That was the year that was

Volume 8, Number 4 • April 2000

That was the year that was - patents, 1999
by Nancy Lambert

THE BETTER MOUSETRAP column reviews patent news for 1999. Reports that due to a new provision, the USPTO will publish unexamined U.S. patents 18 months after priority filing, but only if the patent has also been filed somewhere other than the U.S. Says that all the producers of major patent databases that include U.S. patents are bracing themselves for a huge increase in output from the USPTO. Relates that Derwent has opened access to its EPI (Electrical Patents Index) Manual Code indexing to everyone; previously only subscribers could search. Notes that IFI came under new ownership and has been renamed IFI/CLAIMS Patent Services. Offers an overview of six additional companies. Concludes that the last year of the millennium was a year of paranoia for many, but that did not stop the patent database producers and online hosts from going about their business.