Google Patents

Google Case Law, and why it doesn’t matter…

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Whenever Google launches a product there is a huge brouhaha over in the blogosphere (There. I used the stupid word.) and people go nuts about how it is going to be the next big thing. I am not the clean one and am as much to blame as any one else for being a fanboy. However, when Google launched the free legal case law I was hardly excited.

I was transported back to the days when I was so happy at the launch of Google Patents that I almost predicted doom for patent database providers. Heck, I even sent them an email with features I thought would have been easy to implement.

Little did I know that it would turn out to be some time pass project for some one bored of regular work at Google. Sure the tool is great, but the limited coverage and search make it almost useless, when Google, using its immense technological prowess could have brought patents to everyone with very little incremental work. But then I guess the team that worked on it got shifted to some more important stuff and the project now sits there like a tool which I use only to read patents – and not search them. What a waste I tell you!!

Sleep in peace Lexis Nexis – there is no battle brewing on your home turf!

Daily Roundup

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I have pretty busy over the past many weekends, and this one was no different. Debo was in town and it was nice spending time with him.

Anyways a few interesting nuggets from the web.

  • Upgrade to XP from Vista says CodingSanity – I agree. Too many warnings. Let me use it please. I not a effing retard you know. [Link via FSJ]
  • Vicky Nanjappa asks Scorpions if they would introduce hip hop into their music. Yes. And they are also thinking of hiring Anu Malik as their composer and Himesh Baba as their lead singer. [Link via India Uncut]
  • For the IP Geeks – Espacenet is thinking of allowing download of search results in XML/CSV format. Good going folks. I remember having given a similar suggestion to Google Patents team. But they seem to have gone into hibernation.
  • Finally, Apar has great series going on here. Must read.

Google’s Patent Search

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The inevitable has happened. Google has finally launched a patent search engine. You can check it out at http://www.google.com/patents

For long I had wished that Google gives a better patent search option, and it has finally happened. Complete with advanced search options including assignee, inventor, IPC classes, and date limitations it is gonna be one heck of a tool for prior art search. I hope it does normal language search more effectively than concept search on PatentCafe.

Though the jurisdiction coverage is currently limited to granted US patents only, I am sure it would not be long before it adds other major Patent Offices like EPO and WIPO to it and published applications/pre-grant publications.

I sure see some competition for us in the future and also for IP service providers like Thomson Scientific.

What I now want to see is a mashup which combines Google Patent Search and Google Spreadsheets & Docs. That would be so much fun!!

PS: The official post is at http://googleblog.blogspot.com/2006/12/now-you-can-search-for-us-patents.html.