WASHINGTON - The US Department of Commerce’s United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) in furtherance of the Global Dossier Initiative launched the first service for Global Dossier - Dossier Access Friday, November 20. According to the USPTO, Dossier Access is a user-friendly online interface, which will make it easier for patent applicants to quickly and easily view, monitor, and manage intellectual property (IP) protection around the world by providing access to the dossiers of related applications filed at participating offices.
“We continue to collaborate with IP offices around the world to modernize information technology tools and the Global Dossier program is a key component of the USPTO’s Enhanced Patent Quality Initiative,” said Under Secretary of Commerce for Intellectual Property and Director of the USPTO Michelle K. Lee. “Quality increases when the public and examiners gain greater insight into and consider non-English-language patent applications and prior art.”
Initially proposed by the USPTO to the five largest International Property Offices (IP5) in November 2011. Global Dossier is a set of business services aimed at modernizing the global patent system and delivering benefits to all stakeholders through a single portal/user interface. Through Dossier Access, the public will be able to obtain data that is timely, reliable, understandable, standardized, and of high quality. Currently, the European Patent Office (EPO), Korean Intellectual Property Office (KIPO) and China’s State Intellectual Property Office (SIPO) provide a Global Dossier portal to the public. The Japan Patent Office (JPO) will be introducing Global Dossier in 2016.
The USPTO has several high priority services that are currently being evaluated, including a mechanism for sharing documents between offices. The business services of Global Dossier are being designed with users in mind and the USPTO will be seeking public input throughout the entire development process. IdeaScale is one of the ways that the USPTO will be gathering stakeholder input, feedback, and suggestions on Global Dossier. The public can access the website through: http://uspto-globaldossier.ideascale.com/(link is external).