Double-Barrelled Databases: WIPO GOLD And USPTO-Google

Today two separate search engines for intellectual property rights were announced in Geneva and Washington, DC, both of which have the potential to significantly ease searches for patents, trademarks and other IP.

The World Intellectual Property Organization on 1 June launched WIPO GOLD, a free online global resource for accessing its databases. The new feature provides easier access to a “broad collection of searchable IP data and tools relating to, for example, technology, brands, designs, statistics, WIPO standards, IP classification systems and IP laws and treaties,” WIPO said. This initiative is part of WIPO’s commitment to help narrow the global knowledge gap by offering easier access to information, it said.

“The launch of WIPO GOLD is a significant step towards fulfilling one of the organisation’s strategic goals – that of serving as a world reference source for IP information and analysis,” WIPO Director General Francis Gurry said in a statement.

Meanwhile, the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) today announced that it has entered into a “no-cost, two-year agreement with Google to make bulk electronic patent and trademark public data available to the public in bulk form.” Under the agreement, USPTO said, it will provide Google with “existing bulk, electronic files, which Google will host without modification for the public free of charge.” Examples of searchable items include: patent grants and applications; trademark applications and Trial and Appeal Board (TTAB) proceedings; and patent classification information.

The USPTO and Google also will work together to make additional data available in the future, such as patent and trademark file histories and related data, the office said. The bulk data can be accessed at http://www.google.com/googlebooks/uspto.html.

By Cheikh Kane for Intellectual Property Watch and William New