Report:Thomson Innovation/Import, Export, and Download/Downloads

Document Delivery

Innovation offers PDF patent copies for immediate download, either individually or in batch downloads. In addition to patent image downloads, the service offers a file history ordering service. Both patent PDF and file history delivery services draw principally from Thomson Reuters’s MicroPatent Patentweb collection, although the patent collection is supplemented from external sources such as the EPO's image collection on Espacenet. See Images in the data coverage section of this article for more information on patent PDF document availability.

Downloading and saving individual patent records can be done from the Results Set View (a.k.a. the hit list), or the separate Record View window (a pop-up window used to view full text data for individual hits, in either Quick View or Full View). A PDF icon will be displayed next to each patent number in the hit list, and will also be displayed at the top of the record view page (for both Quick View and Full View). When available, this icon can be used to download and save the original image. An additional icon appears at the top of the Record View (only in Full View) if the file history is available immediately (see the screenshot below).

Users should note that orders for copies of patent records are limited to 500 records, orders for full text PDFs of literature articles are limited to 50 records, and orders for file histories are limited to 25 records. There is no limit to the number of orders that can be placed. Most patent records (PDF and TIFF) are available as part of your Thomson Innovation contract and there is no additional/transactional billing. Within all of Thomson Innovation, patent file histories and special order patents are the only two patent items that are billed "in addition" to negotiated contract charges. All full text literature PDFs ordered carry a transactional charge billed against your Thomson Innovation account (although full text articles can, when available, be accessed online via TR Links and OpenURL links). Billing for document delivery transactions (patents, patent file histories, and full text literature PDFs) is done monthly.^[1]

The PDF icon may be selected from the record view to download and save the original document copy. These PDF icons also appear in the hit list (see the next figure for example). A second icon in the full view may indicate that the file history is immediately available.

A group of documents copies or file histories may be ordered in batches from a Results Set, a Marked List (temporary saved results list), or a Work File (permanent saved results lists). In each case, the documents may be ordered in bulk by using the Download drop-down menu that appears over the list of patent documents in the menu bar. (Individual copies may be ordered at any time by clicking the PDF icons under the document numbers, also shown below.)

The Download drop-down menu appears above a list of documents in a Results Set, Marked List or Work File. This figure shows the menu as it appears above a Patent Result Set, although the function is similar for each interface.

Once the documents for download have been selected, choosing "Patent Documents" or "File Histories" from the Download drop-down menu (or "Literature Articles" under the Download menu of a Literature Result Set) will open a separate dialog window presenting some additional options. Each document delivery type is listed under a separate tab (Patent File Histories, Patent Documents, and Literature Articles), and only the selected document delivery choice will appear as an active tab (see the screenshot below for an example). From this window, users can choose their preferred file type and method of delivery. It is also possible to order just the patent front pages, rather than the full document, from this interface. The available file types are PDF or TIFF. Delivery options include download directly from the interface, e-mail, or zip file download (for bulk order).

The Document Delivery window and file type options. Once finished selecting delivery and format options for all chosen documents, users can save the order to be edited later, or place the order directly from this screen.

After the order is submitted, the documents and their status information will be displayed on the Order Status page, which can be viewed under My Account>>Order Status in the main menu that appears in the far left pane of the Innovation window. An e-mail will also be sent to the user’s main e-mail account when the order has been filled.

The Order Status summary page.

Ordering Documents Directly from the Publication Number Search Form

Finally, document copies may be ordered directly from the Publication Number Search Form, where multiple document publication numbers may be entered. More about this import screen is discussed in the Import Functions section. When document numbers are input directly into the patent number search, and the “document copies” option is selected, the documents are placed directly into the "Document Delivery" window, described above.

When importing document numbers directly into the system to order patent copies, only the document's publication number may be used. If there are any number formatting discrepancies, or numbers with missing country codes, users will have a chance to review these errors before proceeding with the order, via the dialog box shown in the figure below. Users are also given the opportunity to save and export any unrecognized document numbers (presumably so that users can continue the quest for these documents elsewhere, or attempt to figure out what formatting problems exist within these numbers).

If any document numbers are not recognized by the system, users will have the opportunity to correct formatting or add country codes via this pop-up dialog box.

Once all numbers are appropriately recognized by the system, users will proceed to the "order status summary page" as described above.

Sources

1. ↑ "Document Delivery." Thomson Innovation website, http://www.thomsoninnovation.com/tip-innovation/support/help/index.htm#introduction.htm. Accessed September 19, 2012.