Reviewed on 15th September 1997
Review by Amy Tucker
Want to register a patent for your new 'Doggy door bell push' invention? Then visit the Patent Office Web site to find out how - although in this case you will be too late as the patent already exists.
Launched in May 1997, the site design is clean with minimum use of icons. Boasting over 400 pages of full-text information covering "a broad spread of information useful for both the professional and interesting to the newcomer", the site is updated regularly as new information or news comes along.
Patent Office Web Site
The four main areas covered are Copyright, Design, Patents and Trademarks, each area offering detailed information on how to register or apply for rights ownership as appropriate.
Don't know your trademark from your design patent? Newcomers to the site are provided with basic definitions of the different areas and an introduction to IP (no, not Internet Protocol but Intellectual Property). Links to some further reading would have been useful here.
The 'Focus On...' monthly feature is interesting (although I noted that it has not been updated for three months), highlighting a patent of general interest to the public. Did you know that the widget or 'device for promoting froth' was first registered by Guinness in 1972? Snippets such as 'Strange Patents' and a report on Alan Shearer [TM] provide a little light reading alongside meeting and enquiry reports in the News section.
Users can search within the site using an Excite search engine, and a page of links to external relevant sites allows the visitor to explore further afield. An extensive contact list directs enquirers to the expertise in each area. However no link is apparent for feedback on the site itself, therefore, the unresolved link I found, the unformatted text links I spotted and the confusing washed out icon links will remain unaltered.
Reviewed by: Amy Tucker,
Electronic Journals Product Manager
Institute of Physics Publishing
http://www.iop.org/IOP/ioppabout.html
Email: amy.tucker@ioppublishing.co.uk
Material on this page is copyright Ariadne/original authors. This page last updated on 08-Sep-1997