Google just signed an agreement to host all of the Patent and Trademark Raw Data from the USPTO.

The Google Patent About Page added this comment:

Q. Why does Google offer bulk downloads of patent and trademark information?
A. Google and the US Patent and Trademark Office have partnered to provide bulk file downloads of patent and trademark information to everyone, for free. This information is also available on a file-by-file basis from the USPTO website, or for bulk download on CDs, DVDs, or digital tape, with fees to cover the USPTO’s expenses (often more than $10,000 and potentially up to $250,000). Many major law firms and research organizations rely on bulk file downloads so they can do more comprehensive analysis of the data. Now anyone can get the information for free by visiting http://www.google.com/googlebooks/uspto.html.

So, for all you data crunchers out there – here’s your chance to get your hands dirty.  Previously, this data was hidden on a little known FTP server.

–Ben

Sources:  About Google Patents, Google USPTO Bulk Download, Federal Computer Week

Related posts:

  1. Patent Clerking on the Cheap — Free Tools I figure that more than one of us clerks has been asked to research on the cheap for one of our boss’s clients.  I wanted to share a...
  2. Utah Safety Data – Violence and Injury Data by Neighborhood on the web Wow.  Utah does some cool stuff.  If you’re a Utahn, this may be interesting to see how your fellow people fare, statistically.  In all seriousness, it shows underlying...
  3. Google Scholar now indexing and searching state and federal caselaw! Just found out that google took on the legal research industry. I’m interested to see how this pans out. Attorneys will still need to cite check to see...
  4. Fix – Adobe Acrobat Opening Multiple PDF Files Instead of One Problem Problem: When my boss started up his computer and/or clicked on a PDF file, he would have multiple PDF windows open.  It was almost like his computer was...
  5. Fix – Office XP opening DOCX, XLSX files – Compatability pack broken PROBLEM: If you’re like me, you discovered that the compatability pack for Office XP broke sometime earlier this year.  You can’t open DOCX or XLSX files from outlook....