Improvements to IDS Tools in ClaimMaster 2023

ClaimMaster 2023 introduces many long-awaited improvements to our IDS generation tools. It’s now easier than ever to analyze prior art citations and generate completely filled-out IDS forms using public databases.

Import prior art citations from public sources

We now let you import lists of patent and NPL citations directly from the public data sources that store US patents, such as Google Patents, EPO, and Free Patents Online. The import speed is very fast and it works for both patent publications and NPLs. In addition, if you specify an application or publication # (rather than the issued patent #), ClaimMaster will import prior art citations from the Patent Center’s XML documents, although in our recent experience, the data in XML IDS forms is not accurate or complete as pulling the prior art citations from the published patents, but that is the only place where you can get such data before the applications issue as patents.

ids citations import

Explore prior art citations for applications + families (+Shells)

We’ve made it very easy to quickly identify and review all prior art cited in a particular patent family. Just specify a patent, publication, or application # and we’ll generate a list of all IDS citations for that reference or its entire patent family using public databases like Google Patents, EPO, Free Patents Online, and Patent Center. You can also use the same explore tool to import and review citations from local sources, such as directories storing IDS forms. From there, you can export the list or perhaps generate an IDS form for the selected items. This feature is only available with the +Shells add-on.

prior art citation explorer

Compare and cross-cite prior art between patent families (+Shells)

ClaimMaster now also lets you compare IDS cross-sites between entire patent families (both patent pubs and NPLs). Just specify patents, publication, or application # and we’ll generate a list of all IDS citations for the entire patent family of each reference. You can then determine which prior art references are either commonly cited in both families or, alternatively, need to be cross-cited and quickly generate IDS forms or export the results for the identified items. This feature is only available with the +Shells add-on.

compare prior art cites between families

Click on any topics below to see other improvements in this release: