Patents get withdrawn from time to time. Some are never issued but some are withdrawn after being issued. In the latter case, data for the withdrawn patent can be found in the wild. The patent office maintains a list of withdrawn patents at http://www.uspto.gov/patents-application-process/patent-search/withdrawn-patent-number Separately, the patentsview api team processes the bulk grant patent xml … Continue reading “Withdrawn Patents”
Month: March 2021
NYPL/UMD Plant Patent Project
One of the more surprising elements of plant patents is that their online images are in black and white! Patent and Trademark Resource Centers (PTRC) scattered across the US receive color copies of them but the online community is left guessing what each patented plant looks like in color. A few years ago, Ken Johnson … Continue reading “NYPL/UMD Plant Patent Project”
Datamp
DATAMP = Directory of American Tool and Machinery Patents If you are looking for the patent associated with an antique tool, head over to datamp.org. It’s quite possible you’ll be able to find the tool patent you are looking for among the 70,000 or so patents there. I’m a developer of the site and one … Continue reading “Datamp”
When apis fail you
Sometimes there isn’t a way other than screen scraping to get the data you want, which is unfortunate. Screen scraping is like an arms race, if the uspto changes its web site, I have to change my script. I’d like to programmatically retrieve classification fields for the plant patents issued each Tuesday. I can’t use … Continue reading “When apis fail you”