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progress<br />of science and useful arts”—Article I, § 8 </div> </div> <div id="seal2"> <a href="http://www.uspto.gov/" class="logo"><img alt="justice.gov" src="../img/foil.seal.uspto.png" width="175" height="176" /></a> </div> </div> <h4><b style="color: #000;">The 2009 Report</b> — Sun Nov 8 13:03:17 PST 2009</h4> <div> <a href="http://radar.oreilly.com/"><img src="https://public.resource.org/images/favicons/radar_favicon.png" alt="icon" class="timeline" /></a> </div> <div class="trackbackitem"> <a href="http://radar.oreilly.com/2009/11/unlikely-group-working-happily.html" class="trackback">Unlikely Group Working Happily Together</a> — Radar O'Reilly <span class="doc-date"> November 8, 2009</span> </div> <div> <a href="https://public.resource.org/"><img src="https://public.resource.org/images/favicons/seal_favicon.png" alt="icon" class="timeline" /></a> </div> <div class="trackbackitem"> <a href="https://law.resource.org/pub/us/case/govdocs/gov.house.honda_20091107_to.pdf" class="trackback">Letter to Congressman Mike Honda</a> — Public.Resource.Org<span class="doc-date"> November 7, 2009 </span> </div> <div> <a href="https://public.resource.org/"><img src="https://public.resource.org/images/favicons/seal_favicon.png" alt="icon" class="timeline" /></a> </div> <div class="trackbackitem"> <a href="https://law.resource.org/pub/us/case/govdocs/gov.uspto_20091107_to.pdf" class="trackback">FOIA Request to USPTO</a> — Public.Resource.Org<span class="doc-date"> November 7, 2009 </span> </div> <div> <a href="http://www.uspto.gov/"><img src="https://public.resource.org/images/favicons/uspto.gov.favicon.png" alt="icon" class="timeline" /></a> </div> <div class="trackbackitem"> <a href="https://www.fbo.gov/index?s=opportunity&mode=form&id=86b75c3c95058c12bc61342d9d590a15&tab=core&_cview=0&cck=1&au=&ck=" class="trackback">Public Data Dissemination Sole Source Contract to Google, Inc.</a> — U.S. Patent and Trademark Office<span class="doc-date"> November 6, 2009</span> </div> <div> <a href="https://lexmachina.com/"><img src="https://public.resource.org/images/favicons/stanford.edu.favicon.png" alt="icon" class="timeline" /></a> </div> <div class="trackbackitem"> <a href="https://law.resource.org/pub/us/case/govdocs/gov.uspto_20091105_to.pdf" class="trackback">Letter to the Deputy CTO</a> — LexMachina.Com and Stanford University<span class="doc-date"> November 5, 2009 </span> </div> <div> <a href="http://www.uspto.gov/"><img src="https://public.resource.org/images/favicons/uspto.gov.favicon.png" alt="icon" class="timeline" /></a> </div> <div class="trackbackitem"> <a href="https://law.resource.org/pub/us/case/govdocs/gov.uspto_09242009_from.pdf" class="trackback">RFI Presentation Materials</a> — U.S. Patent and Trademark Office<span class="doc-date"> September 24, 2009 </span> </div> <div> <a href="https://www.stanford.edu/"><img src="https://public.resource.org/images/favicons/stanford.edu.favicon.png" alt="icon" class="timeline" /></a> </div> <div class="trackbackitem"> <a href="https://law.resource.org/pub/us/case/govdocs/gov.uspto_20090917_to.pdf" class="trackback">Letter to U.S. Patent Office</a> — Stanford University<span class="doc-date"> September 17, 2009 </span> </div> <div> <a href="https://public.resource.org/"><img src="https://public.resource.org/images/favicons/seal_favicon.png" alt="icon" class="timeline" /></a> </div> <div class="trackbackitem"> <a href="https://law.resource.org/pub/us/case/govdocs/gov.uspto_20090915_to.pdf" class="trackback">Letter to U.S. Patent Office</a> — Public.Resource.Org<span class="doc-date"> September 15, 2009 </span> </div> <div> <a href="http://www.uspto.gov/"><img src="https://public.resource.org/images/favicons/uspto.gov.favicon.png" alt="icon" class="timeline" /></a> </div> <div class="trackbackitem"> <a href="https://www.fbo.gov/index?s=opportunity&mode=form&id=6daebba29ba925a79f90c41539978e16&tab=core&_cview=0&cck=1&au=&ck=" class="trackback">Federal Business Opportunity</a> — U.S. Patent and Trademark Office<span class="doc-date"> September 4, 2009 </span> </div> <div> <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20090701001411/http://honda.house.gov:80/"><img src="https://public.resource.org/images/favicons/gov.house.favicon.png" alt="icon" class="timeline" /></a> </div> <div class="trackbackitem"> <a href="https://law.resource.org/pub/us/case/govdocs/gov.house.honda_20090814_from.pdf" class="trackback">Letter to Under Secretary Kappos</a> — Congressman Mike Honda<span class="doc-date"> August 14, 2009 </span> </div> <div> <a href="https://public.resource.org/"><img src="https://public.resource.org/images/favicons/seal_favicon.png" alt="icon" class="timeline" /></a> </div> <div class="trackbackitem"> <a href="https://law.resource.org/pub/us/case/govdocs/gov.house.honda_20090812_to.pdf" class="trackback">Letter to Congressman Honda</a> — Public.Resource.Org<span class="doc-date"> August 12, 2009</span> </div> <div> <a href="https://public.resource.org/"><img src="https://public.resource.org/images/favicons/seal_favicon.png" alt="icon" class="timeline" /></a> </div> <div class="trackbackitem"> <a href="https://public.resource.org/scribd/17329782.pdf" class="trackback">Letter to the White House</a> — Public.Resource.Org <span class="doc-date">July 14, 2009 </span> </div> <a name="subhead2"></a> <h4>From 1998: Secrets are incompatible with promoting the useful arts</h4> <div class="agencyitem"> <table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" border="0" style="width: 100%;"> <tr><td valign="top" class="agency" style="width: 50%;"> <h3>Promoting Progress</h3> <p>Patents are a bargain. In return for disclosing a useful invention, the inventor is granted a limited monopoly to exploit said invention. But, if the details of the invention, duly filed and disclosed, are buried inside in the bureaucratic labyrinths of Washington, D.C., how is the progress of the useful arts promoted? Patents must be widely distributed or the purpose of the Constitution has not been met. </p> <p>As a pro-constitution nonprofit, we felt that this situation needed to change, and the U.S. patent database was thus released on the Internet in 1994 and 1995 along with Securities and Exchange Commission documents. The situation at the time was so bad that even patent examiners didn't have good access to patents, and we noticed an immediate spike in traffic from uspto.gov as they used our WAIS database to search prior art. </p> </td> <td valign="top" class="agency" style="width: 50%;"> <h3>Third Time is the Charm</h3> <p> The Patent Office, unlike the Securities and Exchange Commission, had a philosophical aversion to distributing “their” database on the Internet for free. Finally, in 1998 after 2 previous attempts to get the office to distribute their data properly, a letter (with a cc to the New York Times) was dispatched to the Vice President suggesting that if the government couldn't commit to doing the right thing within 60 days, others would ursurp their functionality. </p> <p> While the bureaucrats assessed the situation and the clock started ticking, the Internet Multicasting Service went about building a better patent database. On day 59, the Commissioner of Patents went before the American Bar Association to announce that patents and trademarks would become freely available on the Internet. We estimated that this database increased the size of the World Wide Web by 15 percent at the time.</p> </td> </tr> </table> </div> <h4>TRACKBACK—DISSEMINATION OF PATENTS</h4> <div> <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/"><img src="https://public.resource.org/images/favicons/nytimes_favicon.png" alt="The Grey Lady" class="timeline" /></a> </div> <div class="trackbackitem"> <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/1998/06/25/business/us-to-release-patent-data-on-a-world-wide-web-site.html" class="trackback"> U.S. to Release Patent Data On a World Wide Web Site</a> — New York Times <span class="doc-date">June 25, 1998</span> </div> <div> <a href="http://www.tap.org/"><img src="https://public.resource.org/images/favicons/uspto.gov.favicon.png" alt="icon" class="timeline" /></a> </div> <div class="trackbackitem"> <a href="http://www.uspto.gov/web/offices/com/speeches/98-12.htm" class="trackback"> PTO to Make Comprehensive Patent and Trademark Available Free on the Internet</a> — Commissioner of Patents <span class="doc-date">June 25, 1998</span> </div> <div> <a href="https://public.resource.org/"><img src="https://public.resource.org/images/favicons/seal_favicon.png" alt="The Seal" class="timeline" /></a> </div> <div class="trackbackitem"> <a href="https://public.resource.org/letter.html" class="trackback">Patent and Trademark Databases On-Line </a> — Public.Resource.Org <span class="doc-date">April 7, 1998</span> </div> <div> <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/"><img src="https://public.resource.org/images/favicons/nytimes_favicon.png" alt="The Grey Lady" class="timeline" /></a> </div> <div class="trackbackitem"> <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/1998/05/04/business/us-is-urged-to-offer-more-data-on-line.html" class="trackback"> U.S. Is Urged to Offer More Data on Line</a> — New York Times <span class="doc-date">May 4, 1998</span> </div> <div> <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/"><img src="https://public.resource.org/images/favicons/nytimes_favicon.png" alt="The Grey Lady" class="timeline" /></a> </div> <div class="trackbackitem"> <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/1995/08/06/magazine/fast-forward-washington-unplugged.html" class="trackback">Washington Unplugged</a> — New York Times <span class="doc-date">August 6, 1996</span> </div> <div> <a href="https://public.resource.org/"><img src="https://public.resource.org/images/favicons/seal_favicon.png" alt="The Seal" class="timeline" /></a> </div> <div class="trackbackitem"> <a href="https://park.org/Cdrom/TheNot/Mail/Patent/index.html" class="trackback">Our Friends at the Patent Office (Mail Archive) </a> — Public.Resource.Org <span class="doc-date">June 4, 1996</span> </div> <div> <a href="https://public.resource.org/"><img src="https://public.resource.org/images/favicons/seal_favicon.png" alt="The Seal" class="timeline" /></a> </div> <div class="trackbackitem"> <a href="https://town.hall.org/govt/tuttle/patent-stats.html" class="trackback">Patent Database Access Statistics </a> — Public.Resource.Org <span class="doc-date">July 31, 1995</span> </div> <div> <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/"><img src="https://public.resource.org/images/favicons/nytimes_favicon.png" alt="The Grey Lady" class="timeline" /></a> </div> <div class="trackbackitem"> <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/1998/05/04/business/us-is-urged-to-offer-more-data-on-line.html" class="trackback"> Group to Widen Access To Federal Data Bases </a> — New York Times <span class="doc-date">December 23, 1994</span> </div>  <a name="trail"></a> <h4>PAPER TRAIL</h4> <div class="callout-top-left" style="float: left; width: 370px; height: 157px; clear: both;"> <div class="callout-subhead"> Once the province of a nuts-and-bolts world, patents are now being applied to thoughts and ideas in cyberspace. It's a ridiculous phenomenon and a nightmare for e-commerce. <br /><br /><span style="color: #900;">James Gleick, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20170815115131/https://around.com/patent.html">Patently Absurd</a></span> </div> </div> <div style="float: right; width: 500px;"> <div class="doc-row-1"> <div class="doc-container"> <div class="doc-date">  <span>07.08.98</span> </div> <div class="doc"> <a href="https://public.resource.org/scribd/3319360.pdf"><img class="scribd-doc" src="https://public.resource.org/scribd/thumbs/3319360.jpg" alt="thumbnail of document" /></a><img src="../images/arrow.png" alt="artwork" style="border: 0px;" /> </div> <div class="doc-info"> <b><a href="https://public.resource.org/scribd/3319360.pdf" class="scribd">FOIA</a></b> <br /> FOIA Request and Selected Documents <br /> <a href="https://public.resource.org/scribd/3319360.pdf" class="scribd">pdf</a> </div> </div> <div class="doc-container"> <div class="doc-date">  <span>01.17.98</span> </div> <div class="doc"> <a href="https://public.resource.org/scribd/3319376.pdf"><img class="scribd-doc" src="https://public.resource.org/scribd/thumbs/3319376.jpg" alt="thumbnail of document" /></a> </div> <div class="doc-info"> <b><a href="https://public.resource.org/scribd/3319376.pdf" class="scribd">MEMO</a></b> <br /> Memorandum to the VPOTUS <br /> <a href="https://public.resource.org/scribd/3319376.pdf" class="scribd">pdf</a> </div> </div> <div class="doc-container"> <div class="doc-date">  <span>08.08.95</span> </div> <div class="doc"> <a href="https://public.resource.org/scribd/3319374.pdf"><img class="scribd-doc" src="https://public.resource.org/scribd/thumbs/3319374.jpg" alt="thumbnail of document" /></a> </div> <div class="doc-info"> <b><a href="https://public.resource.org/scribd/3319374.pdf" class="scribd">CIRCULATED</a></b> <br /> Letters and Memoranda from IMS <br /> <a href="https://public.resource.org/scribd/3319374.pdf" class="scribd">pdf</a> </div> </div> </div> </div> <div class="doc-row" style="clear: both;" > <div class="doc-container" style="margin-left: 59px;"> <div class="doc-date">  <span>01.04.95</span> </div> <div class="doc"> <a href="https://public.resource.org/scribd/3319375.pdf"><img class="scribd-doc" src="https://public.resource.org/scribd/thumbs/3319375.jpg" alt="thumbnail of document" /></a> </div> <div class="doc-info"> <b><a href="https://public.resource.org/scribd/3319375.pdf" class="scribd">REQUEST</a></b> <br /> Request for OMB A-130 Review <br /> <a href="https://public.resource.org/scribd/3319375.pdf" class="scribd">pdf</a> </div> </div> <div class="doc-container"> <div class="doc-date">  <span>09.12.95</span> </div> <div class="doc"> <a href="https://public.resource.org/scribd/3319378.pdf"><img class="scribd-doc" src="https://public.resource.org/scribd/thumbs/3319378.jpg" alt="thumbnail of document" /></a> </div> <div class="doc-info"> <b><a href="https://public.resource.org/scribd/3319378.pdf" class="scribd">PROTEST</a></b> <br /> Outraged letter from IFI/Plenum <br /> <a href="https://public.resource.org/scribd/3319378.pdf" class="scribd">pdf</a> </div> </div> <div class="doc-container"> <div class="doc-date">  <span>09.12.95</span> </div> <div class="doc"> <a href="https://public.resource.org/scribd/3319373.pdf"><img class="scribd-doc" src="https://public.resource.org/scribd/thumbs/3319373.jpg" alt="thumbnail of document" /></a> </div> <div class="doc-info"> <b><a href="https://public.resource.org/scribd/3319373.pdf" class="scribd">PROTEST</a></b> <br /> Outraged letter from LEXIS/NEXIS <br /> <a href="https://public.resource.org/scribd/3319373.pdf" class="scribd">pdf</a> </div> </div> <div class="doc-container"> <div class="doc-date">  <span>09.13.95</span> </div> <div class="doc"> <a href="https://public.resource.org/scribd/3319370.pdf"><img class="scribd-doc" src="https://public.resource.org/scribd/thumbs/3319370.jpg" alt="thumbnail of document" /></a> </div> <div class="doc-info"> <b><a href="https://public.resource.org/scribd/3319370.pdf" class="scribd">PROTEST</a></b> <br /> Outraged letter from West Publishing Company <br /> <a href="https://public.resource.org/scribd/3319370.pdf" class="scribd">pdf</a> </div> </div> <div class="doc-container"> <div class="doc-date">  <span>09.12.95</span> </div> <div class="doc"> <a href="https://public.resource.org/scribd/3319369.pdf"><img class="scribd-doc" src="https://public.resource.org/scribd/thumbs/3319369.jpg" alt="thumbnail of document" /></a> </div> <div class="doc-info"> <b><a href="https://public.resource.org/scribd/3319369.pdf" class="scribd">PROTEST</a></b> <br /> Outraged letter from Knight-Ridder <br /> <a href="https://public.resource.org/scribd/3319369.pdf" class="scribd">pdf</a> </div> </div> <div class="doc-container"> <div class="doc-date">  <span>09.12.95</span> </div> <div class="doc"> <a href="https://public.resource.org/scribd/3319372.pdf"><img class="scribd-doc" src="https://public.resource.org/scribd/thumbs/3319372.jpg" alt="thumbnail of document" /></a> </div> <div class="doc-info"> <b><a href="https://public.resource.org/scribd/3319372.pdf" class="scribd">PROTEST</a></b> <br /> Outraged letter from the “Coalition” <br /> <a href="https://public.resource.org/scribd/3319372.pdf" class="scribd">pdf</a> </div> </div> </div>  <h4>TRACKBACK—PATENT REFORM</h4> <div> <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20120131192507/http://dotank.nyls.edu/"><img src="https://public.resource.org/images/favicons/peertopatent.org.favicon.png" alt="boingboing" class="timeline" /></a> </div> <div class="trackbackitem"> <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20120601030443/http://peertopatent.org/" class="trackback">Peer to Patent</a> — The Do Tank <span class="doc-date">February, 2007</span> </div> <div> <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20170815115131/https://around.com/"><img src="https://public.resource.org/images/favicons/around.com.favicon.png" alt="James Gleick" class="timeline" /></a> </div> <div class="trackbackitem"> <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20170815115131/https://around.com/patent.html" class="trackback">Patently Abusrd</a> — James Gleick <span class="doc-date">March 12, 2000</span> </div> <div> <a href="http://www.genuineideas.com/"><img src="https://public.resource.org/images/favicons/genuineideas.com.favicon.png" alt="icon" class="timeline" /></a> </div> <div class="trackbackitem"> <a href="http://www.genuineideas.com/ArticlesIndex/patentThicket.htm" class="trackback">The Current U.S. System is Harming Innovation</a> — Genuine Ideas <span class="doc-date">December 20, 2005</span> </div> <div> <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20160420084128/http://www.patentlyabsurd.org.uk:80/"><img src="https://public.resource.org/images/favicons/seal_favicon.png" alt="icon" class="timeline" /></a> </div> <div class="trackbackitem"> <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20160420084128/http://www.patentlyabsurd.org.uk:80/" class="trackback">Weird Patents and Useful Inventions</a> — Patently Absurd! <span class="doc-date">November 29, 2003</span> </div> <div> <a href="https://www.linux.com/"><img src="https://public.resource.org/images/favicons/linux.com.favicon.png" alt="icon" class="timeline" /></a> </div> <div class="trackbackitem"> <a href="https://www.linux.com/news/patents-vs-antipatents" class="trackback">Patents v. Antipatents</a> — Linux.Com <span class="doc-date">September 01, 2000</span> </div> <div> <a href="https://www.oreilly.com/"><img src="https://public.resource.org/images/favicons/oreilly.com.favicon.png" alt="icon" class="timeline" /></a> </div> <div class="trackbackitem"> <a href="http://archive.oreilly.com/pub/a/oreilly//news/patent_archive.html" class="trackback">The Amazon Patent Controversy</a> — Tim O'Reilly <span class="doc-date">February 28, 2000</span> </div> </div>  <div class="footer"> <div class="profooter">• <a href="https://public.resource.org/">Public.Resource.Org</a> •</div> </div> </div> <div style="text-align: center;"> <a href="https://public.resource.org/about/donate.html"><img src="/images/support.PD.red.png" /></a> </div> </body> </html>