As announced in the latest issue of "epidos news", the EPO has launched a new patent raw data service called "Open Patent Services (OPS)". OPS represents a new way of accessing patent information via the internet. Unlike the esp@cenet service, which offers data via a rich HTML interface, OPS is a Web services application offering the same data in XML format. The service is SOAP-based (Simple Object Access Protocol). The initial development stages of OPS have been completed and the first services offering access to the INPADOC databases (family, legal status and bibliographic data) went into production in September 2003. Additional services offering access to the remaining esp@cenet data and functions are said to be added over the course of next year. The following services are currently available from OPS: retrieval of patent family, legal and bibliographic data, with aggregates of these data types also possible. Bibliographic data is taken from the worldwide database of the esp@cenet service, and family and legal data from the INPADOC patent family searching (PFS) and legal status information (PRS) data sources.
By means of this new service, patent law firms might tailor their own patent data tools using simple standard SOAP client software.
Feel free to contact PA Axel H Horns via e-mail
horns@ipjur.com. BEWARE: DO NOT SEND CONFIDENTIAL INFORMATION UNENCRYPTED VIA E-MAIL. USE OF ENCRYPTION SOFTWARE IS HIGHLY RECOMMENDED. PA AXEL H HORNS IS PROVIDING SUPPORT FOR ENCRYPTED E-MAIL MESSAGES USING PGP OR PGP COMPATIBLE FORMATS. THE PGP PUBLIC KEY FOR PA AXEL H HORNS IS AVAILABLE
HERE. THE GnuPG PUBLIC KEY FOR PA AXEL H HORNS IS AVAILABLE
HERE.
Dipl.-Phys. Axel H Horns is Patentanwalt (German Patent Attorney),
European Patent Attorney as well as European Trade Mark Attorney. In particular, he is Member of: