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| After Ipsum, the IPO's next service is going to be called Possum. The 'Po' bit stands for 'Patent Office' -- but readers are invited to guess the rest of the acronym ... |
"New online patent inspection service launched
UK business could save nearly £100,000 per year thanks to a free patent system launched by the Intellectual Property Office (IPO). The new online service, called Ipsum, will remove the cost to businesses of requesting patent documents; instead they will now be available for free at the click of a button.
The service is open to anyone, benefiting businesses researching patents, patent attorneys working for clients protecting their IP rights and potential inventors looking for the best way to find information on patent applications. This can help them understand why a patent was granted or rejected or know more about particular patents.
Previously each document requested by a business would cost £5 and by the time it had been delivered it might already be out of date. Ipsum is updated in real time so businesses will now have the up to date information on patent applications they need. ...
The service is available on the IPO website – www.ipo.gov.uk/p-ipsum...".Important information for SOLO IP readers will be found on the Ipsum website:
"Our search services are usually available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, except for 2 hours at the weekend, usually on Sunday 20:00 - 22:00 (UK time) [that's a shame, bearing in mind how many sole and small practitioners seem to be online on Sunday evening, playing catch-up or readying their desks for their Monday tasks]
If you have any questions about intellectual property, or if you just need to speak to us, please contact our Information Centre on 0300 300 2000 or +44 (0)1633 814000. Our office hours are 09:00 to 17:00 Monday to Friday, excluding Bank Holidays [how many of our readers have such an easy time of it?].
If you notice a problem with this service, please contact us using the form below. Maintenance staff are available 08:30 to 17:00 Monday to Friday. Problems outside these times may not be rectified until maintenance staff are next available".
Should it not be call iPossum after IPO rather than PO. Or have Apple got a TM on that?
ReplyDeleteIf you are minded to see what documents are now available on IPSum what better case to look at than the file of the Halliburton application on which Birss J decided on patentability yesterday
ReplyDeleteIt's good to see that we now have both sides of the conversation with the examiner. However the selection of status *awaiting applicant's response* is curious though probably better than *In Force* which is what it was in the beta phase.
If the picky me to point out that you used to get the whole file and not just a single document for £5. Yes I thought it was