Monday, November 21, 2011

Patent Grabber's PCT searching is broken - fix is coming!

Recent changes by WIPO to their PatentScope search system have broken Patent Grabber's PCT search function. The ability to download PCT published patent applications is not affected by this issue.

I have already identified a fix and will release Patent Grabber 5.9.2 very shortly.

Saturday, August 20, 2011

Patent Grabber 5.9.1 has been released

I have released Patent Grabber 5.9.1. This update addresses an issue that was occurring during the downloading of the text of a PCT application. Patent Grabber could crash if the claims section of the application was particularly large (>300 KB). That has been fixed.

Download this new version for Mac or Windows.

Friday, July 29, 2011

Family-izer(TM) Solo: New, free source of INPADOC patent family info

I just completed a new, free web application for patent family information. It is called Family-izer(TM) Solo. My original Family-izer gave only the country code, publication number and kind code. The Solo version gives you a table with additional information like the full country name, publication date, application number, and a description of the kind code.

Also unlike the original Family-izer, the Solo version does not require a browser plugin. You can use it from any modern web browser, regardless of the underlying device. It should work on any computer, tablet device or smart phone. So if you find yourself without a computer and need patent family info, just pull out your smart phone, open its web browser and head to the Family-izer Solo page!

Sunday, July 17, 2011

Patent Grabber(TM) 5.9 is now available

Patent Grabber 5.9 can now be downloaded directly from the Patent Tools page of the Blazing Dawn Software web site. At the request of a UK venture capital company, this new version allows users to create an enhanced spreadsheet of bibliographic information for U.S. patents. In addition to the information on the face of the patent, the "US Patent Biblio +" function additionally contains for each patent in your list:

1) the corresponding foreign patents from INPADOC,
2) the legal status of the patent from INPADOC,
3) full description of the main class of the patent,
4) the assignees of the cited patents,
5) the count of cited patents,
6) a list of later-issued patents that cite the patent ("forward citations"),
7) the count of forward citations (in case you are interested in that statistic) and
8) the assignees of the forward citations

This function is free to use for lists of up to 20 patents. Usage with lists of >20 patents requires a Patent Grabber license (which is quite inexpensive at $30).

Version 5.9 additionally fixes EPO and PCT searching that had been broken by changes in the EPO and WIPO search systems. EPO searching is no longer limited to the first 30 hits.

Friday, July 8, 2011

Patent Grabber 5.9 now available to current users

Patent Grabber 5.9 is now available to current users. Not downloadable from the web site yet. Users should click the "Check for updates" button on their current version.
  • New spreadsheet function with some awesome features that were requested by a UK venture capital company.
  • Fixed EP-A and PCT searching.

Saturday, July 2, 2011

Patent Grabber PCT text and searching problems

WIPO has extensively changed its search interface. That as broken Patent Grabber's ability to download the text of PCT applications and to search for PCT applications. Patent Grabber's ability to download PCT applications in Adobe Acrobat (PDF) format is NOT effected.

A fix for this problem is nearly complete.

Wednesday, June 8, 2011

Family-izer: problem with Firefox 4 under Windows

There is apparently an incompatibility under Windows(R) between Firefox 4 and the free plugin that runs Family-izer(TM) (www.familyizer.com). This is beyond my control, since I am not the developer of the plugin. Hopefully, the plugin developer will work with the Mozilla folks to get this ironed out soon. In the meantime, Firefox 3.x still works fine.

Under Mac OS X, Firefox 4 has to be run under 32-bit mode but it works! However, there is absolutely no problem using Safari.

Patent Grabber: European application searching not working

I just discovered that EP application searching has stopped working in Patent Grabber(TM). I guess there are not many users of that feature, since I have not received any complaints.

The problem was caused by the EPO's recent changes to the format of their search results pages. I have made the needed adjustments, so EP application searching will be working again in Ver. 5.9. In fact, the searching will be improved since I have overcome the 30-hit limit on viewing EP application search results! Users will now be able to view search results up to the EPO's limit of 500 hits.

Stay tuned for my announcement of the release of Patent Grabber 5.9!

Saturday, April 23, 2011

Patent Grabber 5.8.6 is now available

Patent Grabber(TM) 5.8.6 is now available for download from the Patent Tools page of the Blazing Dawn Software web site. It now has a fresh, modern new look and a filtering field to make it easy to find a patent in a long list of downloaded patents.

Friday, April 15, 2011

Printing problems with Patent Grabber on Mac?

If any Mac users are having problems using Patent Grabber's printing feature, or if you have recently used Patent Grabber's printing feature successfully, please leave a comment. In your comment, let me know which version of Mac OS X you are using: Tiger, Leopard or Snow Leopard. Thanks!

Saturday, February 5, 2011

Patent Grabber(TM) 5.8.5 is now available

Patent Grabber 5.8.5 for Mac OS X and Windows is now available. This release reestablishes the downloading of granted European patents (EP-B) that was broken when the EPO changed the URL of the European Publication Server. In the Search function, it also fixes an issue with bibliographic information for U.S. design patents.


Download a copy from Blazing Dawn Software's Patent Tools page.