DE212015000105U1 - Computerized system for organizing the examination procedure of members of a patent family - Google Patents

Abstract

A computerized system for organizing the review process of members of a patent applicant's patent family in a plurality of countries, comprising: 1.1 computerized data collection means adapted to contain information central to the patent family review process in the countries; 1.2 wherein the means for collecting data comprises means for storing and reading at least one tabular feature analysis of at least one claim of the patent family with respect to at least one prior art document; 1.2.1 the data collection means comprising means for storing and reading both restrictions on the at least one claim of the patent family and the priorities of the restrictions; 1.3 means of access to the means of data collection by: 1.3.1 at least one foreign colleague in a jurisdiction other than the jurisdiction of the patent applicant; and 1.3.2 the patent applicant and / or a contact person; 1.4 means of communication between 1.4.1 either the patent applicant and the at least one foreigner colleague; 1.4.2 or 1.4.2.1 the patent applicant and the contact person; and 1.4.2.2 the contact person and the at least one foreign colleague.

Description

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention deals with organizing exam procedures for members of a patent family in a plurality of countries.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PRIOR ART

To date, the processes used in international patent granting processes are very inefficient. In particular, when receiving an examination certificate, foreign colleagues usually translate the examination decision, analyze the examination decision and prepare a corresponding report, which the foreign colleague either sends to the contact person or to a patent attorney. This person will again analyze the exam decision to find ways to respond to the exam decision. The results of this analysis are in turn sent to the foreign colleagues, typically with the help of a contact lawyer in the applicant's home country. This contact lawyer could again analyze the examination decision and finally send instructions to the foreign colleagues. The foreign colleague will then answer the examination certificate.

In addition, there are a number of cumbersome formalities, which typically involve filing, issuing and fulfilling, for example, information disclosure requirements or other formal requirements. All this makes the traditional procedure of international patent examination and awarding procedures very time consuming and inefficient. Many translations occur and the costs are unpredictable.

OBJECT OF THE INVENTION

It is therefore an object of the present invention to improve current practices for international testing procedures.

BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

This object is achieved by the inventions claimed in the independent claims. Advantageous developments are described in the dependent claims.

We propose a computerized system for organizing the examination process of members of a patent family of a patent applicant in a plurality of countries, comprising:
computerized means of data collection, adapted to contain information central to the patent family review process in the countries;
wherein the means for collecting data comprises means for storing and reading at least one feature analysis of at least one claim of the patent family with respect to at least one prior art document;
Means for accessing the data collection means
at least one foreign colleague in a jurisdiction other than the jurisdiction of the patent applicant; and through
the patent applicant and / or a contact person;
Means of communication between
either the patent applicant and the at least one foreigner colleague;
or
the patent applicant and the contact person; and
the contact person and the at least one foreign colleague.

Such a system significantly improves the efficiency of the examination procedure of a complete patent family in different countries. The data collection typically includes general remarks in addition to the feature analysis of claims for the different countries in order to point out arguments that are of particular interest in the patent family review process.

This allows, for example, foreign colleagues to shorten significantly the time it takes to analyze an audit opinion, at least in those situations where the feature analysis includes the analysis of that prior art document, which is also included in the board's decision just to analyze, is quoted. Such a situation can very often occur when the examination procedure is carried out in the various national phases following the international phase of a PCT application, since under these circumstances the documents cited in the various national phases to a high degree correspond to the state of the art documents cited in the international phase.

All parties involved in the patent family review process can both retrieve essential information from the data collection process for the filing process of the filing in their respective countries and also write information to the data collection. Thus, all parties involved in the review process of members of the patent family in different countries may share the most relevant information necessary for the examination process of the application. This improves the efficiency of international testing procedures.

The proposed system thus overcomes many of the difficulties currently underway Performing a patent family examination procedure in different countries occur.

The data collection is stored in computerized form and is accessible to those from all over the world who are involved in the patent family review process. This can be done over the internet using z. B. a private server or cloud server for storing the data collection can be achieved.

This system also provides the patent holder with the possibility of entering information that is central to the strategy for the examination procedure, in particular the priorities of the restrictions, into the data collection. The question of how to limit the claim comes into play whenever the main claim can not be maintained after receipt of a high relevant state of the art exam decision. It is then very important for foreign colleagues to have any limitations on the main claim at hand, as well as the priorities of the restrictions. This immediately gives fellow foreigners guidance on how to respond to the audit opinion.

For reasons of confidentiality, it is advantageous if the means for accessing the means for data collection are configured such that the access is restricted exclusively to authorized persons.

In order for foreign colleagues to focus on how the claims in the other jurisdictions have been changed, the data collection includes means for storing and reading a claim matching table showing the changes in the various countries, together with a brief commentary on the original disclosure or the subclaims, where the characteristics come from, and why the claim has been changed.

For fellow foreigners, it is also helpful to be informed about the status of registration in all other countries. This is especially useful for those countries (eg India) where a status report on the other members of the patent family must be submitted on a regular basis. For this purpose, the data collection means comprise means for storing and reading the status of the members of the patent family in the different countries.

The same applies to the chances of success (the prospect of granting) of the members of the patent family in the different countries. The chances of success are judged either by the foreign colleague or the patent applicant or the contact person.

When a document management system is used as a means for data collection, this not only allows the prior art z. B. as pdf documents in the document management system. It also allows simultaneous or parallel access to data collection by various foreign colleagues or other parties. Also, changes are logged by those who access the data collection.

The object of the invention is also achieved with a method. In the following, individual process steps are described in detail. The steps do not necessarily have to be performed in the order given in the text. Also, other, not explicitly mentioned steps may be part of the process.

In order to achieve the object of the invention, we propose a computerized method for organizing the examination procedure of members of a patent family of a patent applicant in a plurality of countries, comprising the following steps:
Providing means for collecting data in a computer system adapted to contain information central to the patent family review process in the countries;
wherein the means for collecting data comprises means for storing and reading at least one feature analysis of at least one claim of the patent family with respect to at least one prior art document;
Providing means for accessing the data collection means
at least one foreign colleague in a jurisdiction other than the jurisdiction of the patent applicant; and through
the patent applicant and / or a contact person.

• – Wenn der Auslandskollege einen Prüfungsbescheid erhält, kann er den Prüfungsbescheid mit Informationen aus den Mitteln zur Datensammlung analysieren.
• – In den meisten Fällen wird dies ihn in die Lage versetzen, auf der Grundlage der vorgenannten Analyse eine Bescheidserwiderung zu entwerfen.
• – Die Auslandskollegen können dann die Informationen, die in den Mitteln zur Datensammlung enthalten sind, mit Informationen, die aus dem Prüfungsbescheid und/oder den vorhergehenden Schritten gewonnen wurden, aktualisieren.

This procedure allows a reorganization of the traditional approach in international patent examination procedures. Answering a test report can now be organized as follows:

• - If the foreign colleague receives an examination notice, he or she can analyze the examination decision with information from the data collection means.
• - In most cases, this will enable him to draw up a decision on the basis of the abovementioned analysis.
• - Foreign colleagues can then update the information contained in the data collection tools with information obtained from the examination notice and / or previous steps.

In this way, translations can be avoided. The information contained in the data collection is becoming more and more refined and relevant for these foreign colleagues and foreign colleagues in other countries. The whole process becomes more efficient and cheaper.

In particular, after receiving an examination notice, the foreign colleague analyzes the cited prior art in the examination report and enters the results of the analysis into an appropriate feature analysis within the data collection. The feature analysis is generally created separately for each country because the claims typically, at least formally, vary from country to country.

In cases or countries in which the patent applicant prefers to answer examina- tions by himself, the patent applicant then performs essentially the same steps as a foreign colleague after receiving an exam certificate or a translation of an exam certificate into English or his native language.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Other objects and advantages of the present invention may be ascertained by reading the description and appended claims, taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.

For a more complete understanding of the present invention, reference is made to the following description, taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, in which:

1 shows a network and communication lines between the applicant, a contact lawyer and foreign colleagues including the proposed data collection.

In the typical case of filing a patent family in a plurality of countries, the applicant communicates with a contact lawyer in his own country, who processes the application and the granting of the patent application in that country or jurisdiction, and in turn with foreign colleagues (who are typically patent attorneys themselves). in the other jurisdictions in which a member of the patent family is to be registered communicates. This situation is indicated by the solid arrows in the network 1 shown.

• – den Prüfungsbescheid vollständig analysieren;
• – den Prüfungsbescheid übersetzen;
• – die Analyse und Übersetzung an den Kontaktanwalt senden und dabei Anweisungen erbitten;
• – warten, bis der Anmelder konsultiert wurde;
• – Anweisungen vom Kontaktanwalt erhalten;
• – diese Anweisungen übersetzen;

müssen. Stattdessen können sie schnell und effizient antworten, indem sie die Informationen in der Datensammlung berücksichtigen. Ein kurzer Bericht an den Kontaktanwalt ist die gesamte erforderliche Kommunikation, und sowohl der Kontaktanwalt als auch der Anmelder können den Fortschritt der Patentanmeldung in irgendeiner Jurisdiktion durch Konsultieren der Informationen aus der Datensammlung verfolgen, wobei sie nur intervenieren, wenn unvorhergesehene Umstände eintreten (z. B. ein Strategiewechsel durch den Anmelder).If the system and / or method according to the invention is used, relevant information will be entered by all parties involved in the data collection, which is indicated by the dotted arrows in 1 is pictured. In particular, the first person who receives a test notice pertaining to a member of the patent family will record a feature analysis of the claims against the prior art cited by the relevant examiner, as well as his response strategy. Those foreign colleagues (or perhaps the contact lawyer), who later receive examination certificates, can then retrieve the feature analysis from the data collection and thus do not need prior art that has already been cited in the jurisdiction that first issued their audit opinion re-analyze. In particular, in cases where an order response has been successful (to the extent that objections have been overcome and / or a patent application has been obtained), the same tried and tested arguments and / or strategies can be used to reply by other fellow foreigners before they prepare their answer, not

• - fully analyze the notice of examination;
• - translate the test report;
• - send the analysis and translation to the contact lawyer requesting instructions;
• - wait until the applicant has been consulted;
• - receive instructions from the contact lawyer;
• - translate these instructions;

have to. Instead, they can respond quickly and efficiently by considering the information in the data collection. A brief report to the contact attorney is all the communication required, and both the contact attorney and the applicant can track the progress of the patent application in any jurisdiction by consulting the information from the data collection, intervening only in the event of unforeseen circumstances (e.g. a change of strategy by the applicant).

Although the present inventions have been described and illustrated in conjunction with a number of specific embodiments, those skilled in the art will recognize that variations and modifications may be made without departing from the principles of the inventions as illustrated, described and claimed herein. The present inventions may be embodied in other specific forms without departing from the spirit or essential characteristics thereof. The described embodiments are considered in all respects to be illustrative and not restrictive. The scope of the inventions is, therefore, indicated by the appended claims, rather than the foregoing description. Any changes that come within the meaning and range of equivalency of the claims are to be included in their scope.

glossary

Entitlement correspondence table

A claim matching table juxtaposes the claims from different countries and different versions, including comments indicating the differences, making it easy to see the different versions of the claims in different countries and to find differences.

contact person

The contact may be either a patent expert from a patent department, e.g. The applicant, an external patent attorney from a law firm or, if the patent applicant is an individual, that person himself.

Document Management System

A document management system is a computer system (or set of computer programs) that is used to monitor and store electronic documents. It is also usually able to track the different versions that were changed by different users (history monitoring, versioning).

Feature analysis of the claims

A feature analysis is a table that compares the claims with their various features line by line with the features disclosed in a prior art document. For each prior art document, there is typically one column.

foreign colleague

A foreign colleague is a person who performs the grant proceedings in a state other than that of the patent applicant. Typically, a foreign colleague is a patent attorney admitted to the state or jurisdiction where he completes the grant procedure.

jurisdiction

Jurisdiction (according to the Latin ius, iuris - "law" and dicere - "speak") is the practical authority conferred on a formally constituted legal person or political leader to handle legal matters and make judgments in, and thereby implied to speak law within a defined area of responsibility. The term is also used to refer to the geographical area or subject area to which this authority refers. Jurisdictions relate to the local, state and federal levels, as well as the regional or continental level, such as the European Union. In patent law, a jurisdiction typically designates either a state or a regional patent system such as the European Patent Convention, the European Union with its unitary patent, the Eurasian Agreement, OAPI and ARIPO.

restriction

A restriction is a feature that is added to an existing claim and limits its scope.

examination report

An examination notice is the result of the examination of a patent application by an examiner at the Patent Office, sent in writing to the applicant for the patent. Typically, the applicant is invited to respond to the objections raised.

patent family

There are many definitions of which patent applications are part of a patent family. The simplest and most common definition is that a patent family includes all patent applications and issued patents that claim the priority of a common priority application.

Claims (7)

A computerized system for organizing the review process of members of a patent applicant's patent family in a plurality of countries, comprising: 1.1 computerized data collection means adapted to contain information central to the patent family review process in the countries; 1.2 wherein the means for collecting data comprises means for storing and reading at least one tabular feature analysis of at least one claim of the patent family with respect to at least one prior art document; 1.2.1 the data collection means comprising means for storing and reading both restrictions on the at least one claim of the patent family and the priorities of the restrictions; 1.3 means of accessing the means of data collection by 1.3.1 at least one foreign colleague in a jurisdiction other than the jurisdiction of the patent applicant; and 1.3.2 the patent applicant and / or a contact person; 1.4 means of communication between 1.4.1 either the patent applicant and the at least one foreigner colleague; 1.4.2 or 1.4.2.1 the patent applicant and the contact person; and 1.4.2.2 the contact person and the at least one foreign colleague. Computer-aided system according to the preceding claim, wherein the at least one tabular feature analysis compares the features of the at least one claim row by row with the features disclosed in the at least one prior art document; and wherein the table provides one column per document of the prior art. A computerized system according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein the means for accessing the means for data collection are configured such that access is restricted to authorized persons only. A computerized system according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein the means for collecting data comprises means for storing and reading a claim matching table. A computerized system according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein the means for collecting data comprises means for storing and reading the status of the members of the patent family in the different countries. A computerized system according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein the means for collecting data comprises means for storing and reading the prospects of success of the members of the patent family in the different countries. A computerized system according to any one of the preceding claims, comprising a document management system providing the means for data collection.

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