Prior Art Module Overview
The Prior Art Module is used to manage prior art references associated with your matters and generate Information Disclosure Statements. This work happens in three stages: Connect: Add references from Espacenet with the Load Available References button or import from a spreadsheet (needed for pending matters). In PM Plus and Corporate accounts, we c...
Import Prior Art References from Espacenet (Pending, Issued, U.S. and Foreign Applications)
AppColl integrates with EspaceNet to add or update prior art references for published and issued patents for both U.S. and foreign countries. Use the steps below to load available references. Please Note: Patent Center does not provide an easy-to-access list of references for pending U.S. patent applications. Most of the references are only listed ...
Generate an Information Disclosure Statement (IDS)
To generate an SB08 (IDS) form: Navigate to the Prior Art module. Select the Matter with the reference you need to cite. Click the Create IDS button. Edit the auto-populated fields as needed: Matter, IDS Date (the date this was created), Name (unique identifier for IDS), and Submit Date. You can also check or uncheck the References. Click the Save ...
Mark Prior Art References as Not Needing to be Cited in an IDS
Prior art references associated with a matter, that have not been cited in an IDS or by an Examiner, will always show as needing to be cited in an IDS. There may be circumstances where art does not need to be cited, but the association between a matter and a reference is still required. If a reference has not been cited, it's added to the Cite C...
Use a Citation Matrix to Verify Which Prior Art References Have Been Cited in Matter Familes
Matter Families can be complex entities having dozens of matters and perhaps 1000s of prior art references. AppColl provides a feature in the Prior Art module for downloading a Citation Matrix for a matter family and reviewing which references have been cited in which matters. Go to the Prior Art module. Select one or more Matters for which you wis...
Import Prior Art References from a Spreadsheet
AppColl integrates with EspaceNet, allowing you to retrieve already filed prior art references for issued matters. Click here for more details. The below process is still available and is necessary for pending matters. If you maintain prior art references in spreadsheets or other means outside of AppColl, you are able to import them into AppColl...
Information Disclosure Statement Submitted Date
When working with Information Disclosure Statements in AppColl, you have two date fields available. IDS Date: Enter the date that the IDS was created in AppColl. Submitted Date: Enter the date the IDS was actually uploaded to the USPTO. Leave blank if the IDS hasn't been submitted....
Cross-Cite Prior Art References
Overview Cross-citing prior art references is the process of copying references in one or more (likely related) matters to another matter. You would typically do this when a new matter is added to a matter family, such as a continuation or divisional application. Normally you would want all references associated with the matter family to be copied t...
Change the Citation Status of Prior Art
To change the citation status of prior art: Go to the Prior Art module. Select the Matter you wish to update. Select the Reference(s) for which you wish to update status. Click the Set Citation Status button to manually change the status of one or more references. The pop-up window displays two sets of option groups. The fi...
De-duping Non-Patent Literature (NPL) Prior Art References
If you have multiple copies of an NPL reference, you can remove the duplicates and make sure that all matters using this reference point to the remaining version. This can be done for all references or for one or more references at a time. You can also merge references. Remove Duplicate References Hover over the Prior Art module and select All Refe...
Add References that have Already Been Cited to the PTO
References that have already been cited to the PTO can be added into AppColl in a couple of different ways. Importing references from EspaceNet Please see this article. Importing references from a spreadsheet. Please see this article . If you wish to use these references in another matter, follow the instructions in Cross Citing Prior Art Refer...
Add or Update Links Between Multiple References and a Matter
The following steps outline the process for adding or updating links between multiple prior art references and a patent matter: In the Prior Art module, click on the All References link in the Navigate Section of the left column. Select all of the references you wish to link or update to the matter. (Using a filter on the “UsedBy” field may help f...
Copy Prior Art References from One Matter to Another
If you have a group of references cited in one matter and you wish to copy these references to another matter, follow these steps: Click on the Prior Art module button. Click on the row for the Matter you wish to move references from. Select (by clicking on the left check box) all of the references you wish to copy to another matter. Click on the Li...
Create Non-Patent Literature
If you wish to add Non-Patent Literature (NPL), use the following steps: Go to the Prior Art module. Select the Matter for which you wish to create NPL. Click the Add button. Select the Non Patent option. Enter a Description. If desired, upload any documents via the Original Document or Translated Document options. Enter an Original URL or Translate...
USPTO 892 Form Processing
This feature is available in AppColl PM Plus and Corporate accounts. Account administrators can enable or disable 892 form processing in the AI Processing tab on the Settings page. AppColl automatically processes USPTO 892 forms (List of References Cited By Examiner). When an 892 form is received, AppColl scans it using an AI model, extracts all of ...