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back to article UK patent office spawns free search site

The Intellectual Property Office (IPO) has launched a new online service to reduce the cost to business of requesting patent documents. Named Ipsum, the service allows users to obtain a document for free rather than pay a £5 application fee. The Department of Business, Innovation and Skills claimed the service could save UK …

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  1. C-D
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    Huh? There are several existing alternatives for free online patent searches. Is this one more prompt at getting new patents online, or is there some other advantage? But if it's being compared with a paid postal service this looks like a fairly clueless comment.

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  2. Lockwood

    The front end's called Ipsum.

    The backend driving it: Lorem.

    I suppose it'll make budding trolls have an easier job now.

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  3. My Alter Ego

    Another thing

    With no "money trail", it'll be harder to prove wilful infringement as you can now enter some fake details when requesting patents. In the states this probably wouldn't be a bad thing, but at the moment our patent system is at least vaguely sane.

    That said, I've spoken to several patent holders in the UK, and none of them could recognise what the hell their own patents do after lawyers have gone over them, so being able to read a patent in now way means that it'll be of any use.

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  4. Anna Logg

    Huh? they've always been free

    From the European Patent Office at least:-

    http://worldwide.espacenet.com/?locale=en_EP

    Agree with MAE on the language, you have to use the word 'plurality' as often as possible IMX in patent applications.

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  5. Miek

    Trolling Ahoy!

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