ip4inno Module 3B Espacenet

ip4inno Module 3B Espacenet
Learn how to make best use of the worldwide database of ideas ip4inno Module 3B Espacenet Version The name, venue and date fields are to be left for trainers to complete whenever they run their own training. For subject oriented questions on the various patent information products and services please refer to our user support. addresses can be found at the end of this presentation. Please note that Espacenet and the other services covered are constantly upgraded and modified. Please check every time before you deliver this material whether it is still compliant with the products and services it is referring to. Name of speaker Venue & date

ip4inno is brought to you by:
European Commission, DG Enterprise & Industry European Patent Office 19 consortium partners in the first ip4inno project This particular module was written and updated by the: with funding from the EC and EPO Please delete text „<insert contractor's name & logo & URL>„ from slide. Replaced by EPO This slide is mandatory. The contractor can, of course, claim credit for their authorship for this module (amend to show if written from scratch or merely updated). For those modules which are merely updated, the institutions responsible for the original (under the first project in 2007) should also be credited. The fact that the EC and EPO are the sole funders of the current activity should be mentioned. For information the partners in the first project ( ) were: European Patent Office Hungarian Patent Office Portuguese Patent & TM Office National Board of Patents and Registration of Finland Spanish Patent Office INPI, France State IP Office of Croatia Turkish Patent Office Danish Patent Office European Business and Innovation Centres Network CRP Henri Tudor, Luxembourg FUNDITEC, Spain IWT - Flanders Fraunhofer TEG IEEPI, Strasbourg METU - Technopolis, Turkey Fundación EOI, Spain Universidad Politécnica de Madrid University of Alicante

The Disclaimer! This training material concerns intellectual property and business strategies only in general terms. This training material should not be relied upon when taking specific business or legal decisions. Rather, professional advice should be obtained which suits the circumstances in question. The need for the disclaimer is obvious. A trainer can add a bit of humour here by saying: "This seminar is not intended to make anyone into an IP expert. We are not training you to become patent attorneys! Rather, please think of this course as "intellectual property First Aid". And what is the purpose of First Aid? - "To keep the patient alive long enough for professional help to arrive." that is what we hope to achieve with you - to make you IP paramedics. When clients come to you with a business issue, we hope you will know enough about IP to be able to spot an IP problem or opportunity which the client has missed, and prevent them from making the situation worse, whilst referring them to appropriate legal advisors. Please note that Espacenet and the other services covered are constantly upgraded and modified. Please check every time before you deliver this material whether it is still compliant with the products and services it is referring to.

Learning objectives By the end of this module the learner should:
be familiar with the basic functionalities and limitations of Espacenet know the different search possibilities and their input parameters (available fields, logical operators, truncations etc.) know how to read and operate the different lists in Espacenet (sort, export etc.) know how to handle individual result in Espacenet (view, save, print, translate, family members etc.) know the possibilities of IPC and ECLA search in Espacenet Make sure the objectives are clear to the audience. Meaning: What will be treated and what NOT.

Learning objectives (cont'd)
By the end of this module the learner should: be familiar with the basic functionalities and limitations of other free EPO patent information products (European patent register, Register alert, publication server) understand the link between Espacenet, the European patent register, Register alert and other services of the EPO know how to set up and configure an alerting service for the European Patent Register know where to find general information related to patent information from the EPO and further help and support for these services Refer to module 3C for application of all acquired knowledge.

Outline What is Espacenet? Search functions Classifications
Working with results Patent families Tips & tricks Limitations Other EPO patent information products & services Support Mention why classification is so important and that (search) examiners use it to a large extent.

Working with results Patent families Tips & tricks Limitations Other EPO patent information products & services Support

Espacenet BUT: for critical decision ask for professional help
a database of more than 70 million records a collection of patent documents (applications, granted patents, search reports, non-patent literature) data from 85 patent authorities worldwide data from 1836 to today source of technical information available free-of-charge via the internet at or worldwide.espacenet.com Espacenet is a free, online search tool helping you to find relevant information amongst more than 70 million published patent documents. Detailed coverage information can be found at which is updated on a 6 month basis. Click on the country you are interested in to get detailed coverage information. Please note that most of the screenshots are hyperlinked. If time allows and you are connected to the internet use this to jump right into the databases in order to make it more lively. Note: Add link to Espacenet brochure once they are available BUT: for critical decision ask for professional help

Access via One way to access Espacenet is to start from the EPO homepage Then select "Search existing patents" e.g. from the "Before you apply" section in the middle, start a search straight in the Ptent search box in the top or navigate to Espacenet via the Searching for patents menu..

This will bring you to the portal The "Espacenet- patent search" menu on the left will give you several options: By looking at the "Release notes & known issues" section you will be able to see the advantages of the latest Espacenet version over the previous ones. By choosing "About searching in Espacenet" you will get three options. The first option - "Things you should know" - will give you some basic information on patents. The "Before starting your search" option will provide you with tips on how to make your research more effective. The last option - "Languages" will show you the interface languages available for the Espacenet services. By clicking on "Fair use charter", you will be able to read the guidance on how to be a friendly and trouble-free Espacenet user. By looking at the "From the world of Espacenet" option you will be able to view the news from various Espacenet offices and EPO offices around the world.

The "Direct access" menu on the same page will give you the choice to access Espacenet via the EPO, the EC or a national office. If you access Espacenet via the EPO, the interface will be available in the 3 official languages (English, French, German) Accessing Espacenet via the EC will give you the same result. You can perform the same searches as on the server in the same languages and get the same help. Accessing Espacenet via a national or regional server leads you to national data and to worldwide information using an interface in the respective national language(s). The interface and help are available in the national language. Point to the server which will be used for the rest of the training. You can still navigate between the different servers later via the option Change country.

Working with results Patent families Tips & tricks Limitations Other EPO patent information products & services Support Now we will look at the different search options you have.

Entry page - http://worldwide.espacenet.com
On the Entry page ( you have 5 different search options (Smart search, Quick search, Advanced search, Number search, and Classification search) which will enable you to retrieve patent documents. The Classification search will provide you with a list of all current classification symbols representing the various technical fields. URL to remember:

Quick search The second and the simplest search option is the Quick search ( Step 1 always select the database you wish to search in : you have the choice between EP and Worldwide. In the EP and WIPO databases, you can search respectively for the full text of EP or PCT published applications. In the Worldwide database, you have access to the whole "published" collection from 1836 to date from more than 80 publishing authorities. Step 2 choose what to search for: either for words in the title or abstract, names of persons/organisations (in this mask entries will be interpreted as inventor and/or applicant) or words in the full text (including also description and claims). This last option is not available using the Worldwide database. Step 3 enter search terms. Maximum of 10 search terms per field separated by a space. Default operator is AND. To increase your chances of finding a patent that matches your query, you can use the OR operator in combination with synonyms or related terms. You can use the NOT operator to exclude some words from your search query. Boolean operators cannot be placed at the beginning of a search field, they should be entered between search terms. You may read the HELP files anytime or view the Quick help on the screens!

Number search Number search On this mask you can enter either an application, publication or priority number with or without country code prefix, or even a Non Patent Literature (NPL) reference number. Country codes are two letters indicating the country or organisation where the patent application was filed or granted (eg GB). A NPL reference number is a number assigned to a non-patent literature (XP) document. In Espacenet, only XP documents which have been classified and/or cited in the search report produced at the EPO are available. It is not possible to retrieve an XP document by the name of the author, nor is it possible to limit a search to XP documents only.

Smart search Smart search is the default search option found on the entry Espacenet page In Smart search you can enter your query with or without field identifiers. A maximum of 10 terms can be used per searchable bibliographic data category (e.g. inventors) and 20 terms in total. Keywords have to be entered in English to ensure correct results are retrieved. Full text (claims and description) cannot be searched. A maximum of five brackets can be used per query (so-called nested queries). Different types of operators can be used (Boolean, proximity, comparison). At this level (on this screen), the system will automatically search for your criteria in the Worldwide database.

"Smart search" Explaining the Smart search example :
Below we can see there are 2 matches to our search. Both of them are patents published in 1950 and have Farnsworth as applicant and/or inventor. The second result however does not contain “cathode” in its title but in its abstract (which is not displayed at this level). If the input starts with a capital letter and then contains only lowercase letters, then the system considers it as a name and the field identifier "ia" is visible in the query entry. If a date (in this case a year) is entered it is considered to be a publication date and the field identifier "pd" is visible in the query entry. If the input is neither a date, a classification, a name nor a number, it is considered as being text and "txt" will be shown in the query entry.

Explaining the Smart search example:
If the input conforms to the classification symbol pattern, then it is a classification and the field identifier "cl" will be shown in the query entry. You do not need to enter the symbol in capital letters. If the input is neither a date, a classification, a name nor a number, it is considered as being text and "txt" will be shown in the query entry. You may use one of the three authorised wildcard characters (jokers): • * - stands for a string of characters of any length • ? - stands for zero or one character • # - stands for exactly one character So here the star after "illuminat" will retrieve documents having the terms illuminated, illumination, illuminator, etc. in the title of abstract.

Each time you perform a valid search the system gives you the opportunity to refine your search and modify your input parameters. This way you can change your input to limit, for example, the number of results. You can also understand how the system interpreted your query. Once you start refining your search you will also have the opportunity to select the database to search in. You will find some help files at the bottom of this page with examples. When working ONLINE, you may experience a "down" period of the Espacenet server. Please note the unavailability of Espacenet for maintenances to taking place daily between 5:00 and 5:15 CET. Any other maintenance issue is published under NEWS FLASHES in advance.

While performing a Smart search, you can use some of the field identifiers.
In the help files you can see exactly what each field identifier stands for with an example of how to use it.

Smart search entering queries
This slide shows you that if you do not use a particular field identifier, the system will guess which one should be used according to specific rules.

Smart search operators
As mentioned previously different types of operators can be used. You can find the rules and examples in the online Help files.

Examples I will now show you some examples of how easy it is to use Espacenet.

Example: Call a document
Select the database. if you have found a number in an article of a magazine, without a country code prefix nor a kind code, and not knowing what this number represents, enter it in the Number search field and see what you will get! In the Quick help on the left, you can see which are the different number formats. Note: You might want to make up a story around the examples.

Example: Call a document
You will get a list of results from which you have to choose the most relevant document, i.e. by looking at the title which will give you an idea of what the invention is about. Click on the title and look at the "Original document" tab which may enable you to view a PDF, if available.

Example: Smart search Example: Searching using Smart search
We will start with a query referring to documents having in their title or abstract, the words laser(s) and diode(s) in them as well as having words starting with "fabric" or "manufact" and having been classified in the technical field H01S5 which stands for semiconductor lasers. You will get an approximate number of results. Then we will Refine our search by adding a publication date greater than or equal to 2005. Results contain the words laser diode or diode laser, manufacture, manufacturing, fabrication, fabricating, fabricated, etc.

Now we will refine once more by specifying that we want the system to find patents where the words laser and diode are less than three words apart in the TXT identifier and in the order shown. We get an approximate number of results. If we now say that the applicant should be Sony, we reduce again the number of results.

Advanced search The title is simply a short text (often one sentence) describing the contents of the application. The title may be a translation into English of the title of a published document not originally in English. The abstract contains a concise summary of the disclosure of the invention as contained in the description, claims and drawings. Abstracts are loaded approximately one month after the publication date. An abstract may be a translation into English of the abstract of a published document not originally in English. The publication number is the number assigned to a patent application on publication. Publication numbers are generally made up of a country code (two letters) and a serial number (variable, one to twelve digits). The application number is the number assigned to a patent application when it is filed. For the majority of countries is made up of a country code, the year of filing (four digits), and a serial number (variable, maximum seven digits). The priority number is the number of the application in respect of which priority is claimed, i.e. it is the same as the application number of the claimed priority document. The publication date is the date on which the patent application was first published. It is the date on which the patent document is made available to the public, thereby becoming part of the state of the art. An applicant is a person or organisation (e.g. company, university, etc.) who/which has filed a patent application. There may be more than one applicant per application. The applicant may also be the inventor, although this is not necessarily the case. The inventor is the person named in a patent application as the inventor. There may be more than one inventor. The inventor can also be the applicant. The format is made up of the surname followed by the first name(s) of the inventor(s). The ECLA classification system is an extension of the International Patent Classification (IPC). It is however more precise, having twice as many entries (ECLA: ; IPC: ). EPO examiners use it to classify patent documents and thus facilitate their prior-art searches. ECLA is revised continuously, and the documents are then reclassified accordingly. It should be mentioned that, although ECLA does better in terms of the accuracy because it has around twice as many symbols, not all documents are classified according to ECLA. Especially, when looking for very recent publications, one should be aware that documents often receive their ECLA mark only after their publication. In contrast all documents (with maybe a few exceptions) will have IPC classification symbols. The technical content of patent documents is classified in accordance with the International Patent Classification (IPC). The publishing office assigns an IPC symbol valid at the time of publication of the patent application. The complete IPC can be found on the website of the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO). You can search for up to a maximum of ten terms per field.

Advanced search Advanced Search
If you select the EP database, you will be able to search also in the full text, i.e. in the description and claims of published European patent applications (only). If it is, however, important for your search to have the widest possible coverage, you ought to use the "worldwide" database. You can search for up to a maximum of ten terms per field. Maximum of 21 search terms and 20 operators per mask. If you enter keywords in the Title, then the system will only look for those keywords in the Title field. If you enter keywords in the Title or Abstract, then you will get documents having those keywords in their title or in their abstract.

Bibliographic data On this slide, you can see what a patent application looks like in PDF. The digits in brackets correspond to the INID codes. For example, on all patent documents around the world the Date of Publication will be tagged with "(43)" and the Priority Date with "(30)". This has the advantage that bibliographic data on foreign documents can also be understood. INID is an acronym for “Internationally agreed Numbers for the Identification of bibliographic Data elements.” The list of INID codes can be found on the WIPO web site, under Standards ST. 9. Appendix i This bibliographic information can be found in Espacenet under the "Bibliographic data" tab.

Date formats and ranges
You can search for a specific date using any of the following formats: yyyymmdd yyyy-mm-dd dd/mm/yyyy dd.mm.yyyy The following entries are admissible for date range searches in Advanced search mode: 2005:2007 2005,2007 " " The following entries are admissible for date range searches in Smart search mode: 2005:2007 2005,2007 "2005,2007" "2005, 2007" " " pd=" " pd="2005, 2007" pd="2005,2007" pd="2005:2007" pd >=2005 AND pd <=2007 will retrieve documents published between 2005 and 2007. These are the different date formats which can be used. See Espacenet help index:

Outline What is espacenet? Search functions Classifications
Working with results Patent families Tips & tricks Limitations Other EPO patent information products & services Support

 Classification Systems Patent Information Tour to be found at
A nice introduction to the classification system can be found on the introductory e-learning tool Patent Information Tour. If connected to internet click on symbol/link and show the info trailer under topic no. T3. sound is recommended. Check before the lecture.

Advantages of patent classifications
Searches are independent of the wording of the applicants Information added by experts Constantly being revised and updated Field is available in entry level portals (e.g. Espacenet) Useful field for statistical purposes Product and production processes can both be searched

International Patent Classification (IPC) http://www.wipo.int/ipcpub/
This is the current list of International Patent Classification symbols. Click on the letter A for example to view the areas covered by section A. Each further click on a particular symbol will describe that area more precisely.

Classification systems
The IPC (and ECLA) have a hierarchical structure: Sections A, B, C, D, E, F, G, H Classes e.g. A47 Sub-classes e.g. A47J Groups e.g. A47J37 Sub-groups e.g. A47J37/06 ECLA = IPC + ECLA sub-groups e.g. A47J37/06C e.g. A47J37/06C4D The classification symbol is made up of a letter denoting the IPC section (e.g. A), followed by a number (two digits) denoting the IPC class (e.g. A47), still followed by a letter denoting the IPC subclass (e.g. A47J). A number (variable, 1-3 digits) denotes the IPC main group (e.g. A47J37), a forward slash "/", and a number (variable, 1-3 digits) denotes the IPC subgroup (e.g. A47J37/06). This, as one would already guess by looking at the code, stands for: Roasters; Grills, Sandwich grills ;-) ... The ECLA classification system is an extension of the IPC. It is however more precise, having twice as many entries (ECLA: ; IPC: ). EPO examiners use it to classify patent documents and thus facilitate their prior-art searches. ECLA is revised continuously, and the documents are then reclassified accordingly. The ECLA code shown here (A47J37/06C4D) goes even deeper and stands for Roasters; Grills, Sandwich grills but only for small-size cooking ovens with electric heating elements with forced air circulation. Besides, ECLA has an extra classification with the letter Y - which covers new technological developments such as nanotechnology and technologies related to adaptation to climate changes and clean energy patents.

International Patent Classification (IPC)
We will now try searching for H01S on the WIPO website and look at the description of this classification. From the IPC sections down to the main group level the hierarchy can be easily identified by looking at the symbols themselves. On sub-group level, one has to look into the hierarchy itself and check the hierarchical position according to the number of dots in front of the text. . only one dot indicates the highest sub-group level two and three dots stand for further levels down - one below the other. Text items or symbols with the same number of dots have the same hierarchy level. To locate the hierarchical position of a symbol just look at the symbols or text above it and find the next symbol with one dot less than the one you are looking at. This can be nicely seen e.g. with symbol H01S3/036. The next levels up are H01S3/03 and H01S3/02, respectively. One wouldn't be able to determine the hierarchical relation between the latter ones by just looking at the symbol. Therefore, you have to always look into the hierarchy when trying to identify the best IPC symbols to use for your search.

European Patent Classification accessible via http://worldwide
And compare that description with the one given in the European classification of Espacenet. Sometimes descriptions and codes are shown in brackets just like the superluminescent diodes. This is a reference to another point in the ECLS scheme and tells you will not find superluminescent diodes here under H01S5 / Semiconductor lasers but under H01L33/00D7.If you were looking for symbols for these diodes look over there.

V Both classification symbols (IPC & ECLA) are represented in Espacenet on the Bibliographic data screen. There is in fact a direct link from this screen to the ECLA page through clicking on the ECLA symbols shown. The IPC is mentioned on the PDF, available under the "Original document" tab. ECLA is only used in the EPO databases, therefore, on EP documents you will only find the IPC symbols

Classification systems
Sections A, B, C, D, E, F, G, H Classes e.g. H01 Sub-classes e.g. H01S Groups e.g. H01S5 Sub-groups e.g. H01S5/06

Explain hierarchy compared to IPC
ECLA usually follows the current IPC; up to IPC subgroup level, the ECLA and IPC classification symbols are in most cases identical. Optionally, the ECLA classification scheme may be further subdivided beyond IPC level by ECLA subgroups represented by a letter which may in turn be followed by a digit and a letter (e.g. B65D81/20B2A). It is estimated that 90% of the documents that have to be classified under ECLA are allocated a classification within eight months after the publication.

with keywords with symbols Searching or
You can retrieve the most relevant classification symbols using keywords or retrieve a particular classification (i.e. the definition of a symbol) by entering a symbol found on a document. maximum 10 keywords separated by a space or 10 symbols. you can use Boolean operators and truncation. with keywords with symbols Searching or

Example Searching FOR ECLA classification symbols

Example: searching FOR ECLA symbols
Enter diode? laser? to retrieve the classification symbol mostly used for those keywords.

Here you can see the number of dots on the left hand side, which show the relevance level of each particular symbol. The maximum number of dots is 5.

Then you can click on the grey symbol on the right to get the detailed description of that particular classification. If you want to perform a search in a particular field, select one symbol (or up to 10 symbols), by ticking the box on the right hand side, next to the grey symbol and then click on COPY. it will copy the symbol to the search mask where you can combine it with other search criteria. In some cases the ECLA may differ from the IPC with certain IPC groups not existing in the ECLA scheme. This may have different reasons, e.g. certain IPC groups may not be considered relevant by the EPO examiners, or maybe a change in the IPC has not been implemented for the ECLA yet. In case of such discrepancies between the IPC and the ECLA there will be a note underneath the sub-class's title (e.g. B65D) in Espacenet which will refer to the ECLA entries where documents classified in the respective IPC groups can be found. The notes can be displayed by ticking the "show notes" button. In ECLA, it is possible to add more entries as well as more text in the existing titles, notes, references, etc., for example: B65D5/ Linings or internal coatings, [N: e.g. pre-formed trays provided with a blow- or thermoformed layer] (to protect the articles from mechanical damage B65D81/127) [C0008] B65D5/56B [N: Laminated linings; Coatings] B65D5/56 is an IPC entry, which is reproduced in ECLA, but with more text added in the title: the addition is marked by the "tags" [N: ... ], which originally were meant for "Non official", compared to IPC text (= official). Please note that the square brackets are also used in ECLA for marking "time", always at the end of titles. In the example [C0008] means that the entry was Changed in August Likewise, [N9806] would mean a New entry introduced in June 1998. B65D5/56B is a mere ECLA entry. Its symbol has a letter following the IPC symbol, a distinctive mark for mere ECLA groups, as no IPC groups have symbols with letters. The corresponding title is mere ECLA text and it is therefore marked with the tags [N: ... ].

Example Searching WITH ECLA classification symbols

Example: searching WITH ECLA symbols
Once you have selected one symbol (or up to 10 symbols), you can copy it to the search mask in order to combine it with other search criteria. Simply tick the box on the right hand side, next to the blue symbol and then on COPY.

Add more search criteria such as keywords in the Title or abstract, a country code in the publication number field (for ex. GB) or a publication date. If you select more than one symbol, the system will automatically use the default operator AND between the symbols. You should therefore change the operator to OR if you prefer.

Example: Searching WITH ECLA classification symbols Look at the results The terms you entered are highlighted in the result list. Some are visible straight away, the others are to be found with the next mouse clicks. What do the numbers in brackets represent ? In cases where more than two applicants, inventors or IPC or ECLA classes are found, only the two first are shown in the extended view format. To see all of them, go to the bibliographic data of the document concerned by clicking on its title.

For some classification symbols relating to Chemistry, we have included a chemical formula in form of a picture.

Working with results Patent families Tips & Tricks Limitations Other EPO patent information products & services Support

http://worldwide. espacenet. com/searchResults
Example of a result list A maximum of results can be found per query but only 500 results will be displayed, 15 at a time in the extended view format. You can use the jump bar to consult each further list of 15 documents; simply click the "next" button. If you select the compact view format, up to 30 patent documents including their title, publication number with kind code and date will be displayed at a time. A documents are applications, B documents are granted patents. What do the numbers in brackets represent? In cases where more than two applicants, inventors or IPC or ECLA classes are found, only the two first are shown in the extended view format. To see all of them, go to the bibliographic data of the document concerned. Point to "My patents list„ You may select up to 100 documents and store them in your own personal list by ticking the star(s) on the left hand side which then turn red. The result list as well as the "My patents list" can be exported as a file in CSV or Microsoft Excel format for further processing. Simply click on Export or the respective file format in the tool bar.

It is possible to select documents by ticking the box in the left where their first page is put together into one PDF document. To open or save such a document select Download covers from the top menu. You can also select all documents in the current view on the left of the menu bar.

Search term highlighting
... also in full text EP If you want to be sure that the terms searched are displayed in the document you are looking at, you can check by looking a the highlighted terms. In this case, the words "source" and "laser" were entered in the "Keywords in full text" field of the Advanced search using the EP database and therefore are highlighted in the claims.

Sorting of lists Sorting of lists
The complete result list can be sorted by "Upload date", "Priority date", "Inventor", "Applicant" or "ECLA", as well as "Descending" or "Ascending" if there are less than 500 results found. The slider on the top right can be used to navigate in case of fewer than 500 results. Slider appears only once another sorting criteria has been selected and when navigated to the next page.

Bibliographic data tab
Only the documents belonging to the PCT Minimum Documentation (GB, US, CH, DE, FR and EP), and documents having an equivalent (i.e. a document with exactly the same priority) belonging to the PCT Minimum Documentation, have a first page drawing. There is no direct link between the source of the first page drawing and the source of the abstract in Espacenet. If there is no first page drawing, e.g. for non PCT Minimum Documentation documents, it is taken from an equivalent. The text of the abstract may be taken from the document itself (if available in English), from an English language equivalent, or from an EPO translation. From this page you can click on the links to the INPADOC patent family, the list of citing documents and the file in the European Register (Register Plus). But you can also view the other publication levels and equivalents under the section Also published as. When looking at the different publication numbers in the bibliographic data view you will recognise that apart from a two-digit country code and a serial number they also have a further code at the end which is called document kind code. This identifies what kind of document this publication refers to. E.g. a published application, a search report or a granted patent. Although this is not harmonised worldwide, there is a tendency to assign applications the letter A and granted patents the letter B. This is at least what the EPO does. T often stands for translations. Details for publications for all countries worldwide can be looked up on the WIPO's web pages. In our example, here, A1 stands for a publication of a patent application together with the search report. If they are published separately, the application without search report will have the code A2 and the following search report A3. You see, in the patent world 2+3 equals 1!

Description tab If you click on the "Translate this text" button you will be able to view the text of the description in another language. If the text is in English, it can be translated into German, French, Italian or Spanish. In case of a non-English text in these languages, this will be translated into English.

The EPO's translation tool on Espacenet
Implemented at the end of November 2006 Co-operation between some national patent offices and the EPO Currently possible to translate from English into French, German, Italian or Spanish OR French, German, Italian or Spanish into English More languages will follow Machine translation is available for full text in Espacenet, namely the information contained in the claims and description tabs. The text is sent to a third party website, where it is processed before being sent back. A machine translation cannot be compared with a human translation. However it can be an aid when assessing the relevance of a document.

Machine translation functionality
Currently, translation is possible to and from English for French, German, Italian and Spanish. The translation is displayed in a separate browser window after the target language has been selected.

Claims tab You may click on the "Translate this text" button to get a machine translation of the claims.

Claims tab Click on the "Claims Tree" button and you will obtain a tree representation of the independent claims and their dependent claims. By clicking on the + (plus) sign next to the claim number, you will expand the claims view and see how the dependent claims are hierarchically related. By clicking on the - (minus) sign, you will collapse the claims view.

Mosaics tab A mosaic is a collection of "thumbnails" of the drawing pages of a document. Because these images are much smaller in size than the original page, it is very quick and easy to browse them in the mosaic view. You can view six figures per page. To view the mosaics in original size, click on the "Original document" tab.

When available the PDF of the Original document will be displayed by clicking on the tab. If the tab is greyed out then there is no PDF in Espacenet. You can navigate through the pages using the arrows or the drop down menu. To maximise the page for viewing the facsimile document, click on Maximise in the horizontal toolbar above the title.

This is the Maximised view of the application.
The document can be printed or saved. All pages can be bookmarked.

Abstract/bibliography, drawings, description, claims and search reports are available directly from the drop down menu. But you can also navigate through the pages by clicking on the arrows

Non-patent literature (XP documents)
Non-patent literature documents are given the prefix XP and can be found in Espacenet if they have been classified and/or cited in the search report produced at the EPO. It is not possible to retrieve an XP document by the name of the author, nor is it possible to limit a search to XP documents only.

Non-patent literature can be listed under the section "Cited documents" of the Bibliographic data screen, but also under "View all" which lists all backward and forward citations.

Example of Non-patent literature cited in search report.
The letter in the first column stands for the category of document. List of categories: X Particularly relevant if taken alone. Y Particularly relevant if combined with another document of the same category. A Documents defining the state of the art and not prejudicing novelty or inventive step. O Non-written disclosure. P Intermediate document. T Theory or principle underlying the invention. E Earlier patent application, but published after the filing date of the application searched (potentially conflicting patent documents). D Document cited in the application. L Document cited for other reasons. & Member of the same patent family, corresponding document. A document can be mentioned in more than one category.

Digital Object Identifier
Example of non-patent literature Bibliographic data is available but not the full document. Besides that, sometimes there is provided a link to an external provider capable of displaying the data on his website. If available a DOI is displayed. A DOI is a permanent digital identifier given to an object and identifies electronic intellectual property documents. Digital Object Identifier

Downloading or printing documents
enter text displayed above Verification box pops up in order to make sure the user is human, and is not a download robot. Simply enter the digits displayed and click on Submit. A dialog box opens where you can select Open or Save. Once you have saved the document, you can print it in one go.

Patent families Document Priority D1 P1 D2 P2 D3 D4 P3 D5 P4
Generally speaking, a patent family is a group of patents which, like a family, are all related to each other, in this case by way of the priority or priorities of a particular patent document. In Espacenet a patent family is defined as comprising all documents having exactly the same priority or combination of priorities (simple family). However, deeper analysis of certain patent documents might lead to declare specific priorities as "non-active". That is, these specific priorities are ignored when building simple families. An INPADOC patent family is defined as comprising all the documents sharing directly or indirectly (e.g. via a third document) at least one priority. This includes all the patent documents resulting from a patent application submitted as a first filing with a patent office and from the same patent application filed within the priority year with a patent office in any other country.

"simple" patent family Document Priority D1 P1 D2 P2 D3 D4 P3 D5 P4
Simple patent family when identical priority picture A simple patent family gives an overview on the various publications relating to an invention. It can also be of help when trying to find other language versions of a certain document.

INPADOC patent family Document Priority D1 P1 D2 P2 D3 D4 P3 D5 P4
INPADOC family the broadest definition. Not even share but linked via priorities. An INPADOC patent family gives the widest possible overview on the various publications relating to an invention. Naturally, also the content might be less close to each other compared to a simple family. It can also be of help when trying to find other language versions of a certain document. Descriptions of patent families to be found at

Where to find both types of families?
Point to the link View INPADOC patent family to view that type of family. Point to the "Also published as" section to view the Espacenet family, the so-called equivalents.

INPADOC family list You can view the different publication levels (document kind codes A, B or others) when available. You can sort the list by priority date, inventor, applicant or ECLA and you can export this list to Excel for example. You can save documents to your own personal patents list by ticking the box on the right hand side.

Let's have a break ... ... we continue in 15 minutes
To be moved to a more convenient point in the presentation if needed.

Improving search results
- European and international classifications - Combination of search fields - Truncations: *, ?, # - Boolean operators: AND, OR, NOT - Use synonyms - Phrase search, e.g. "Name1 Name2" - (Nested) parentheses e.g. (( diode OR excimer ) AND laser ) Tips to improve search results: Use classification symbols to search in particular areas and combine with other search criteria, such as applicant name, period of time, etc. in the Advanced search or Smart search. To extend your search, you can use (rights-sided) truncation symbols e.g. to include the plural form of a word, alternative spellings or find words starting with the same root (characters). Use Boolean operators AND to narrow down your search, NOT to exclude unnecessary terms or to get more results if you use OR for example. Use quotation marks around your search terms to retrieve only those documents containing the exact phrase. This is in particular useful when searching for names. If you want to nest query terms within other query terms, you must use parentheses to specify the order in which search terms and operators should be interpreted. Information within parentheses is read first, then information outside parentheses is read next.

Boolean default operators
The terms entered into a search field and to be searched have a logical relation to each other. The most commonly available Boolean operators are AND and OR but there are more. Very often, when not explicitly, entered a default operator will be used without the need to type it. Ask the audience about the default operator in Google or Yahoo. Usually, the answers are quite diverging. Mention that it might not be a problem when booking a cheap flight as long as the flight meets the expectations (e.g. in price) but for patent searching you better know what you are searching for. The effect on the results of combining terms with AND or OR is dramatic and you should either now the default operator or enter the operator explicitly if you don't know or are not sure. This you can always do in order to override or change the default operator. There is also a NOT operator available to be used at the end and with that you can exclude one search term. It should be mentioned to use the NOT operator with great care as one might accidentally also exclude relevant hits because the expression appears in the document but maybe in another context.

Espacenet truncations
? # * Replaces 0 or 1 character Replaces exactly 1 character Replaces a character string of any length Available truncation options Wildcards cannot be followed by an alphanumeric character (colo?r is not allowed) Wildcards can only be used in the "Title", "Title or abstract", "Inventor" or "Applicant" fields. In the ECLA field, you may only use the * after the IPC full classification symbol (eg B65D81/32*). For more complex searches, have a look at our new online product, EPO Global Patent Index (GPI) offering a whole range of new search possibilities. Only right-hand truncation

Spelling vulcanisation or vulcanization?
=> (vulcanisation OR vulcanization) => vulcani* color or colour? Watch out for different spellings when using keywords. => (color OR colour) => colo*

Synonyms & Alternative Spelling
pipe, channel, conduit, duct, leader, line, penstock, trough, tube pipe, channel, conduit, duct, leader, line, penstock, trough, tube hole, aperture, opening, orifice, perforation hole, aperture, opening, orifice, perforation container, holder, receptacle, vessel container, holder, receptacle, vessel Always try entering different synonyms and alternative spellings when searching with keywords to describe the invention as best you can. Ask audience to propose synonyms and show thesaurus' suggestions. racquet / racket

Export function Back to Espacenet
It is possible to export all lists page by page of displayed results in CSV or Excel format (and import e.g. into EXCEL for further processing). Hint: Tick the box next to "Compact" in the horizontal toolbar at the top of the screen to get 30 documents listed at once. One can add several exported lists to the same excel worksheet but you have to remember to give the exported lists unique (individual) names as the standard name is "results.csv". When importing the data in Excel, specify the cell position where to start with the second, third, ... file. In Internet Explorer, when you select to export a list, and select "Open" from the prompt dialogue window, Excel is opened showing the respective information for the result list. If at that point you leave Excel open, and try to export another result list, instead of displaying the Open/Save dialogue box, the previous export that is still open in Excel is shown. To overcome this issue, each list should be closed before a new one is exported.

Cited documents Cited documents
A cited document is a document cited by an examiner in a search report. A cited document can be a patent document or an item of non-patent literature. We display all cited documents which are available in our databases regardless of their country of origin. Note: cited documents are shown for A1 and A2 documents only. By clicking on the "View all" button, below the section "Cited documents", you will be able to see all types of citations (backward and forward) : • patents and literature cited by the applicant • patents and literature cited in the search report • citing documents • patents cited during examination • other patent citations • other literature citations • patents and literature used in opposition

Cited documents If you click on "View all" you will get the list of all citations including such documents as: • patents and literature cited by the applicant • patents and literature cited in the search report • citing documents • patents cited during examination • other patent citations • other literature citations • patents and literature used in opposition A citing document is a document that has cited the document you are currently viewing.

Citing documents List of citing documents: a citing document is a document that has cited the document you are currently viewing. Taken from the Guidelines for examination at the EPO part B, chapter 6 : The Search Division takes into account documents published between the earliest priority date and the filing date of the application under consideration, and these documents are identified as such in the search report (see X, 9.2(iv)). For identifying these documents when an application has more than one priority date, the oldest date is to be applied. When deciding which documents to select for citing in the search report, the examiner refers to these dates and should preferably choose any published before the date of priority. Thus, for example, where there are two documents, one published before the date of priority and the other after that date but before the date of filing, but otherwise equally relevant, he should choose the former (see IV, 3.1, 2nd paragraph). The search does not normally take into consideration documents published after the filing date of the application. However, some extension is necessary for specific purposes.

Link to the European Register to look at the legal status for EP and Euro-PCT docs.
For this slide, please mention that at any time, one can report an error to the Espacenet team by clicking on the "report data error" link. The mail will be answered shortly afterwards by the responsible Helpdesk.

Legal status shown in European Patent Register under the section "About this file" and in the field Status below the title of the patent. If you want to find out about changes concerning an EP or Euro-PCT file, i.e. changed names or addresses of the inventor / applicant / representative, changed titles, changed designated states, etc., you can use the "Show history" function. The previous/former names will be written in italics.

ip4inno Module 3B Espacenet

Similar presentations

Presentation on theme: "ip4inno Module 3B Espacenet"— Presentation transcript:

Similar presentations

About project

Feedback

Log in

Auth with social network:

ip4inno Module 3B Espacenet

Similar presentations

Presentation on theme: "ip4inno Module 3B Espacenet"— Presentation transcript:

Similar presentations

About project

Feedback