Porter, 'Documents Department Additions', NCSU Libraries Newsletter v22n01 (August 1994)
 
_The NCSU Libraries Newsletter_
Volume 22 no. 1
August 1994
Porter, Jean
"Documents Department Additions"


U.S. Patents on CD-ROM

The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office recently began distributing U.S. 
patents on CD-ROM to Patent and Trademark Depository Libraries 
(PTDL).  The compact discs contain facsimile images of patent 
documents.  The service is called USPat and covers patents issued 
since the beginning of 1994.

The discs include all of the usual patent documents, including utility 
patents, design patents, plant patents (in black-and-white), 
reexamination certificates, statutory invention registrations, and 
certificates of correction.  Each set of three discs covers one week of 
patent information.  The time lag from the date a patent is issued to 
receipt of the discs is approximately three weeks.  This cuts the time 
lag for receiving patent documents by more than one half.  The normal 
wait for the microfilm is between six and eight weeks.

Every disc contains a cumulative index of patents available at the 
time the disc was created.  The only way to access the image is to 
know the patent number, and the only way to know which disc the 
patent is on is to highlight the number in the index.  Beside the 
highlighted number will be the number of the disc which contains the 
patent.  This disc must be inserted into the CD drive before the patent 
document can be viewed on the screen or printed.  Future plans include 
software enhancements to allow searching of patent text.

The patent discs are housed in the Microforms Room.  The usual 
printing fees apply.  Microforms Room staff will help researchers to 
learn how to use USPat.  Come by for a demonstration.

Plant Patents

Originally, plant patents were not included in the distribution of 
patent documents to many PTDLs.  They were only available in paper 
form, while most PTDLs receive microfilm of patent information.  
Plant patents were printed in limited quantities because of the 
expense of reproducing color drawings or photographs.

Several years ago, a set of plant patents issued from 1931 to 1989 
was produced on color microfiche and distributed to all the patent 
depositories.  Several updates have been issued since then.  Currently, 
the collection covers from P1 (August 18, 1931) to P8,376 
(September 14, 1993).  There is no way to make color copies of these 
microfiche, but they are beautiful to view.