I haven't seen this here, so I'm forwarding it all: Date: Fri, 9 Sep 1994 09:32:15 -0400 From: srctran@world.std.com (Gregory Aharonian) Message-Id: <199409091332.AA16709@world.std.com> To: patents@world.std.com Subject: PATENT SEARCHING EMAIL SERVER is now open for business APS PATENT SEARCHING ARRIVES ON THE INTERNET!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! (well only in a real limited way for the time being :-) A few weeks ago, I announced plans to provide limited patent searching over the Internet, where you can get a list of patents by specifying the class/subclass. I have decided to do this in two stages. To test out the email-server software I am writing, I first plan to allow email requests to retreive parts of the PTO classification manuals (see below). Once things are running smoothly, I will then add the capability to retrieve patent titles by class/subclass. So feel free to start sending in requests to the address listed below: search@world.std.com wish me luck, and start thinking philanthropic. By the way, if someone has a machine readable version of the WIPO international classification system, please send it to me so I can add it to the server. At some point when I have lots of equipment, I will sort US patents by their international classification. Greg Aharonian Internet Patent News Service ==================== Internet Patent News Service September 1994 PATENT TITLES EMAIL SERVER search@world.std.com The Internet Patent News Service is pleased to announced the availability of the Patent Titles email server, where people can retrieve lists of patent titles dating back to 1970 for any USPTO class/subclass, and patent numbers for additional patents dating back to the 1800's. The Patent Titles email server is the first step in our efforts to make the entire USPTO APS patent text database system accessible over the Internet. Approximately one gigabyte of data has been prepared and attached to the Internet. As all of the equipment and network access is borrowed, I am limiting access to an email server until I get a better feel for demand for the data, and until I can raise funding to set up a proper Internet server. Unless the bandwidth and processing load overwhelms the equipment I am borrowing, the service will be free. To use the email server, send requests to the Internet address: search@world.std.com using any of the following commands sent as text in the body of the email message: SENDTO account-name@internet.site.adr This command is mandatory of all requests and is where you specify the email address you want the information sent to. Occasionally From: lines in email addresses do not provide a correct return address (at least in my experience doing the Internet Patent News Service). SEND INTRO SEND HELP Either of these commands will return this message. SEND UCLASSES This command will return an index to the approximately 400 patent classes that are currently being used, for example: Class: 69 Leather Manufacturers SEND UCLASS XXX This command will return that section of the USPTO's Manual of Classification covering patent class XXX. For example, the command "SEND CLASS 69" would return a list of all of the subclasses in Class 69 by number and title. These files range in size from 5K to 120K. What follows is a section of Class 69: Subclass Subclass Number Title 1 MACHINES 1.5 .Belt-stretching 3 .Horse collar shaping 4 .Horse collar stuffing SEND UCLASS COMPUTING This command will return those sections of the USPTO's Manual of Classification covering patent classes 395 and 364, the two main classes dealing with hardware and software. SEND IPNSINFO This command will return an introductory message to my Internet Patent News Service. SEND CONSULT This command will return an introductory message to my patent searching consulting services I offer. SAVE COMMENT This command lets me know your request is actually a comment about the email server operation, or any inaccuracies you detect in the patent information being sent out. As I am parasiting the equipment to run the server (which basically means that I operate the server at nite and on weekends), please send your requests in at the end of the workday or on weekends. Within a day or so, you will receive back ny email whatever you requested. SECURITY A very important concern for anyone using this email server is secrecy, that what they are searching for is not revealed to others. As a potential inventor, I appreciate this as much as anyone else. While I plan to save the email addresses of people who use the server (but not their search request), no other information will be retained. The email address information will be saved to study who, and how often, people are using the server. I would appreciate any suggestions on how to ensure security beyond this. Please excuse any mishaps that occur as I get this service off the ground. This email server is a classic hack that will get better in time as people use it. In turn, the experience gathered in running the server will be invaluable in demonstrating the feasibility of making massive amounts of patent data available over the Internet. Also, get ready for that voluntary registration fee I mention in my intro piece to the Internet Patent News Service. If the Patent Titles email server is successful, and you all like it, this fall I plan to coordinate an effort to put all of the patent abstract information since 1970 onto the Internet, making it available through email servers, Gopher, WAIS and Mosaic. But first things first, getting the Patent Titles email server working. Greg Aharonian Internet Patent News Service