Downloading IFW Documents From Patent Center and PAIR

To download multiple documents and/or other data from the USPTO Patent Center or PAIR, follow these steps:

1. Launch PAIR Downloading Tool

   From the ClaimMaster tab, click on the Downloading Tools menu, then Download Data from PAIR:

   

   Doing so will launch the PAIR Download Tool.

2. Specify the Data Source

   At the top of the IFW Download Tool, you can specify whether you want to use Patent Center, PEDs (when its API is turned back on by the USPTO) or Private PAIR for downloading data/documents. For accessing documents from Private PAIR, you’ll need to follow the 2-step authentication process as explained in more detail here.

   

3. Specify a List of Application or Publication Numbers

   You’ll need to list one or more 8-digit application numbers or US patent/publication numbers in the PAIR Downloading Tool. You can use semicolons, returns, or spaces to separate the numbers in the list. Alternatively, you can simply copy/paste the text of the received eOfficeAction email into this field, as shown below (or you can just drag & drop the email directly from the Outlook into the text box).

   

4. Specify the File Type for Downloads

   By default it is PDF, but you can also download XML and DOCX files from Patent Center. Note that Patent Center doesn’t provide XML and DOCX files for all hosted documents, so ClaimMaster will only download IFW documents available in DOCX/XML format (typically Office Actions, IDS, filed claims, Specification, etc.)

   

5. Specify IFW Document Filters

   Next, you’ll need to specify which files to download from PAIR using document type and date filters.  If the document filter set to “All documents”, all IFW documents will be downloaded for a given patent/application.  Otherwise, only IFW documents of the specified type (e.g., Office Actions and Responses, Claims, IDS, etc.) will be downloaded. If the date filter set to “All dates”, all IFW documents will be downloaded for a given patent/application.  Otherwise, only IFW documents within the specified date range (e.g., last 6 months) will be downloaded.

   

   In addition, you can specify whether to collect various bibliographic and assignment information from the Application Data and Assignments tabs in PAIR.

6. Add Custom Document Filters (Optional)

   ClaimMaster lets you create and use custom download filters assembled from any set of the standard PAIR document types. By using IFW document type filters, you’ll be able to download only specific file wrapper documents from PAIR or Patent Center.

   
   When you click on the “Settings” button, you’ll be able to select the specific document types that comprise each document filter, allowing you granular control of the downloads:

   

7. Specify Save Preferences (Optional)

   Finally, prior to beginning the download process, you can also specify the location for saving files and some additions settings, such as whether to zip files or OCR PDFs post-download.

   

   Here you can also specify the naming convention for your downloaded file names based on custom template that can include one or more replacement fields. These fields will be updated with the actual bibliographic/date information for each downloaded document. For example, using an “[APPNUM]-[CUSTOMNUM]-[FILTER]-[DATE]” naming template will result in 16000100-CF1.1500–Claims_Only-Jan_1_2020.pdf filename for the downloaded file. Using custom naming templates makes it easy to keep track of the downloaded documents.

   

8. Start and Complete PAIR Download

   After you’ve specified all of the desired settings, click on the Download Documents button. PAIR Download Tool will then begin download all of the listed documents. You’ll be able to monitor the progress in the Download Log tab. Files will be saved to the location you specified in the Save Preferences.  If any USPTO correspondence is available in DOCX format, it will be downloaded as a separate file.

   

   Once download completes, you’ll see a list of all downloaded/generated documents in the table located in the lower part of the PAIR Download Tool. You can select multiple files in this table to email/print/open them using respective buttons on the right side of the table. You can also select multiple files by dragging the mouse across each row or using Shift/control keys + left click. In addition, you can launch the Office Action Browser for the selected Office Action file.