Report:TotalPatent/Import, Export, and Download/Import and Export Functions

Import and Export Functions

Import Functions

In TotalPatent, importing document numbers is done from the ‘Document Retrieval’ tab on the main search screen by entering at least one publication number into the ‘Enter publication numbers’ search box, shown in the figure below, or by importing a list of numbers to retrieve in CSV format. The search box has a 10,000 character limit and the import list function has a limit of 20,000 publication numbers. The interface requests that the user include the kind code for each publication number, but this is not absolutely necessary as all matching documents will be retrieved when a publication number is entered without a kind code. The two letter Country Code is required at the beginning of each publication number entered. After a May 2009 update, the Document Retrieval window can accept vertical lists of document numbers, e.g. from a spreadsheet or Microsoft Word document. It no longer requires the numbers to be separated by commas.

The "Retrieve by Publication Number" window.

After submitting the list of requested documents, the user will be presented with a new window that first displays a message saying that the system is retrieving the documents, which may take a few moments, depending on the request size. The user has the option to cancel the request during this waiting period.

The loading window during document retrieval.

After the requests are loaded, the user is presented with a ‘Summary of Available Documents.’ This window summarizes the number of documents requested, the number of exact matches found, and the number of similar matches found. Publication numbers entered without a Kind Code will be returned as a ‘similar match’. Also reported on this screen is the number of documents that were not found or are ‘non-available.’ On this screen, the user has the option of downloading the documents, filing them into a work folder, or saving the result set to the Analytics platform. See the screenshot below:

The Summary of Available Documents.

On the Summary of Available Documents window, there is a hyperlink to ‘View Availability Report.’ The availability report screen lists the available and unavailable documents and allows the user to change the publication numbers and resubmit. At the top are three checkboxes, one each to filter the list for Exact Matches, Similar Matches, and/or Failed Matches. The screenshot below shows an example of this availability report feature.

The Availability Report window.

Export Functions

Once the ‘Download’ option is selected and the ‘Retrieve’ button is clicked, the Download Documents window is displayed. Here the user can specify a ‘Document Range,’ i.e. whether to download documents for all submitted publication numbers, or only for selected publication numbers. Within this window are also options for specifying Document View, Document Format, and Document Language. See the table below for a breakdown of available options. A screenshot of the Download Documents interface, which can be used for exporting document information into spreadsheets, is also included below. For more information about downloading PDF copies of documents in TotalPatent, see Downloads section.

* It should also be noted that for exports in XML format, an XML Prologue is automatically added to the data for integration of of TotalPatent XML data into other tools.^[1]

When exporting from the Work Folder interface, users can choose for many of the export views to include work folder comments or document level comments with the export. Additional improvements have been made to the export and downloading options from the Work Folder interface:^[1]

• Increased number of fields for CSV downloads from results and Work Folders are available, as of January 2010.
• The Download speed from Work Folders has been increased, as of March 2012.

In general, since January 2010, TotalPatent reports that it has made improvements to the the speed of the download manager.^[1] The system also notes general improvements to the order of the language selection options, both when viewing search results and when downloading/exporting results.^[1] Finally, TotalPatent has stated that as of May 2009, tables from USPTO-sourced data now appear correctly in downloads.^[1] As of March 2012, download capabilities allow users to:^[1]

• Download up to 5,000 documents in XML-ST.36 standard format.
• Choose up to 500 original PDF documents for delivery and download.

The Download Documents interface.

Once the user has selected the appropriate options and parameters for the data export from the window above, the Download button will initiate the export process. TotalPatent then displays a progress window explaining that the requested documents are being formatted and prepared. The time required is dependent upon the number and length of documents being downloaded. The process can take up to several minutes for large exports.

The progress window explaining that the requested documents are being formatted and prepared.

Once this process is complete, a ‘Ready to Download’ message appears. See the screenshot below.

The Ready to Download window.

Within the Ready to Download window, TotalPatent tells the user approximately how many pages are about to be downloaded as well as the estimated download time based on a 56kbps modem connection. The user may either right-click, ‘Save as’ on the ‘Patent’ hyperlink, or click the Open and Save button to open the document and save it using a local application.

Editor's Note:

TotalPatent advantageously allows users to import lists of document numbers, but only in CSV (Comma Separated Values) format. A May 2009 update to this feature removed the requirement that lists of documents must be separated by commas, and users can now paste vertical lists of document numbers into Excel, which is a usability improvement. Testing indicates that users can either have document numbers listed vertically one per cell, or users can alternatively enter all document numbers into a single cell, separated by commas. Testing indicates that both formats yield the same results during import.

The CSV exporting feature was updated in the Fall of 2008 and now provides the user with a nicely formatted CSV file. The CSV format is useful because the file is malleable and recognized by many different programs, including Excel.

Because US reassignment data is grouped into the "Legal Info" option, it cannot be exported into a CSV spreadsheet.