction, year and assignee without running the networks, making it quicker to analyse citations for a result set
Analytics V2 Dashboard updates
• Easily cancel ongoing analysis at any time. By cancelling, you will be taken directly to the dashboard to view completed analysis sections
• New Gantt style chart added at the bottom of the dashboard page showing the key date ranges from your results set
Darts-IP integration
• When viewing results in the ‘View’ or ‘Browse’ page, all users will be able to see if there is US litigation information by the scales of justice icon. Darts-IP users will see additional information for non-US countries
• Darts-IP users will be able to see basic litigation information within PatBase Legal Status Browser but will need to use the external link and login to Darts-IP to see more information
Minesoft Knowledge Hub
• An all-in-one online training resource. Users can access introductory Basics pages (PatBasics, PatBasics Express and PatDocs Basics), in-depth user guides, topic-based tutorials and sample reports generated in PatBase Analytics V2
• Knowledge Hub can be accessed from the 'Help' drop-down menu on the toolbar, within the helpfiles, under the 'Getting Started' section on the 'Main Menu' page, or by clicking on the green button by the command line
4th December 2018
Enhanced PatBase interface
PatBase interface has been updated with a more modern theme. Please note, there has been no change to functionality or layout, only the theme has been updated.
Export wizard updated
The interface of the export wizard has been modernised and streamlined.
• The export fields are now listed under sub-headings, making them easier to find
• Users can save an export template to save time when repeating exports:
- To make use of the new Template functionality, simply go through the four steps as normal – on the final step (Summary) there is an option to enter a Template name before clicking Submit. This will save the export Template for future sessions
Beta version of citation networks launched
Citation networks provide a graphical method to study interconnecting citation networks in a way that is visually appealing and ideal for sharing. The beta version is live in PatBase Analytics V2. To access make sure that you have Citation Networks switched on under Analytics V2 Settings > Analysis
New citation analysis options added to PatBase Analytics V2
Citations can be analysed by assignee, jurisdiction and year. To access make sure that you have citation analysis switched on under Analytics V2 Settings > Analysis
New comparison analysis option added to PatBase Analytics V2
Compare the analysis for two separate result sets side-by-side. Compare patenting trends between two competitors, one company at two different periods of time, or even two parallel technology areas.
Adjustable font size in PatBase Analytics V2
Users can adjust font size for each chart component separately, using the plus & minus icons for specific fields, e.g. title, sub-title and X/Y axis. This also applies in the layout tab where the data labels can be adjusted or reset.
Landscape cluster markers include options to display clusters by assignees or by both assignees and keywords
If activated, the most common probable assignee per keyword cluster will be shown, along with a percentage figure of how many families in any given cluster that assignee represents. There is also an additional number displayed (e.g. +3) which shows how many other assignees also occur in that cluster.
Full text coverage increased to 60 jurisdictions
Turkey, Estonia, Iceland, Croatia, Czech Republic, Romania, Ukraine, Serbia, Italy & Cyprus full text collections added.
NPO legal status data expanded
Legal status information is now - in addition to USPTO and JAIPO - received from the French Patent Office (INPI) and German Patent Office (DPMA) - this information is included in PatBase Legal Status Alerts
18th April 2018
PatBasics links added in PatBase
PatBasics, the online training resource for new users, can be accessed from the "Help" drop-down menu on the toolbar, within the help-files and under "Getting started" on the "Menu" page.
PatBase folder shortcuts enhancement
Number of folder shortcuts users can work with has been increased from 5 to 10.
New Snapshot viewer has been added
A new Snapshot Viewer tool has been made available in both PatBase and PatBase Express. Provides a quick overview of a result set with the added functionality of being able to rerun new searches in PatBase from within the tool.
Coverage page & Number format page
The coverage page has been redesigned to be more user friendly and now supports search and filtering options.
The number format lookup page has also been revamped, again with a search feature, as well as flag icons for the jurisdictions covered within PatBase data.
Classification finder interface
The Classification finder interface has received an update to keep it in line with the rest of the system.
Corporate tree interface
Corporate Tree tool has received an update to its interfaces to keep in line with the theme of the rest of the system.
Snapshot link added to Class Explorer
When following a link from Class explorer the user will now be redirected to the new Snapshot tool, showing the class analysis section
NPO data enabled for PatBase Legal Status Alerts (ULG)
Legal status alerts now included data from the US & Japanese National Patent Offices
Brazilian coverage added
Citation Explorer updates
• Citation Matrix added to display citations in a citation/ family matrix
• Tree View now displays backward and forward citations
• Clicking on Assignee name from the Statistics runs a new search in PatBase
• Excel export now includes NPL data
• XP numbers link to Espacenet
• Added facility to apply multiple filter at the same time: year, origin, categories, country, assignees and/or self-citations
1st November 2017
Multiple folders can be searched in PatBase
It is now possible to add multiple private folders to your search history in PatBase. This is done by checking the boxes for the folders which you would like to add, and then selecting "add to history" in the drop-down menu at the bottom of the page.
Update to "Scan" display format
We have modernised the "Scan" display format when reviewing records. Also, the information included in this display format now includes earliest publication date.
Publishing results and/or folders in PatBase
If the PatBase user who is publishing the results and/or folder has the option to view dead/alive tags selected in their display and search options, then the recipient, if they are viewing in "folder" view, will also be able to see the dead/alive tags.
Updates to Export Wizard
We have enhanced the export process for third party formats. Users can now export into Bizint by either publication or family.
In addition, we have added publication options when exporting to VantagePoint.
Users can now filter excel exports to include only granted publications in all jurisdictions, if available.
Updates to Classification Explorer
When users load Classification Explorer when viewing a family, the classification codes which are related to the family in question are highlighted so that users can easily check which codes are relevant.
In addition, a link has been added when viewing the CPC or IPC codes to look up the codes on either WIPO or Espacenet.
Updates to TextMine
TextMine now shows 3 new entities: Organism, chemical role and antibodies.
In addition, a new mosaic view of the images within the section of the document you are viewing has been added. Clicking on the mosaic image view link will open a pop-up window displaying all of the images which make up the mosaic. By selecting an image, you can enlarge and scroll through any images included in the current document section.
We have also added the ability to export the entities identified by TextMine into Excel or as a PDF document.
Terms can now be added to the Advanced Highlighting tool from within TextMine (as it stands now, Advanced Highlighting must be enabled before accessing TextMine), these will still be included after TextMine is closed.
Furthermore, terms are now grouped if they appear as plurals, differ by a space/hyphen or diseases corresponding to the same concept.
Grouped terms will appear in Italic, if you mouse over the term a list of all the terms in the group will appear.
New in-house machine translation software added
We are now using a new, in-house MT software from SDL based on trained engines, enhancing the quality of our machine translations across the platform.
USPTO PAIR data added to Legal Status viewer in PatBase
We have now added USPTO PAIR data to the Legal Status viewer in PatBase. To help navigate this data, we have added a new "Source" column to clearly identify where the legal status information originated and we have mapped the USPTO legal status events to our colour coded event groups.
In addition, the Register links in PatBase for US publications now direct users to up-to-date PAIR information, a full transaction history and links to the assignment history, maintenance fees and file wrapper.
Bridge between PatBase and RAPID4
From the Export Wizard in PatBase, users can now select the Centredoc - RAPID4 option under "Third party export formats". This will generate a preconfigured XML file read to be imported into RAPID4.
28th February 2017
Export settings saved between sessions and Legal Status Timeline link option added
We have implemented the ability for PatBase to remember the last export which you conducted, even if you have logged off from PatBase. Hence, when exporting any data from PatBase, the export module remembers your previous selections and pre-selects these options for you. This will make the process of exporting data from PatBase much more efficient, especially if you regularly export data in the same format and with the same fields. Furthermore, the option to include a link to the legal Status timeline has been implemented for Excel exports.
Ability to delete or archive multiple private folders
Using checkboxes, we have implemented the ability to select one or more private folders in PatBase. This will give users the ability to delete or archive multiple private folders at the same time, rather than having to delete or archive one folder at a time.
Similar function enhanced in PatBase
The Similar function in PatBase has been enhanced to allow our users to take advantage of the non-patent literature (NPL) data which is accessible from PatBase. The enhancements are as follows:
The "Similar non-patent literature" function now links to the NPL module in PatBase where a user will be presented with similar NPL from over 12 sources. In addition, they will have the ability to further refine this data set using the search fields available in this module.
We have added a "Prior art" option to the Similar function for each patent family which will search the NPL module for similar NPL and will limit the results by publication year (based on earliest priority date)
Please contact support@minesoft.com if NPL searching has not been enabled on your account.
Type-ahead functionality added to the PatBase Quick Search
We have added a type-ahead functionality to the Quick Search option in PatBase so that a PatBase user can benefit from the system auto-suggesting terms which may be relevant to their search strategy.
Other Enhancements
We have added tooltips to all classification codes so that when a PatBase user is reviewing a patent family and they mouse over a classification code, the description for that code will be shown.
We have enhanced the Advanced Highlighting feature in PatBase so that a user can load the keywords from their original search strategy in the advanced highlighting boxes. This will allow the user the option to edit or enhance the keywords which are used in the basic highlighting in PatBase.
We have implemented an enhanced zoom function for images in PatBase to allow users the ability to rotate and examine the images in greater detail.
We have added the following fields to the Query Builder function in PatBase: Probable Patent Assignee, Agent, Priority Country
20th October 2016
New Non-Patent Literature module
A non-patent literature module has been added to PatBase and can be accessed from the Search menu. The non-patent literature module offers the ability to explore over 12 sources of non-patent literature using either a basic keyword search or an advanced, multi-field based search. Results are presented from the individual resources and as a de-duplicated list of "meta" results, when multiple resources are searched. All search results are linked to the full text article on the originator website and are exportable in Excel and RIS format.
New Semantic search capability
Replacing the "Similar" search option in PatBase is a new and enhanced "Semantic" search capability. Available from the Search menu, the Semantic search is an interactive search option which extracts concepts from any text based input and allows the user to select/deselect a concept to search and even add a new concept of interest. Based on the concepts searched, PatBase retrieves relevant patent families and then allows the user to focus the patent families based on one or more technology areas.
"Side by Side" option to compare the text of publications in a patent family
From the "Full Text" view in PatBase, the "Compare" option now allows users to compare the text of two publications in a family "side by side". This option makes it easier to identify changes in the text between two different publications.
Option to change the interface language
We have added an option in the "Display/search options" to allow a user to change their PatBase interface language to Chinese, Japanese or English without having to log out and then log back in.
18th July 2016
PatBase Thesaurus
A multi-discipline thesaurus has been added to PatBase and can be accessed from the Search menu. The PatBase Thesaurus option allows users to identify and add synonyms, keywords, acronyms and translations of particular terms to a PatBase search strategy. Separated into types of thesauri (General, Genes and Proteins, Chemical, Language) users can utilise a type-ahead functionality to search for a term(s) of interest, identify synonyms and search selected synonyms in PatBase. Note that the PatBase Thesaurus will replace the Chemical Search (now included in the Chemical Thesaurus), Language Explorer (now included in the Language thesaurus), Dictionary and Thesaurus links in PatBase.
New Register links in PatBase
We have added a number (over 25) of new national office register links to PatBase (e.g. AT, CL, GR, PT, SG, TW, VN). Where possible, we have linked to the legal status details for the publication of interest but where this is not possible, we have added a Register link which directs users to the “search page” for the relevant national office register.
31st May 2016
US Litigation Data now searchable
US Litigation Data can now be searched from the Legal Status search page – search fields include Plaintiff, Defendant, Court, Case and Filing Date. New commands have also been introduced to retrieve families with litigation. (Check the help files for details). Families containing US litigation data are marked with a scales symbol at the top of the family record and against the relevant individual US publications in the family table.
Export Module
The Exporting function in PatBase has been redesigned to be more streamlined, with a clear step-by-step process and a new option to create a Custom Export. In addition, Legal Status information can now be included with various options to filter by country etc and a link to the legal status timeline.
Coverage
The addition of Mexico, Chile and Luxembourg collections brings the total number of Full Text authorities available to search in PatBase to 31. We have also added German D1 publications.
PatBase Full Text Filters now active for all PatBase searches
Full text filters (e.g. country, section, publication type) can now be applied for any type of search including assignee, inventor or classification rather than just for keyword searches. Click on the Hit Analysis button in the Full Text or Hits view to access the filters.
Direct links from SequenceBase to PatBase
Customers of both SequenceBase (for sequence searching) and PatBase can now link directly from a Sequence record to a PatBase record by clicking the publication number in SequenceBase.
Citation Explorer enhancements
Several enhancements have been made to Citation Explorer to make it even easier to evaluate patents based on citations. These include:
All category codes (e.g. X, Y, A) are displayed against the backward citation in the Browser menu if the citation appears against multiple members of the family and one or more has a category code
The Excel export is enhanced with additional columns to the ‘Backwards’ and ‘Forwards’ worksheets to indicate for example how many times a publication has been cited or is citing a current family.
Implementation of improvements behind the scenes has sped up the loading of data in Citation Explorer
The 2000 CPC classes now visible in PatBase
The 2000 CPC classes (e.g. A61B2017/06071) are displayed under the correct part of the CPC hierarchy (e.g. A61B17) and are searchable as single CPC codes.
TextMine enhancements
The TextMine viewer tool has been enhanced to include:
Side-by-side machine translations are displayed and are paragraph matched
Entities identified in the full text of non-English patents (“discovery” items) can now be switched to their original text
A refinement tool above the discovery section menu enables only discovery items to be displayed
Search Menu reorganisation
The Search Menu has been reorganised and split into sections to improve navigation.
Upper limit for search history results increased
The maximum number of families to retrieve and show in the search history has been increased to 1 million.
23rd February 2016
Enhancements to Legal Status Timeline
Legal status of designs, utilities and EP patents that have entered national phase after grant is more accurately reflected with the addition of a new ‘Assumed Lapsed’ event plus a visual indicator on timeline of when EP granted patents have entered national phase and option to expand for details.
New feature added to TextMine
TextMine - the new software released in November 2015 in PatBase for mining full text patent documents – has been improved with the addition of the option to sort entities either alphabetically or by number of instances.
TextMine video available on video Tutorials page
For users wishing to understand how to use TextMine for enhanced review of the full text, a new video is available on the PatBase video tutorials page giving tips on how to use it.
New version of Citation Explorer
A new version of Citation Explorer - the tool designed to help navigate and review the complex web of patent citations on a publication basis – has been released with the following key enhancements:
Option to take Patent Numbers or Family numbers back into PatBase – easily take the backward, forward or all citations back into PatBase to search and review. Users can also Flag citations of interest.
Addition of citation classification codes (e.g. X, Y, A, I) which come from the examiners search reports and relate to the relevance of a backward citation to the publication in question.
Additional filters have been added to remove self-citations or filter to only show backward citations with a specific classification code.
Updated browsing and sorting of citations including an improved "summary" and "full" option, the ability to sort citations and improved exporting of citation data to Excel.
The "Tree" view of citations has been improved with options to tag citations that are currently "Alive" or "Dead" and to colour the branches of the citation tree based on the classification code for a citation (X, Y, A etc).
A new case study video on 'Utilizing citations for patent analysis and competitive intelligence' and featuring Citation Explorer is now available on the PatBase video tutorials page.
Classification Explorer enhancement
From the Classification Explorer view, a user can now select and search classification codes within PatBase.
Populate command line from command reference guides
When consulting the command reference guides in PatBase, you can now click on a command and this is immediately populated in the command line.
The 'Check syntax' feature is now available in the non-Latin search
Now available for non-Latin search, the Syntax Checker can be used whenever a user receives the error message 'parentheses do not balance' to aid in modifying brackets to correct the search query.
The Term Translator is now available in the Russian language non-Latin search.
Translate terms instantly from several European languages into Russian to enhance your Russian language non-Latin search.
Inventor look-up enhancement
A “Terms containing” option has been added to the Inventor Look-up feature in the Browse Index so that users can easily identify publications where the inventor is written as firstname_surname OR surname_firstname.
Enhanced Hit Map for Full text review
Navigate full text more easily with the improved Hit Map which follows your progress as you scroll and shows you exactly where you are in the text.
Dead/Alive tags now exportable in Excel and XML
Dead/Alive tags are now exportable in Excel and XML in both family and publication reports. An extra column appears in the publication report so users can sort on this field.
New Citation Commands
New commands enable you to identify the backward citations for a family together with the relevant examiner classification codes e.g. CTB X will find backward citations with an X classification (relevant to novelty) and CTBY finds backward citations with a Y classification (relevant to inventive step).
New Sharing options
Shared folder tick box now available when adding results to a folder from ‘more’ options on search history page.
Ability to share a saved search history with a colleague by email (recipient will need PatBase access).
Ability for Administrators to set up and share Global Groups under Group Management.
Dual window option to view PDF and Register information simultaneously
The ability to open up the PDF and Register information in separate dual windows when clicking the relevant icons from the PatBase family.
Textmine now in PatBase Express
TextMine - the advanced new Viewer designed by Minesoft offering powerful new full text reviewing capabilities - has been integrated to PatBase Express. Click on the textmine icon visible when viewing Claims or Descriptions. Textmine replaces the Chemicalize function.
Hyperlinked Inventor and Assignee names in PatBase Express
Inventor and Assignee names now hyperlinked to allow a name to be added directly to the search form.
View family notes and ranking in Public folders in PatBase Express
Express users now have ability to see the family notes and ranking in Public folders shared by PatBase users.
Dead or Alive flags displayed (administrator-enabled) in PatBase Express
Administrators on an Express account have option to enable display of Dead or Alive flags on records to indicate the status of a publication (based on INPADOC data).
Optimise or Combine Non-Latin searches in PatBase Express
Ability to Optimise search results (e.g. by assignee, publication date etc) from a Non-Latin search.
Ability to combine (using AND, OR, Not) a previous Non-Latin search with another search using the advanced search form and choosing the 'combine with previous search statement' option.
4th November 2015
Minesoft TextMine
TextMine is an advanced new Viewer - designed by Minesoft - that offers PatBase users sophisticated new reviewing capabilities to visualise the patent full text where relevant chemical, physical, genetic and disease terms have been identified. Access TextMine by clicking on the icon in the full text view.
PatBase Express Non-Patent Literature Search
PatBase Express users now have the ability to interrogate 12 sources of non-patent literature in the following technical areas: Agriculture, Science, Computing and Engineering and Multidiscipline. Access the new Non-Patent Literature search either from the NPL widget at the top of a search results page, or go to the NPL search form listed under 'More options'.
Note: NPL is not switched on by default. Users will need to contact their account administrators to see if the option can be switched on. Administrators can decide which sources to turn on.
Status Indicator
PatBase users can now choose to display a 'Dead/Alive' tag to indicate the status of a publication (based on available INPADOC data). The indicator is displayed against publications in the family table. Users can switch on the option in their Display/Search options.
PatSeq link added to PatBase
Any publication in PatBase containing sequence information which is available in PatSeq - the patent sequence database - now contains a link in the full text which will take users to view the sequences in PatSeq.
PatSeq is a patent sequence database and search interface developed by Cambia, which covers a large number of issuing authorities as far back as 1970.
Two new legal status event groups in PatBase
Two new legal status event groups have been added to PatBase. These are: 'LSAL – Appeal' and 'LSRX – Re-examination.' Legal status events are grouped together in PatBase for more efficient legal status searches.
Non-Latin agent data included in Agent information display
Non-Latin Agent data (CN, JP, KR, TH, TW, VN, IL, RU) is now included in the agent information display for reference.
FDA data in Exports
When exporting in formats such as Word or HTML, any FDA data is now included in a neat table in the export.
Retrieve Utility Model patents with new command
Use the new 'Utility=yes' command to retrieve patent families containing utility models. It can also be combined with a country code e.g. 'Utility =US'.
'Add record to a different folder' option from Browse view
This option has been enabled to allow users to work more easily across multiple folders in the Browse view.
Use the 'INS' key to add family note in Full Text view
In the Full Text view (from View or Browse mode), click on INS to quickly add a family note (a folder needs to already be open).
Links to Argentina patent register
The register link for Argentina has been added to the family table in PatBase and to the Legal Status page.
Option to "send using local mail client" for emailing within PatBase
Users can now choose to send emails from within PatBase using their local mail client rather than the default info@minesoft.com. This means they can access their email address book for example.
Expand/collapse feature added to shared folder hierarchy
Viewing large lists of saved shared folders has been improved with the addition of an expand/collapse option.
Date filter added to 'View my users' usage'
Administrators can filter PatBase usage stats for users on their account by date. Specify 'From' and 'To' a certain date (up to a 12 month period limit.
Philippines Full text added
Full text coverage of patent applications from the Philippines (PH) has been added, covering November 2006 to date.
Citation Explorer new filter option
A new filter option has been added to Citation Explorer enabling users to remove 'self-citations' in order to work with a cleaner data set.
Additional Languages available in Language Explorer
The following languages have been added to Language Explorer in PatBase and PatBase Express: Russian, Italian, Swedish, Dutch, Polish, Danish. Users can translate terms to and from these languages using the Language Explorer and include them in a search.
Advanced Highlighting applied to Machine Translated text in Non-Latin view
In PatBase, Advanced highlighting is now applied in the machine translated text. E.g. if there is a family with only an Asian publication and you have applied advanced highlighting, when you click on the non-Latin text in the full text view, the highlighted terms will appear in the machine translated text.
PatBase Express: Highlighting of terms in search results
Hit term highlighting has been added to the results display, so keyword hits are highlighted in the title/abstract displayed on records in the results list.
New Video guide on exploring a company's patent portfolio
A new video on the PatBase videos page demonstrates the use of the Corporate Tree to identify subsidiaries of a company and the use of PatBase Analytics to analysis the portfolio and answer key questions.
Sort family table by Application Number
The family table can now be sorted by application number (descending or ascending) so that patent applications and subsequent grants are next to each other. Access the new option from display/search options, under the dropdown menu for 'Sort family table by'.
Chinese Designs now available
The front file of Chinese designs is now available in PatBase, and the back file (back to the start of 2015) has also been added enabling users to search Chinese design patents.
Translation of Russian, Japanese and Korean assignees
The top 1000 RU, JP and KR assignees have been manually translated and added to PatBase. All other RU, JP and KR assignees will be machine translated as an ongoing project.
Google Chrome now supported
The Google Chrome web browser is now supported for use with all Minesoft products including PatBase and PatBase Express.
Citations Explorer video
A brief video tutorial for the new Citations Explorer is available from the top of the Citation Explorer window, offering an introductory guide to the new functionality.
Analytics User Guide
A comprehensive User Guide for PatBase Analytics is now available from within the PatBase Analytics window - the PDF is available for download at the top right.
NEW News & Enhancements Page in PatBase
Click on the blue button at the bottom of the Information panel (on the right hand side) in PatBase to access the new page with short videos on recent enhancements to PatBase.
28th May 2015
Citation Explorer
The new interactive Citation Explorer makes it easier to navigate and review the complex web of patent citations on a family or member basis, including timeline and statistics. Access it from the Citations tab.
Probable Patent Assignee
Probable Patent Assignee field can now be searched, displayed and exported. Choose the drop-down option from assignee field on search form, or use the new command PPA= in command line.
CPC class added to Visual Explorer
Visual Explorer now incorporates the Cooperative Patent Classification (CPC) enabling users to get a visual breakdown of results by most frequently occurring CPCs.
Browse Index assignee/inventor search enhanced
The Browse Index function has been enhanced to allow terms to be searched and identified which appear anywhere in the assignee/inventor string (e.g. searching with the keyword "Rafael" will retrieve "LTD RAFAEL ARMAMENT DEVELOPMEN")
Grant command now retrieves designs and utility models
The GRANT=YES command now retrieves granted design and utility models, as well as patents.
16th April 2015
New version of PatBase Analytics released
Release includes new Legal Analytics, JP and CN native language interface & bubble activity charts. Details of the updates can be found at top right of the PatBase Analytics window next to flag icons.
Export machine translations for individual publications
Machine translations of individual publications (where available) can now be exported in Excel.
Export claims of granted EP patents in 3 languages
The claims of granted EP patents can now be exported in all 3 published languages - EN, DE, FR.
Option to export granted patent where application and grant exists (EP and US only)
Export the granted patent (for EP and US documents only) where both an application and grant exists in the family.
Latin search solution for Polish assignees and inventors
Improved indexing means Polish assignees and inventors are now all searchable in the PA field (Latin search).
Enhanced 'Email a record' function
When emailing a record, the email now contains a choice of links to PatBase, PatBase Express and PatBase Family Explorer (for recipients without access to PatBase).
26th February 2015
New search command to retrieve Designs
Retrieve design patents with the new command, which can also be combined with country codes. For example:
(TAC=(Crane*) and DESIGN=(YES))
(TAC=(Crane*) and DESIGN=(US OR CN))
New Litigation option in Legal Status view
PatBase & Express users can now view Litigation information for US publication by clicking on the Litigation icon (a gavel) at top of the Legal status window to view a litigation summary table for US patents in the family. An external link is also provided to RPX’s searchable patent litigation database.
Coverage Enhancements
Additional Colombian (CO) back file full text from 1995 and ongoing updates
Japanese (JP) B documents backfile from 2012 to 1994
French (FR) B documents full text backfile and ongoing updates
Israel (IL) - full text and additional bibliographic data from 1975, and a new data feed has been made possible with the help of the Israeli Patent Office and WIPO
A new faster feed has speeded up addition of UK (GB) patents
A new faster feed for Chinese (CN) patents, utility models and designs means they are now available on or as close to the day of publication as possible
Chinese PDFs available day of publication and full PDFs can be downloaded instantly by all users with 'save complete PDF' option.
New Russian (RU) Register links have been enabled from the family table or legal status view
Country Mode in PatBase Express - limit search and display to a specific country
PatBase Express users can limit their searches to a specific country by selecting from a country list before carrying out a search. Default is set to worldwide but users can restrict their search to any one country - only patents from that country will be retrieved and displayed meaning it is effectively like searching a subset of the PatBase database.
"Add to folder" from within folder view
Add a record into another saved/new folder from within a folder. Click on the yellow folder icon at top right of the folder view.
8th December 2014
Links to Clinical Trials Registers from FDA data table
FDA data tables on records now contain links to US and European Clinical Trials registers to check information on current trials for specified drugs. Click on the flag icons to go to the sites
Direct links to the Russian register
Russian register links have been enabled - click on the R link in family table or from legal status view for Russian members to go to the register
New commands for searching same text sections for a specific country
The following new commands have been introduced to PatBase to enhance keyword searches:
STACC - search within the same Title & Abstract for a specific country
STACCC - search within the same Title, Abstract & Claims for a specific country
SDSCCC - search within the same Description for a specific country
New filter option for search results records
When looking at a record in Hit view or in the Full Text view from View or Browse mode, you can now filter family members by country, grants or you can specify which document sections to show e.g. only Claims
31st October 2014
Corporate Tree in PatBase & PatBase Express
Providing a quick and easy way to identify subsidiaries and other affiliations of a chosen corporation, in order to include all related companies in a single assignee search. Data for the Corporate Tree is derived from a corporate relationship database compiled and maintained by Minesoft & RWS Group
Specify sort order of publications in Claims & Descriptions view in PatBase Express
Option to sort publications when viewing Claims & Descriptions for a family record - sort by publication date ascending or descending, or sort by country by listing your country preference order e.g. have US publications listed first, followed by WO, EP etc. The sort order will be applied to all families and saved until it is next changed
Litigation option in Legal Status view
PatBase & Express users can view Litigation information for US publications. Click on the Litigation icon (a gavel) at the top of the Legal Status window to view the Litigation Summary table for US patents in that family, including an external link to RPX’s searchable patent litigation database.
22nd September 2014
PatBase Analytics software in PatBase & PatBase Express
The new, integrated software is capable of performing rapid and in-depth analyses of tens of thousands of full-text patent records. Features include detailed interactive charts and graphs with drill-down ability, a customisable Analytics Dashboard, and, for PatBase users, an Assignee Groupings tool
GenomeQuest integration
Users of both PatBase and GenomeQuest systems can now review biological sequence patents retrieved using the GQ-Pat database directly on PatBase. Access the 'Export to PatBase' option on GenomeQuest to upload extracted patent numbers to PatBase
Enhanced shared folders list display
Organise your shared folders list by creating tree hierarchies. Move a shared folder to be displayed under a designated parent folder by going to the 'rename folder' button in your shared folders list
Search contents of a saved folder
The contents of a folder can now be searched by criteria including assignee name or keyword in order to quickly retrieve records of interest from within the folder. Click on the 'search folder' link and use the search form to search within the folder
Similar non-patent literature web search function
The new option found under the 'Similar' button extracts key terms from the patent text and searches non-patent literature online for similar articles. The NPL search runs over Minesoft servers to ensure online security
Optimised PatBase Express
A new version of PatBase Express offers fully optimised patent searching for all users on any device including smartphones and tablets. The enhanced display and navigation automatically adapts to any screen size and orientation
Upload numbers in PatBase Express
A list of publication or application numbers can now be uploaded to PatBase Express using the new 'upload numbers' function. Also included is the option to create a Hit Report to see which numbers were retrieved and which may need reformatting
Previous searches in PatBase Express
This new option allows you to view and re-run individual searches within a search session. Searches are temporarily saved during the session so a search can easily be rerun if required without needing to go back to the search forms to recreate it
28th May 2014
Highlighting colours
The number of highlighting colours available in the Advanced Highlighting has doubled. Keywords can now be highlighted in 10 different colour groups to speed up document review
Similarity link
A 'Similar' link has been added to the top of each record, providing different ways of quickly locating similar records by analysing different parts of the patent e.g. images or citations
Search history pop-up from results page
Mouse-over the search query displayed at the top when Viewing records to open the Search History window - useful if the query refers to search step numbers only, since the whole previous search history can be viewed in full
Family Explorer Enhanced
The Family Explorer has been improved with a newly designed Priority Map and links to the new Legal Status table and Timeline making it even easier to understand how the patent family is built up
23rd January 2014
Legal Status Reassignment Browser
Browse detailed history of ownership for all publications in a patent family with filtering options
Similarity Search
Retrieve similar patents with new semantic search option - use text from a patent or other scientific document
Query Builder
A Boolean search form designed to assist with building search queries
Search Folder Notes
Search within a folder's notes for certain terms then view the family/families that contains the terms in its notes
Copy sections of Full Text directly to a Folder Note
Paste selected Full Text directly into a family note for the currently open folder
16th December 2013
Enhanced Legal Status Table &Timeline in PatBase & PatBase Express
Sophisticated new Table & Timeline offer advanced Legal Status review functionality
PatBase Analytics Version One now in PatBase Express
The new Analytics module is now available in PatBase Express, from search results page
Similarity Search introduced to PatBase Express
Retrieve similar patents with new semantic search option - use text from a patent or other scientific document
Filter saved folders, histories and searches by name
Locate items more quickly from long saved lists by filtering by name
Search all Machine Translations in non-Latin search
Option on non-Latin form to search across all Machine Translations (CN, JP, KR, RU)
FDA search commands in PatBase
Search FDA data added to PatBase records with new commands such as FDA active ingredient or FDA trade name.
17th October 2013
Legal Status Groupings
Legal status events are now grouped together for more efficient searches e.g. Lapsed/Expired/Ceased/Dead patents can be retrieved simultaneously with a single command.
Legal Status Search
Search across an event group from the event code look-up on the legal status search form - groups can be combined with dates and countries.
Grant commands
Search for any records containing granted patents, or grants for a particular authority, with a single command i.e. GRANT=YES, or GRANT=CC (country code).
PatBase Analytics Version One
New PatBase Analytics module enables analysis of trends in large results set (up to 100,000 records) across numerous fields simultaneously and rapidly.
Genetic Sequence Searching
Search within newly added sequence files for US applications and grants from 2005 onwards, using text or sequences. Option to save the sequence file is provided.
Left-hand truncation
Search terms incorporating left-hand truncation can now be processed rapidly by PatBase - useful for searching terms with complex prefixes such as compound numbers or German keywords.
Chinese interface for PatBase advanced
Full Chinese interface now available for PatBase advanced, including translated help files and user manual. Switch by simply clicking the Chinese flag on the log-in page.
Chinese Machine Translations of EP, PCT and US patent documents
Chinese machine translations of EP, PCT and US patents are now searchable exclusively from the non-Latin search form in the Chinese version of PatBase to facilitate searching in Chinese.
Coverage
Russian data (applications, patents and utility models) from 1994 to date - bibliographic information and full-text with searchable machine translations and a representative image.
Further backfile additions for Canada (applications, grants and designs). Designs from 2000 to date.
Embedded images for US full-text.
15th July 2013
Minesoft Orangebook data added to PatBase records
FDA Orangebook data has been incorporated into some pharmaceutical records for added value, with direct links to more details on Minesoft Orangebook.
Legal Status Timeline
A new Legal Status Timeline (available from Status tab) gives users a colour-coded graphical overview of legal events occurring during the lifetime of a patent application.
7th May 2013
Add folder notes when reviewing results
A new notes option found next to the folder shortcut icons on records means that notes can be added as users are in the process of reviewing results - there is no need to open up the folder to add a note to the family record.
'Explore search' option
New option to 'explore search' appears at top of history page when a search has run. This gives you an immediate breakdown of how many hits there are for each of the keywords or classifications in a search strategy.
Edit and resend last search
Option to 'edit and resend search' appears at top of history page when a search has run. This means that corrections or modifications can be made more easily and quickly to a search query.
11th March 2013
Translated assignee names for non-Latin families
Assignee names for the top patent filers for CN, JP, KR and TH are being translated into Latin where there is no Latin name yet available in the family - they are displayed in the standard (std) assignee field on the record.
Offline Export Progress bar
Keep track of progress of offline exports with new window that automatically appears at top of screen. Download file directly from window once completed.
Export enhancements
New option to include 1st main claim in 'other formats' export types such as CSV or Excel.
Include Japanese F-term classifications in 'other formats' export types.
Export non-Latin data into 'other formats' type files. Users in countries such as Japan and China can more easily manipulate non-Latin PatBase data offline.
Long search queries minimised
Lengthy search queries are automatically minimised on the search history page to save space - expand the query by clicking on 'show full search'.
Display single publication Claims or Description
A new option in the Custom Display settings allows you to display Claims or Descriptions for a single publication according to your specified country preference.
Coverage enhancements
Russia (RU) Applications (biblio., title & claims): 2013 has been added and the backfile from 1994 is being loaded, Patents (SU – biblio., Full text, representative image) : 2013 has been added and the backfile from 1924 is being loaded, Utility Models (biblio., title & claims): 2013 has been added and the backfile from 1994 is being loaded, All Full-Text contains embedded images and has a side-by-side machine translation into English. You can search Russian data from the non-Latin search form.
Japan (JP) JP application full-text from 1993, JP registered utility models from 1994 to 2010.
Taiwan (TW) Bibliographic data for patents and utility models to present, Bibliographic data for patent applications from 200305010 (when it began) to present, Full Text for patent applications with searchable machine translations from 200901 to currently 201212.
Hong Kong (HK) bibliographic data from 200405 to date.
India (IN) representative images for patent applications.
Vietnam (VN) patent data from 1986, and utility models from 1989, to 2012.
PCT (WO) non-Latin full-text (JP, CN, KR) from 1979 to date
30th October 2012
New Classification Finder
Use keywords or phrases to search classification definitions across the US, EC, IPC and JP schemes in order to retrieve relevant classifications for precise searching.
MatheoPatent Export Link
New option to export PatBase results directly to MatheoPatent for further analysis. Select from 'Third party export formats' options on the Export screen.
New Folder Export Option
A range of records can now be specified to export from a folder, rather than the entire contents. E.g. export records 10-32
PatBase Express now available in Spanish
PatBase Express is now available with a Spanish interface. Click on the flag on the login page to switch to Spanish.
9th July 2012
New 'Compare' tool (beta)
Available when viewing full text, use it to compare the Application to the Grant or Claims to Description, to instantly identify changes or omissions.
New On-the-fly highlighting in full text
Select a word or phrase to open the highlighting and search options including KWIC - saves time when reviewing full text; no need to retype the word(s).
Publish search results from search history
New option to 'publish results' straight from the 'more' link on search history page - no need to create a results folder first.
New improved Export options screen
A new layout for this screen makes it easier to see the different export options and formats available.
New Excel export format (XLSX)
From the 'other format' export option there is now a new formatted Excel (XLSX) file, which also includes links to the records on PatBase Express.
New IDS Generator
Generate a USPTO IDS form automatically from a list of numbers added to the order basket.
12th March 2012
New Language Explorer
Use the Language Explorer search form to find multi-lingual synonyms of your term to broaden the scope of your patent search.
New Term Translator
Translate terms instantly from several European languages into Chinese, Japanese and Korean to ensure you pick up hits in non-Latin full text.
New Patent Drawings Viewer
Representative images now link to a new Drawings Viewer showing preview images for all drawings for multiple publications in the family, taken from Minesoft’s archive of over 127 million drawings.
Legal Status Search Enhancements
New Search form with searchable event code look-up; New PRS code command; New legal status update command (ULG); New INPADOC legal status Alert option.
Annotate a Search History
Add a comment anywhere in your search history for future reference, or use the new command to omit previous steps without needing to renumber.
VizPat Report
Create easy to understand reports incorporating VizPat statistical analysis graphs in Excel or Word, alongside text and bibliographic fields.
New Non-Latin Assignee and Inventor commands (PANL and INVNL)
Search using the command line for Assignees and Inventors in JP, CN, KR, TH & RU - now you can easily combine with other criteria in the command line.
Extended Family Merge command (EFM)
For search results with many extended families (e.g. pharmaceuticals) use the new EFM command to merge all extended family fragments from your results together to get a single results set.
Multi-directional Results Sharing
Share search results (from alert results or saved folders) more easily with both PatBase/Express users and non-users.
Sort by Ascending and Descending Rank in Folders
Sort folder results by most or least important, according to the ranking you applied.
Data Coverage Updates
Improved Coverage Table.
Detailed coverage pages being added for all major countries for thorough overview, with plans to include additional information for smaller countries of increasing interest such as Taiwan (TW), Thaliand (TH), India (IN) and Brazil (BR).
Coverage Enhancements
Brazilian (BR) full-text and searchable machine translations from 2006,
Philippines (PH) bibliographic data including title and abstract in English for patent applications and utility model applications,
Australia (AU) bibliographic and full-text data,
Malaysia (MY) bibliographic data has been added,
Additional Legal Status coverage from INPADOC,
PatBase now incorporates additional INPADOC legal status coverage including Japan, Argentina and Slovakia.
Increased activity in ECLA reclassification
The European Patent Office (EPO) and the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) are working in partnership to harmonize their classification systems, the ECLA and the USPC, to produce a common classification system. This is set to be launched in January 2013 and will be known as the Cooperative Patent Classification (CPC). The CPC will be largely developed on the existing ECLA system with a similar structure to the International Patent Classification (IPC). In preparation for the launch of the CPC, ECLA code reclassification may increase. Further information about the CPC can be found here: www.cpcinfo.org. Details about PatBase and the CPC will follow.
14th October 2011
Data Coverage Update & News
Recently added data:
• Full-text for Scandinavia and other European countries (Denmark, Finland, Sweden, Belgium, Switzerland and Spain)
• Full-text for Indian applications
• Japanese citations
• Taiwanese non-Latin Titles, Abstracts, Patent Assignees and Inventors.
• Chinese Full Text and Machine Translations of Full-Text
• Japanese Machine Translations of Full-Text
• DOCDB new states added: Georgia, Hungary, Republic of Serbia, Colombia
• German Machine Translations of Full-Text
• French Machine Translations of Full-Text
• Full-Text and Biblio for Indian grants
Current projects:
• Brazilian Full Text
• Further Taiwanese non-Latin Full-Text additions - 2009 and 2010
• Australian Full Text
Same Document field qualifiers
Limit your keyword searches to within the same publication with the new 'same document' commands, including 'same paragraph'. For example: (SCL=(boot) not (ski* or snow)). Combine with country code for Claims and Full Text searches.
Visual Explorer integrated into PatBase
Identify trends in keywords, assignees and IPCs in results sets with this dynamic Clustering and Visualisation tool.
New fields added to Snapshot
Snapshot now offers a breakdown of Keywords and Citations from your results set, with a Citations timeline and Keywords visualisation wheel.
Folder Shortcuts
Assign a record to multiple folders (up to 5 folders displayed as shortcuts) allowing you to assign records by feature, project or other tags relevant to your search.
Custom User Fields: classify records in bulk
New time-saving feature allows PatBase administrators to assign up to 250 records from a results set to a particular custom user field in bulk.
Search Machine Translated Full Text for China & Japan
Use the Non-Latin search form to search - in English - machine translated Full Text for China and Japan.
Enhanced Non-Latin Full Text view
New side-by-side view displays machine translated CN & JP text alongside original language text for easy review.
New 'Hits' view
The 'Hits' display format allows you to view Full Text records ordered by the publications that retrieve the most hits for a given keyword search or highlighting scheme.
Enhancements to Alerts
Option to not receive alert emails with zero results. Opt to not receive alert emails with 0 results by ticking option on Alert Management screen.
Option to add an email header to alert emails. Alert owners can add text (a comment/note) to alert email headers. Add the comment when creating the alert - or to add text to an existing alert, go to the Edit page.
1st July 2011
Legal Status display and functionality
Colour-coded and searchable table (including PRS codes), with integrated Register links - now displayed when you click on 'status' link. Legal Status can now be added as Custom Display format field, and can be added to exports.
Upload Family and Application Numbers function
Upload a list of PatBase family numbers or application numbers, plus improved hit report for uploaded publication, application and family numbers.
Export option for Smart Claims viewer
Export the Smart Claims view breakdown of independent and dependent claims as an easy to read HTML file.
US Register information display
Shows current Reassignment Data from the USPTO, plus INPADOC legal status. Click on the Register [R] icon in the family table for US members.
Citation Timeline and Citation Line Graph
From the citations view: view the Citation History for a patent family with the new Citation Timeline and Line Graph. Navigate easily through backward and forward citations.
Syntax Checker
The Syntax Checker is available whenever a user receives the error message 'parentheses do not balance' to aid in modifying brackets to correct the search query.
Auto-summarise tool
Available when viewing Full Text - the Auto-summarise tool saves you time when reviewing results by automatically summarising the Full Text to the percentage level that you select.
Sort Family Table by publication ascending or publication descending
Go to your user settings to set the sort order as a default in the display and search options.
Chemicalize tool for browsing chemical structures in text
Identifies chemical names in the Full Text and converts them to chemical structures.
Search for US serial numbers
US serial numbers can now be searched for via the application number field. For example: AP=09/123456.
Other enhancements
Option to display Full Field names in 'other formats' exports e.g. Excel (i.e. Title instead of TI).
Where possible, we now display Images to match the master Patent Number of the family record. Plus images will be watermarked with the publication they are from.
UE> and UP> commands now work as 'greater than/less than' in line with other > < functions.
Saved folders can be added directly to your search history from your saved folders list, or from the folder tab on the toolbar.
11th March 2011
Custom User Fields
PatBase account Administrators can set up internal Custom User Fields in their Settings to apply company-specific criteria to PatBase records e.g. product categories, invention descriptors, estimated expiry date or comments.
Users (depending on access rights granted by administrators) can view and assign values to these fields, which can be searched together with standard PatBase fields, using the new Custom User Fields search form.
The fields will be viewable/editable in the Classic, Full and any Custom display formats. Users will be able to include these customised fields in both the Family and Publication Exports.
Assign a Ranking to Folder results
Rank each family record in a saved folder by assigning it from 0 to 5 stars. Sort by Ranking, and include star ranking number in folder export. Published folders will display the ranking assigned by folder owner.
Share Folders with Express users
Share private folders with PatBase Express users on the same account by selecting 'show folder in PatBase Express' when defining access rights for the shared folder. Appears in new 'Public folders' list in Express, with folder owner visible.
Archive saved items
Archive any saved private folders, searches and search histories not currently required, in order to clean up list of saved items and speed up display. Select the 'archive' button now visible when displaying saved folders, histories or searches.
Archived items can be reloaded to current list if required in future.
12th November 2010
New PatBase Interface for faster navigation
PatBase has a brand new interface which incorporates larger and bolder fonts in crisp colours. Useful shortcuts are to hand and a new welcome screen provides quicker access to the helpdesk and training guides, as well as a list of 'My Items', which displays direct links to your saved data.
Alongside the new PatBase interface a multitude of new features and enhancements include:
Improved functionality and display of Advanced Highlighting
This is now accessible via the toolbar when required and has increased functionality which has been standardised across all display views.
A new 'Hit Analyser' indicates the frequency of keywords occurring per publication.
Proximity and Boolean operators can be used in conjunction with Advanced Highlighting to pick out key words in relation to each other.
Multi Window Support synchronises different views
Pop-up windows such as Full-Text and Citations synchronise across a single data set when using keyboard shortcuts. As you analyse data within one window, the corresponding data in other windows automatically shifts to display the active record. You must enable 'allow multiple pop-ups' in your user settings. In addition to this, 'Pinning' of popups enables you to fix the position and size of the window as required.
Search Optimiser
An 'Optimise' tool is accessible directly from search queries listed on the History page, which gives an immediate break down of a data sample according to top Companies, Technologies, Dates and Countries. This allows you to filter out relevant results.
Other improvements
The 'Smart claims viewer' has been extended to include publications from all countries with Full-text available, to give a clear overview of the structure of claims and easily identify and view independent claims.
The Translation tool for on-the-fly translation of full-text is now accessible directly from view/browse results, without the need to open up the full text-window.
New Citation Tree display makes the relationship between backward and forward citations is clearer and easier to work with using the new graphical display. It is also possible to drill down within publications within the tree for additional information.
The new Classification Explorer displays an overview of the structure and definitions of classifications applied to a family across the IPC, ECLA, UC and JCT classification schemes.
The Custom Display Format now allows you to include an 'Image' view to display the image mosaics.
Bookmarks for PDFs have been made available wherever possible.
New Search options
Non-Latin keyword, inventor and assignee searches can now be run directly from the command line and languages have been extended to include Japanese, Chinese, Korean, Russian and Thai.
The 'Examples' field within the description of a publication can now be searched using the command EX= in the command line.
A 'Superclass' search can be run directly from the Search Form in PatBase, which covers all classification systems.
New Alert options
PatBase Alert results can also be received as RSS feeds. An additional link to set this up is available in the alert results email and requires an RSS reader.
A new advanced option is available allowing you to combine all advanced criteria, so you can be alerted as to when the first Assignee or IPC or an English abstract is added to a family.
'Alert results viewer' has been enhanced to enable you to search and locate records of particular interest. A 'Snapshot' breakdown is available for an instant analysis of alert results by date, country, assignee and classification. Results can be exported directly into Excel and PDF.
Folder enhancements
The 'Folder Highlighting' has been updated to work in the same way as the Advanced Highlighting described above. The access, display and management of Folders work much faster. The layout of additional data such as Folder descriptions and notes is clearer and easier to use.
New export options
Agent data, where available, can now be included in the CSV results export format. When exporting results by publication, US publications will have corresponding US assignee and classification data displayed in a friendlier layout.
New Intellixir export: users can now choose to export PatBase results directly into Intellixir, the patent analysis tool.
Improved Account Management
Administrators set up to manage other PatBase users within an account can do so easily by sorting and viewing users according to useful criteria, which makes working with a large number of users much simpler. An extra field for comments has been added and the display has been improved significantly, to allow much better management of user IDs.
Improved Country Coverage
Click here to view extended coverage and improved table.
1st March 2010
New sort family-table option
Users now can set their sort-by preference for family members within the table itself, allowing for a clear overview of the following: sort by Country Code, Publication date or customised country display.
Enhanced highlighting within 'Full Text' display
KWIC (Keyword in Context) highlighting has been introduced to the 'Full Text' display to speed up the process for users to focus on relevant publications containing keywords from their search criteria.
See Help >> Full-text >> Highlighting and hit map for further information.
Relevant family members highlighted in 'Full text' view
Family members which are highlighted in the family table when 'Viewing' or 'Browsing' results will now also be highlighted in the family table along the list displayed on the left hand side giving an overview of relevant records.
Export a folder or set of search results to 'Patent Insight Pro'
There is an additional option to export directly to 'Patent Insight Pro' analysis software in conjunction with Gridlogics.
Family members highlighting
Family members highlighted in the family table when 'Viewing' or 'Browsing' results are also highlighted in the family table displayed via the 'Full Text' display giving an overview of relevant records.
New custom display option
Combining the Country display preference with the KWIC. As with other fields, the display of the KWIC can be limited by country preference. In this case the KWIC information of the first family member which contained hits will be displayed based on the user's preference.
New and improved 'User settings' management-page
The new user-friendly look of the 'settings' page enables an easier and quicker navigation among the default Display and Search options.
30th October 2009
Chemical Synonym Search
A Chemical Thesaurus has been integrated into PatBase to enhance searching by finding relevant chemical names and numbers which is then constructed into the correct syntax for searching.
New improved folder display and management options
It is now possible to create user groups for sharing folders which can be created and managed via the 'Settings' tab in PatBase. Owners can select between granting read only or edit access to other sharers. Folders can now be renamed easily.
Folders can also be published allowing other PatBase users and non-PatBase users access to folder contents and a 'Snapshot' of records in a folder can be easily obtained via a link provided within the folder itself.
Search History Editor
Current search history can be edited easily via a standard text editor or a simple line by line editor by selecting 'Edit History' listed under 'History' in the toolbar.
Alert and Export results archived in PatBase
Recent offline export results will be archived under the 'Accounting' tab in PatBase.
Alert results will also be archived and can be accessed via the 'Alerts' tab.
FTCC command
A new text qualifier has been added to restrict full text searching to a specified country which is available via the command line.
Simple Families displayed within the PatBase Family
An additional option in 'Search and Display' settings enables a display of strict families (members with identical priorities) within the PatBase family table.
Sort by PatBase family number
It is now possible to view results in PatBase sorted by family number.
17th July 2009
New improved Custom Display Formats
The Custom Display Format has been improved dramatically to allow users to select and display from a wider choice of data fields for a Patent Family Record. For user convenience up to five custom display formats can now be defined and displayed in PatBase, four of which can be tagged with reference-names.
See Help >> Settings >> Custom Display Formats for further information
Improved Image Display Format
The Image display format allows users faster displaying of the results based on PatBase clipped Images and Mosaic (where available) from a results set. The modified display format is available when both displaying and exporting search results, folders, and session logs.
See Help >> Settings >> Displaying Results >> Display format options for further information.
New Searchable Help Section
A 'Search facility' has been introduced to provide a quick way for users to find the most relevant sections within the Help file.
Improved PDF export format
Bookmarks and a summary page have been included so that users can click through directly to relevant parts of the export document.
18th May 2009
Links to FR legal status
Users can now view legal Status updates for French (FR) publications via the link provided within 'Family Explorer' in PatBase.
Alert links active for longer
From PatBase week 0920 links in alert emails will remain active for 6 months. The time frame has been extended to enable alert recipients to check/compare alert results over a significant period of time.
1st May 2009
New 'Quick' search form
The quick search form offers a simple interface for keyword and/or Assignee/Inventor searching.
See Help >> Searching >> Quick Search for further information.
New 'Number' search form
The number search allows users to enter the number with or without a country code and also offers the option to search across the application, priority and publication number fields.
See Help >> Searching >> Number Wizard for further information.
New alert options
It is now possible to receive alerts based on:
The first time a PatBase family receives English Text
The first time an Assignee is assigned to a PatBase family
The first time an IPC is assigned to a PatBase family
See Help >> Alerts >> Alerts set-up for further information.
New Image display Format
The new Image display formats allow users to quickly review results based on PatBase clipped Images and Mosaic (where available) from a results set.
Japanese & Korean Assignee names now also available
PatBase now displays the original assignee names in non-Latin characters for Japanese and Korean assignee names, as well as the transliterated versions.
This must be enabled in a user's settings
Enhancements to the PatBase analysis functions
The user interface layout and graphic displays on all analysis screens have been improved.
The Class analysis function allows Users to sort the results by class and see the frequency breakdown by class, group and subgroup.
See Help >> Searching >> Statistical analysis for further information.
New VantagePoint export format
PatBase search results can be viewed and manipulated now using the VantagePoint Analysis software. This means PatBase Users can export search results directly into VantagePoint.
1st March 2009
New statistical analysis tool added: 'Snapshot' for instant statistical analysis
The new tool offers PatBase users a quick visual statistical breakdown of results. Users are able to view global patenting trends at a glance with respect to key areas of interest.
See Help >> Searching >> Statistical analysis >> Snapshot for further information.
German string search
Users can now use left hand truncation when searching German text. The new option is accessible from the toolbar Search >> German text.
See Help >> Searching >> German string Search for further information.
Modified 'Scan' display format
The use of alternate colours and a highlighted summary of key information enables users to sift through results quickly and click through to 'full text' for further information on relevant results.
The modified format is available when both displaying and exporting search results, folders, and session logs.
See Help >> Searching >> Displaying Results >> Display format options for further information.
New sorting options
Search results can now by sorted by two new criteria: 'Most cited' and 'Relevance'. Relevance is based upon relevance to your search request.
17th November 2008
Extended Priority Map
Users are able to view the priority map for a very large or extended family. The Priority Map clearly illustrates how family members of the large family are related by their priority numbers.
27th October 2008
Non-Latin search
Users can search for keywords in non-Latin languages: Chinese, Korean, Japanese and Russian.
See Help >> Searching >> Non-Latin Search for further information.
1st September 2008
New command
Users can search for agent data using the command AG=.
See Help >> Searching >> Fields for further information.
1st July 2008
New export options
Users can now export to RIS files and view exported data in Reference Manager.
See Help >> Searching >> Displaying Results >> Exporting displayed results for further information.
Citation information in exports
Citation information is now available in 'publication' based exports.
New PDF ordering options
Users can now add only the highlighted publication from the family table to the PDF order basket (where appropriate).
15th May 2008
New keyword analysis tool added - VizPat Keyword Analysis
The Keyword Analysis facility computes and displays a ranking count for keywords and for keywords in proximity to each other in a retrieved set of records. Users have the option to manipulate the data set, merging or deleting keywords before the analysis is performed. Users could thus carry out a class search and use Keyword analysis to find the most relevant keywords for further searches. Furthermore, the analysis can be restricted to French, German or US claims to obtain a keyword list in French, German or English. Keyword analysis benefits from VizPat graphical results displays.
See Help >> Searching >> Statistical analysis >> Keyword Analysis.
New commands to easily search against folders and saved searches
RF-command - Enters a private results folder into the command line, without having to open the folder. e.g. RF=(folder name 1) or RF=(folder name 2).
SF-command - Enters a shared results folder into the command line, without having to open the folder. e.g. SF=(folder name 1) not SF=(folder name 2).
SS-command - Enters saved searches into the command line, without having to open the list of saved searches. e.g. SS=(folder name) and UP=0817.
See Help >> Searching >> Search language >> Adding folders to search statements.
See Help >> Searching >> Search language >> Combine folders via the command line.
See Help >> Searching >> Saved searches >> Running saved searches from the command line.
New access option for shared folder
When sharing a folder, users can now limit access to one or more colleagues.
See Help >> Results folder >> Sharing and merging folders >> Sharing a folder.
New sorting of folders, saved searches and saved histories
The column headings of folder, saved search and saved history tables are now clickable to allow the user to sort them by name, date and number of results (folders only). This will help users find entries in these lists more easily.
See Help >> Results folder >> Opening folder >> Sorting saved folders list.
See Help >> Searching >> Saved searches >> Sorting saved search list.
See Help >> Search history >> Open saved history >> Sorting the saved search history list.
Multiple popups
This loads links to statistical analysis, full text, mosaics etc in separate popup windows; one for each type of link.
Keyboard shortcuts
Users can now navigate records in the view and browse results displays more easily using keyboard shortcuts. For example, pressing 'N' for 'Next' moves down from one family to the next. Pressing 'T' for 'Top' scrolls to the top of the screen.
See Help >> Settings >> Display and search options >> How to set your default display and search options.
New display of citation information
Custom and CSV formats will now display the number of forward and backward citations.
New agents data
Agents information is now displayed in the record view, this is information about which agents filed patent applications. This information is particularly useful when an application has been made without giving an assignee. Current coverage: January 2008 onwards.
See Help >> Searching >> Displaying results >> Agent Information look up.
New Designated State lookup facility
At the end of the Designated State list in record displays there is a question mark icon. Clicking on this opens a new popup window with a breakdown of designates states by publication.
See Help >> Searching >> Displaying results >> Designated State lookup.
1st February 2008
New time-saving export-tool added - Offline export
Exporting record sets can now be done 'offline'. This is especially useful and time-saving if you have a large set of documents you want to export. When the number of records exceeds 100 for a normal export (or 50 for 'publication' based exports, in which case the individual details of patent publications in the family are exported separately) the user will not have to wait for the export to complete before continuing to search. A link to the export file will be emailed instead. This feature allows the user to continue searching, there is no need to wait any longer until the document export has been completed.
See Help >> Searching >> Displaying results >> Exporting displayed results for further information.
New searchable classifications
Two new patent classifications are available on PatBase:
The Locarno Classification Codes (LC=) and the German Classification Codes (GC=) known as DEKLA. The Locarno classification is relevant for Design patents, while DEKLA enables more refined searching of families containing German documents, due to the more detailed subdivisions of the IPC groups made by German Patent Office examiners. This means there are now 6 patent classifications available; IPC, USPC, ECLA and JP F/FI Terms are already offered. Don't forget the classifications are linked to definitions, for your convenience, wherever possible. Thousands of additional keywords have been provided courtesy of RWS Group to offer extra assistance over and above the publicly available information for Japanese definitions.
For further information see Help >> Searching >> Search language.
Embedded images in fulltext of European Patent (EP) documents
Images of chemical formulae and information presented in a non-text format (such as tables) in European (EP) patent specifications can now be viewed. The images appear in the full-text view in PatBase, inserted at the same place as in the original PDF patent copy. This brand new feature will help chemists and engineers to review the full-text in PatBase more easily as they will be able to see the chemical structures etc straightaway in the full-text, perhaps avoiding the need to order the PDF copy and therefore saving time.
New commands to allow more detailed searching
NP-command (NP=n; NP>n; NP<n) - Number of Publications in Family. This command allows the user to refine the number of results based on the number of publications in the family. e.g. ft=(apple and pie) and NP>5.
NC-command (NC=n; NC<n; NC>n) - Number of Publication Countries in Family. This command allows the user to refine the number of results based on the number of publication countries in the family. e.g. ft=(apple and pie) and NC>5.
The user can also refine the amount of publications from certain countries to be found in the search result set:e .g. ft=(cranes and motor) and NUS>3. e.g. ft=(laser) and NWO>8.
New Citation Commands: NCTF and NCTB
The new citation commands allow the user to refine their search with regards to the amount of forward or backward citations found, for example only showing the families which have 5 or more associated forward or backward citations.
New commands for combining search-steps: OR=[range] and AND=[range]
The new commands allow users to combine a range of search-statements from X to Y with the "OR" command in one simple step. e.g: instead of combining steps 1 to 5 by repeating the "OR" command, the user can use the simple step OR=1:5.
New Japanese and Korean data
PatBase offers the Japanese classification (F/FI Terms), examined and unexamined patents, utility models, drawings and both English language and Japanese text. Several million JP Utulity Models have been added to PatBase. In addition, a project adding text of non-Latin languages has begun. Already, you can view non-Latin text in the full-text view. Here, users can see some Asian language data already. The Asian text, such as Japanese Claims from the full-text can be translated into English using PatBase's machine translation options.
The F/FI Terms have been added to the statistical analysis options, so they can be used to analyse technology sectors and competitors as well as the USPC, ECLA and the IPC. VIzPat is an advanced statistical analysis toolset that was added late 2007 to PatBase and is available for all users. There is help available on screen as you create and select analyses to use.
Korean patent information from KIPI is being added to PatBase, including English language titles and assignees, claims and descriptions in Korean. Users can search a machine translation of the abstracts which speeds up access to Korean patent data in advance of the official English language abstracts.
In addition users can request the machine translation of the full text which is processed instantly online by PatBase at no additional cost.
New Alert Results Viewer
PatBase Alert users will now be able to view their results in a new Viewer, The Alert Viewer allows users to view the highlighted full-text of new publications as well as browse the families in an easy-to-use web application with fast access to PDF and text versions of the publications.
This new tool will also be available to Alert recipients who do not have a PatBase ID - ideal for sharing PatBase alert results with end users in an organization.
A link to the new viewing tool will automatically be included in alert emails.
28th November 2007
Extended coverage of Japan and non-Latin text
A project adding several million Japanese Utility Model inventions to PatBase has been undertaken at the same time as adding English language searchable machine translations for these and many thousands of other patent documents in various original languages. Machine translations are gradually being added.
PatBase now contains the Japanese patent classification (F/FI Terms)
Japanese examined and unexamined patents, utility models, drawings and both English language and Japanese text.
New translation tool
Using a translation tool, Japanese patent text such as the claims can be translated into English in PatBase. Japanese Text accompanying the technical drawings has been added as well, making PatBase a powerful tool for searching and discovering Japanese innovation.
12th October 2007
Advanced Statistical Analysis added
The Advanced Statistical Analysis facility computes and displays a ranking count for each unique value in a field, in a retrieved set of records. Users can run analysis on patent assignees, classification codes, inventors or country.
Citation Tree added
The tree provides a visual representation of the forward and backward citations for each member of a patent family.
1st May 2007
New export options added
Ability to select/filter patents included in the publication export by country or origin.
Ability to select which patents are exported by first adding them to the PDF order basket.
Earliest Priority Date and Earliest Publication Date available in family export.
New display formats added
Simple: This display-format contains no tables.
Plain: Fixed text.
These new formats are available when exporting search results, folders and session logs.
New Citation-command
The new CT commands allow the user to find the forward/backward citations from a search result set.
CTF [search#] (CTF 1) will retrieve all forward-citations from families found by that search.
CTB [search#] (CTB 1) will retrieve all backward-citations from families found by that search.
See Help >> Searching >> Citation Search for further information.
New field in Custom-display-format: KWIC
The KWIC (keyword in context) feature displays those particular parts of the record in which search terms appear.
New classification in analysis
Japanese F-Terms now avaible in classification analysis.
1st March 2007
New Folder Utilities added
Ability to add a description to each folder and attach search history.
Ability to add notes to each family in a folder.
Folder highlighitng schemes.
See Help >> Results folder >> Folder Utilities for further information.
New export format
Export a folder or set of search results to BizInt Smart Charts.
New highlighting option
Added option for user to disable auto stemming when highlighting see Help >> Settings >> Display and search options for further information.
29th October 2006
New Full-text Machine-Translation
New Machine-Translation-Tool to translate from English into French, German, Portuguese and Spanish and in reverse see Help >> Full-Text >> Machine Translation for further information.
New Classifications
PatBase now includes searchable Japanese classifications.
Simplified ECLA classification definitions.
Highlighting Schemes
Users can save their own Highlighting Schemes for later usage see Help >> Full-Text >> Hit map for further information.
Thesaurus
The Thesaurus tool helps users find / choose further synonyms to use in the Highlighting function or for searching see Help >> Full-Text >> Hit map for further information.
Dictionary look-up
A full Wiktionary Dictionary look-up is integrated into PatBase with an enhanced viewer, to allow word definitions to be located quickly see Help >> Search tools >> Dictionary for further information.
One-Click PDF save/order
The new option allows the user to order/save the document with one click see Help >> PDF order >> Ordering documents for further information.
New Data Export Options
Data can be exported now into raw XML data or into CSV, Excel or HTML Table format for further manipulation, reporting and analysis see Help >> Results folder >> Exporting a folder for further information.
Patent Number and Kind Code Look-up
A new tool is added to view all the various Patent Number and Kind Code formats by year for a given country code see Help >> Search tools >> Patent number formats for further information.
PDCC Command
The new PDCC-command allows the user to search for a given date or date range combined with a country code see Help >> Searching >> Fields.
'Super Class' Command
The new Super Class command allows to search all classification schemes simultaneously see Help >> Searching >> Fields.
Citation Searching
The Citation Searching has been enhanced by adding the possibility to choose to view either Backward or Forward Citations or both at once see Help >> Searching >> Citation search for further information.
Alert Service
Weekly alerts are delivered as active links to the document results in emails now, rather than as attachments. The link remains active for a period of 30 days see Help >> Alerts >> About Alerts for further information.
Helpdesk
Users can send support requests directly to Customer Services while connected to PatBase, such as questions about the search language, display and highlighting, exporting data, missing or suspected errors in data, etc. See Help >> Contact Helpdesk for further information.
Browser support
Improved support has been added for Firefox & Safari browsers for PC and Apple OSX.
6th March 2006
PatBase Express launched
Drawing on the same comprehensive data as the original PatBase system, PatBase Express offers a simplified way of searching. PatBase Express is an ideal solution for making patent searching accessible throughout an organisation. For further information about PatBase Express, please visit www.patbaseexpress.com or click here.
Family Explorer
A viewing tool to examine individual publications within a PatBase family, see Help >> Searching >> Displaying results for further information.
Priority Map
A visualisation tool to identify how priority number and patent number are related, see Help >> Searching >> Displaying results for further information.
CSV export
A further export option to export information about individual publication numbers, see Help >> Searching >> Displaying results for further information.
Advanced highlighting
Group keywords to be highlighted by colour, see Help >> Full-text >> Hit map and hit analysis for further information.
10th January 2006
PatBase and IPC 8
IPC 8 is now searchable in PatBase.
5th July 2005
New enhancements added
4th April 2005
US Claims Analyser
PatBase US claims analyser now available, see Help >> Full-text >> Viewing full-text for further information.
6th December 2004
Enhanced PDF ordering features
Order one PDF per PatBase family, specifying country preference; Order English machine translations of full Japanese patent documents, see Help >> PDF Order >> Ordering documents for further information.
15th November 2004
Full-text searching
PatBase with full-text searching has now been commercially launched, see Help >> Full-text for further information.
24th February 2004
Alerts
An Alert System has been added to PatBase, see Help >> Alerts for further details.
New CCD command
Linking the country and date for more specific searches, see Help >> Fields.
New priority country command
New priority country command added (PRC), see Help >> Fields.
New last (LPR) and earliest (EPR) priority date commands
New last (LPR) and earliest (EPR) priority date commands added, see Help >> Fields.
PCT, US, EP data now loaded
PCT, US, EP data now loaded on publication date (available for searching the following morning), resulting in very up-to-date searching and Alerts.
19th November 2003
Browse index improvements
Browsing index now allows you to control the number of index entries displayed.
New update fields
Update week fields added (please see help >> PatBase coverage >> update schedule for more information)
Search filters
Search filter functionality added (please see help >> searching >> search filter for more information)
29th October 2003
PatBase launched