Just in time of Halloween, the USPTO’s venerable PatFT and AppFT services have finally bit the dust. On October 1st, the USPTO has shutdown its old search databases, replacing them with the new Patent Public Search tool and a terse commemorative plaque on their website:
“Out with the old, in with the new,” right? Well, the new Patent Public Search interface is definitely sleeker, yet PatFT and AppFT allowed for direct and reliable automated access to the USPTO’s patent databases. The new patent search site, on the other hand, appears specifically designed to prevent automatic downloading of publication images and text. Thanks PTO for another “improvement” after a series of recent database shutdowns!
In any event, we have instead connected ClaimMaster downloading tools to the alternative public data sources for generating IDS forms and downloading images/text of patents and publications:
- Inventor/assignee names and filing dates for IDS forms are now pulled from Google Patents, OPS, or Espacenet (web)
- Patent PDFs are pulled from Google Patents, Free Patents Online (FPO), or Espacenet (web)
- Patent text is pulled from Google Patents, FPO, or OPS
To download the latest version (ClaimMaster 2022.6) that implements these fixes, please visit Customer Portal. You need to have a valid subscription/support policy in place to download the latest version. Note that we do have another large update with many new exciting features and improvements slated for the end of this year.