Release Notes

September 2019: DTD v2.5 released, CPCI added, and bulk attachments service released

1) We have released v2.5 of the DTD. This release includes the following changes (see the XML DTD and Schemas for more details):

• added CPCI value to schema attribute on classification-cpc 
• made classification-cpc  unbounded (*) as child of classifications-cpc 

2) The EPO has announced that CPC-International will be rolled out starting with the next DocDB data delivery. From week 2019/36 onward all CPC classifications will have classification-scheme=“CPCI”. Classification-schemes “CPC” and “CPCNO” will be discontinued from that week onward. More information about this change can be found in Content Notifications.

3) We are releasing a new bulk attachments web service on September 1. This service is an interface to download attachments in bulk format. It is modeled on the existing XML update service which is used by on-site customers to manage updates to their CLAIMS Direct instance. Please see Bulk Attachments for full details.

July 2019: Soviet Union data added

In July we processed full text data from the former Soviet Union. IFI's collection now includes Author Certificates and Patents from 1924 to 1993.

June 2019: Six new full text countries added

Over the past few weeks we have added full text and PDF files for ARIPO, Bulgaria, Eurasia, OAPI and Romania to our Premium+ collection. Subscribers to either Premium or Premium+ also now have access to full text for Slovakia. Details can be seen in our data coverage table.

May 2019: Full text added for Czech Republic/Czechoslovakia

Full text and PDF files for Czech Republic (CZ) and the former Czechoslovakia (CS) are now available for Premium and Premium+ subscribers, respectively.

May 2019: Kind code changes in Norway and the Netherlands

Following EPO recommendations, we have changed the kind codes of some NL and NO records as follows:

May 2019: Change in CS and CZ document numbers

As announced in April, CS and CZ records changed the format of their patent numbers following DocDB recommendations. Some of the changes included moving the year to the end for CZ publication numbers dating prior to 2000 and suppressing embedded zeroes for CZ publication numbers, applications, and priority numbers dating from 2000 onward. The following table illustrates the changes.

The rekey, as initially described by the EPO, would have resulted in collisions. For example:

• CZ-9102003-A3 (published 19930113) would have been rekeyed as CZ-200391-A3
• CZ-20030091-A3 (published 20030618) would have been rekeyed as CZ-200391-A3

To avoid these collisions, the rekeyed ucids of 104 CS records delivered by the EPO match the application number and don't follow the rules above.

April 2019: Referenced images now available in Spanish front file

Beginning in January 2019, image files in our attachment server will include referenced images in TIFF format for ES patents and utility models.

April 2019: Five new full text countries added

Over the past week we have added full text and PDF files for Hungary, Lithuania, Latvia, Portugal, and Slovenia to our Premium+ collection. Details can be seen in our data coverage table.

April 2019: East German patents added

We have added description, claims and full document PDFs of DD granted patents published by the former East German patent office between 1980 and 2003. This content is available to Premium and Premium+ subscription levels.

March 2019: Canadian PDF backfile extended

Over the past few weeks we have expanded our collection of Canadian PDFs. Although there are still a few gaps, the addition extends our Canadian PDF coverage back to publication year 2000.

Earlier Release Notes

Release notes prior to 2019 can be seen in the Archived Release Notes section.