Home > Listing of Viewable PTMB Reports

U.S. PATENT AND TRADEMARK OFFICE
Electronic Information Products Division
Patent Technology Monitoring Branch (PTMB)

# PTMB Products and Services Brochure

## Table of Contents

- Introduction
  - Background
  - Patents and Patent Activity
  - Patent Data - Use, Meaning, and Limitations
- Available PTMB Reports
  - PTMB Reports Available for Viewing on the Internet
  - Other Selected Reports
    - Activity Index Report
    - Activity Index Report, Corporate Patenting
    - Activity Index Report, Utility Patent Applications
    - Activity Index Report, Corporate Utility Patent Applications
    - Patenting Trends in the United States
    - Patenting Trends in the United States, State Country Report
    - Selected Technology Reports (e.g., Acid Rain, Ceramics, etc.)
  - Custom Patent Reports
    - Technology Assessment and Forecast Database
    - Data Elements Included in the TAF Database
    - Custom Technology Profile Report Format
    - Custom Organizational Profile Report Format
    - Custom Patent Counts by Class by Year Report Format
    - Custom Activity Index Profile Format
    - Custom SIC Product Field Report Based Formats
    - Other Custom Report Formats
    - Sample Custom Reports (available for Internet downloading)
    - Custom Report Output Media
    - How to Obtain PTMB Custom Reports
    - Cost
    - Contact Information
- Other Products and Services
  - Inventor Mailing Labels
  - Concordance Between the Standard Industrial Code (SIC) Classification System and the U.S. Patent Classification (USPC) System
  - Subclass Listings
  - Digital Media Having Information Contained in the TAF Database
- TAF Publications and Products Available From NTIS
- Obtaining PTMB Products, Reports, and Services from the Electronic Information Products Division
  - Reports Available for Internet Downloading
  - Price List
  - Contact Information

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## Introduction

### Background

The patent system has long been recognized as an incentive for innovation in the U.S. free enterprise system. Often overlooked, however, is a second great benefit of the patent system: the enormous, continually expanding patent file. This file includes more than 7.4 million distinct U.S. patents, of which more than 6.9 million are utility patents ("patents for inventions"). These patents are classified and cross-referenced among the approximately 150,000 categories of technology that make up the U.S. Patent Classification System.

Patent law requirements for a full disclosure of invention (which is then published as part of a patent grant) have resulted in a unique assemblage of technological information. The patent file embodies the most comprehensive collection of technical information of its kind in the world. The information is presented in a manner such that nearly every significant development in almost all technical fields flows in a natural time-series sequence. It virtually welcomes monitoring and analysis.

In its own unique way, this file represents a national resource. The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) recognizes the heavy responsibility not only to preserve, maintain, and improve the file, but, also to maximize its use for the greatest public benefit. It was as part of the effort to discharge this latter responsibility that the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office established, in 1971, its Office of Technology Assessment and Forecast (OTAF). Although the work efforts of this organization have changed over time, much of its work continues to be performed by the Patent Technology Monitoring Branch (PTMB), part of the USPTO's Customer Information Services / Electronic Information Products Division.

In its most general terms, a mission of PTMB is to stimulate the use and enhance the usability of the patent file, and to assemble, analyze and make available meaningful data about the file. To carry out this mission, the USPTO has assembled the TAF master database covering all U.S. patents.

PTMB uses the database to generate statistical reports profiling various characteristics of U.S. patents. Periodically, PTMB also will produce general publications which examine patenting trends.

Two series of publications were published in the 1970 to 1985 time period which studied U.S. patenting in some detail. One series of publications, the Technology Assessment and Forecast Reports, included: reviews of highly active technological areas and areas experiencing high levels of patenting by foreign residents; profiles of the patenting patterns of the residents of selected foreign countries and U.S. states; reviews of the patent activity of the most active patent assignees; and comparisons of patent activity with economic activity in selected Standard Industrial Classification categories. In addition, several of the publications examined the patenting in high-interest energy technologies.

A second series of publications, called PATENT PROFILES, surveyed the U.S. patenting activity in specific technologies. Subjects of PATENT PROFILES reports include: Solar Energy, Microelectronics, Biotechnology and Telecommunications. A list of TAF (TAF is the predecessor of PTMB) publications and information on obtaining them is included in a subsequent section of this document.

The TAF database also is used to prepare custom data reports, tailored to individual needs. These reports, which are provided on a reasonable cost basis, subject to the availability of resources, are used by other government agencies and many private sector organizations.

### Patents and Patent Activity

Over 7.4 million United States patents, including over 6.9 million utility patents ("patents for inventions") have issued since the first was granted on July 31, 1790. To facilitate the use of this large body of technology, these documents have been "classified" (categorized) into roughly 470 broad technological categories (called classes) and approximately 150,000 specific technological categories (called subclasses) that make up the U.S. Patent Classification System. Together, these classes and subclasses form the structure of the classified patent file.

Copies of a patent are placed in more than one subclass of this file when the patent contains significant technology pertinent to more than one subclass. With such multiple placements or "cross-referencing", the patent file has grown to contain over 25 million U.S. patent documents (as of August 2006) spanning the entire technological spectrum.

Since a patent provides legal protection only within one country or within a limited region (i.e., a patent obtained in the United States conveys no protection outside this country), it is common in this age of the "international market place", for inventors to obtain patents to an invention in more than one country or region. As a result, significant foreign inventions are usually patented in the U.S. because it presents such an important market. Thus, U.S. patent activity represents not only U.S. technological effort but, to a large extent, foreign technological effort as well.

For example, the growth of foreign technological capabilities since the early 1960's has been mirrored by the growth, over the same period, of the share of U.S. patent documents which were issued to residents of foreign countries. In 1963, only 18% of U.S. patent documents were issued to residents of foreign countries. However, by the end of 1987, the foreign share had increased to 47%. In 2005, the foreign share was 48%.

This apparent interrelationship between technological and patent activity gave rise to the basic premise of the Patent Technology Monitoring Branch - that patent activity is an indicator of technological activity, both foreign and domestic.

### Patent Data - Use, Meaning, and Limitations

Patent data represent a comprehensive, in-depth technological activity information resource. The value of patent data is enhanced by the rarity of quantitative indicators which span the entire technological spectrum and which are available in time series going back to the very beginnings of the United States. Patents, perhaps, are the only such indicator. Consequently, the potential uses of patent data are many and intriguing.

It has been only in recent years, however, that these data have begun to be considered for use to any significant extent. This is the case because patent data, on any but a gross or aggregate basis, were simply not reasonably available to those who might like to use them. With the advent of TAF computerized database as well as other electronic patent databases, this inhibiting barrier to the use of patent statistics has, to a large extent, been eliminated and workers in many fields have been presented with a new tool.

As a relatively new tool, the parameters of appropriate use of patent data, the limitations and strong points, continue to be explored and are the subject of discussion and study. This is necessary and beneficial. It is one of PTMB's goals to advance and facilitate efforts to learn more about the legitimate implications that can be drawn from patent statistics. It is obvious that in the analysis of these statistics, many factors need to be considered. Among these are the variance between patents in importance and degree of invention. Also, the propensity to patent, as opposed to relying on patent alternatives (e.g., lead time in the market place and trade secrets) may vary over time, within an industry, and between industries. These factors and others may well affect any use of, or conclusions drawn from patent statistics. The more disaggregated the data, perhaps, the more important each of these factors becomes.

Yet, like the mountain, patent data are "there" and cannot (and we strongly believe, should not) be ignored. The data are becoming more available, more detailed, and more useable every year. In the final analysis, it cannot be denied that each patent represents, to some degree, a new piece of technology and, inferentially, some increment of technological activity.

Together (in hundreds, thousands and tens-of-thousands), patents reveal the "who, where, what, and when" about substantial amounts of new technology and technological activity. It seems intuitively obvious then, that clear trends in patenting, especially within a given industry or technology, must be capable of telling us something.

It may be, as some allege, that patenting trends are more indicative of the health of the patent system than of the health of technology. Or it may be that the trends reveal more about the shifts in domestic technological development than about the relative balance between domestic and foreign technology. On the other hand, perhaps they can indeed tell us much about where the U.S. stands overall or in any specific technology as compared to all other foreign countries or to any specific foreign country.

Most probably, patent data tell us something about all these things, in some mixture yet to be determined. It will require further investigation and study to establish, to any widely accepted degree, the true meanings of trends suggested by the patent data. We are confident, however, that the data's comprehensiveness and availability will stimulate continuing investigation and study.

Use of the data by the Patent Technology Monitoring Branch and others for a wide variety of purposes continues to increase. For just as patents offer substantive technological information available nowhere else, so do patent data offer a unique indicator of worldwide technological activity -- an indicator which, wisely used, may permit new insight into the complex interactions of technology and the economy.

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## Available PTMB Reports

### Listing of Viewable PTMB Reports Available on the Internet

Many PTMB general statistical reports and materials are available on the Internet. A listing of those available reports and materials and their associated links can be viewed at: http://www.uspto.gov/web/offices/ac/ido/oeip/taf/reports.htm. Some of these materials, along with other PTMB materials, also are available by FTP at: ftp.uspto.gov/pub/taf/.

### Other Selected Reports

Activity Index Report

  Updated yearly, this report profiles U.S. utility patents originating from selected countries (patent origin is determined by the residence of the first-named inventor). For each of these selected countries, the report identifies U.S. Patent Classification System classes receiving relatively greater and lesser patenting emphasis. Selected countries profiled in this report include the United States, Brazil, Canada, France, Germany, Great Britain, Italy, Japan, Mexico, the Netherlands, South Korea, Switzerland, Sweden, and Taiwan.

Activity Index Report, Corporate Patenting

  This report is similar to the "Activity Index Report," as described above, but it profiles only activity in utility patents having ownership assigned to a U.S. or foreign corporation at the time of grant.

Activity Index Report, Utility Patent Applications

  Updated yearly, this report profiles U.S. utility patent applications originating from selected countries as determined by the residence of the first-named inventor. For each country, the report identifies U.S. Patent Classification System classes receiving relatively greater and lesser patenting emphasis based on filing data. The countries profiled in this report are Brazil, Canada, France, Germany, Great Britain, Italy, Japan, Mexico, the Netherlands, South Korea, Sweden, Switzerland, Taiwan, and the United States.

Activity Index Report, Corporate Utility Patent Applications

  This report is similar to the "Country Activity Index Report, Utility Patent Applications," as described above, but it profiles only activity in utility patent applications having ownership assigned to a large entity U.S. or foreign organization at time of application. Large entity organizations generally are for-profit organizations employing more than 500 employees.

Patenting Trends in the United States

  Updated yearly, this report profiles U.S. patenting in 55 product fields (41 unique fields, and several fields that are roll-ups of the 41 unique fields) that are based on the Standard Industrial Classification (SIC) System. For each product field, the report lists patent counts in the same format as Parts A1 and A2 of the PTMB "All Technologies Report." The report consists of two parts, a "fractional count" part and a "whole count" part, which count patents according to different methods.

Patenting Trends in the United States, State Country Report

  This report is similar to the report, "Patenting Trends In The United States," but it provides separate totals for U.S. states and for all foreign countries receiving U.S. patents during the period. This report also provides "fractional" and "whole" patent counts. It omits information pertaining to patent ownership and does not include patents as distributed by their year of application. The report includes annual patent counts for each of the most recent 21 years.

Selected Technology Reports (e.g., Internet, Biotechnology, etc.)

  These reports provide a detailed profile of patent activity in a specific technology. Some reports are updated on a fairly regular basis while other reports are updated less frequently. Individual reports are available for the following subject areas (the date of the most recent available report is indicated in parentheses) :

  - Acid Rain (4/93)
  - AIDS; Patents Relating to (02/94)
  - Biotechnology, Patent Examining Areas 1630-1660 (12/05)
  - Biotech Healthcare (12/97)
  - Biotech Pharmaceuticals (12/97)
  - Ceramics (06/93)
  - Chemical/Electrical/Mechanical Disciplines (3 separate reports) (12/05) (these 3 reports are also available on the web)
  - Coherent Light Generators, Class 372 (12/98)
  - Data Processing: Document Processing- Class 707, Subclasses 500-542 (12/99)
  - Data Processing: Financial, Business Practice, Management, or Cost/Price Determination - Class 705 (12/03)
  - Drug, Bio-Affecting and Body Treating Compositions (Pharmaceuticals approximation) (12/01)
  - Electrical Computers and Digital Processing Systems and Data Processing Systems - Classes 700-713, 716, 717 (6/2003)
  - Enzyme Technology (12/97)
  - Food or Edible Material: Processes, Compositions, and Products- Class 426 (12/94)
  - Genetic Engineering (12/97)
  - Hazardous or Toxic Waste Destruction or Containment - Class 588 (12/94)
  - Immunology (12/97)
  - Internal Combustion Engines (12/95)
  - Internet-Related Patents (12/04)
  - Internet Patents Relating To: Data Processing: Financial, Business Practice, Management, or Cost/Price Determination - Class 705 (12/02)
  - Iron and Steel (06/93)
  - Jet Engines (12/87)
  - Machine Tools - Metal Working (04/93)
  - Medical Devices (12/2004)
  - Molecular Biology and Microbiology (12/00)
  - Multicellular Organisms and Unmodified Parts Thereof - Class 800 (12/00)
  - Multicellular Organisms and Unmodified Parts Thereof (Plant, Seedling, or Plant Part) - Class 800, Subclasses 260-323.3 (12/00)
  - Needlestick Injury Prevention (12/99)
  - Nuclear Energy (12/90)
  - Optical Waveguides, Class 385 (12/98)
  - Organic Compounds (04/93)
  - Patents with Nucleotide and Amino Acid Sequence Data in Computer Readable Form (12/00)
  - Plants, Class PLT and 800/200-255 (12/99)
  - Robots - Class 901 (06/93)
  - Semiconductor Devices and Manufacture (12/2004)
  - Superconductors (12/94)
  - Telecommunications (12/2004):

  Parts A1 and A2 of each report display the number of patents granted over an extended number of years. Yearly totals are provided for the most recent 14 years. Part A1 distributes patent grants by year of grant and Part A2 distributes patent grants by year of patent application. The totals are broken down by origin (patent origin is determined by the residence of the first-named inventor), either U.S. or foreign. Yearly counts are shown for the 36 foreign countries receiving the most U.S. patents during the period. Totals are also divided according to general category of ownership, e.g., corporate-owned, government-owned, or individual-owned.

  Part B of this report displays the national and international corporations, government agencies, and other organizations that have received the most patents during the time period. It ranks these organizations in terms of total patent receipts and profiles their annual patenting activity for the most recent 14 year period. Patent grants are distributed in two ways, by year of grant and by year of patent application.

  Some reports additionally include listings of patent numbers and titles for each of the organizations that were assigned ownership of the patents at the time of grant.

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### Custom Patent Reports

Technology Assessment and Forecast Database

  The Patent Technology Monitoring Branch (PTMB) administers the TAF computerized database which contains selected bibliographic data pertaining to U.S. patents granted since 1963. These data can be processed in a variety of ways and presented in several custom report formats to suit a diversity of purposes. The availability of this service is subject to the availability of PTMB resources. Cost is determined on a reasonable cost basis. Sample PTMB Custom Reports may be downloaded from the Internet.

Data Elements Included in the TAF Database

  The TAF computerized database containing data relating to the U.S. patent file includes, at present:

  - all subclasses of the U.S. Patent Classification (USPC) System, and the classification within this system of all U.S. utility patents granted since 1963 and all other patent documents granted since 1977;
  - the relationship of all utility subclasses in the U.S. Patent Classification System to 55 Product Fields and combinations of Product Fields which are based on the Standard Industrial Classification (SIC) System;
  - the category of ownership at time of issue, e.g., U.S. Government, foreign government, U.S. corporation, foreign corporation, U.S. individual, foreign individual, for utility patents issued since 1963 and for other patent documents issued since 1977;
  - the country or state of residence of the inventor for utility patents issued since 1975 and for other patent documents issued since 1977; the country or state of residence of the first-named inventor for utility patents issued since 1963; for selected years since 1990, the likely county of residence has been identified for U.S. resident inventors;
  - the year the application for patent was filed in the United States (for utility patents issued since 1967 and for other patent documents issued since 1977; the date of application is available for utility patents issued since 1975 and for other patent documents issued since 1977)
  - the specific (i.e., named) ownership of all patents which, at time of issue, were owned by an organization for utility patents issued since 1969 and for design patents issued since 1977 -- for patents owned jointly by more than one organization, only the first-named organization is included in the database;
  - the patent title for utility patents issued since 1969 and for other patent documents issued since 1977);
  - the name and address of inventors of unassigned patents for utility patents issued since 1975 and for other patent documents issued since 1977);
  - U.S. patents cited on utility patents issued since 1975 and on other patent documents issued since 1977;
  - foreign patents cited on utility patents issued since 1975 and on other patent documents issued since 1977;
  - non-patent literature cited on utility patents issued since 1975 and on other patent documents issued since 1977;
  - the number of legal claims included in the patent for utility patents issued since 1975;
  - selected related patent application information listed on utility patents issued since 1975 and on other patent documents issued since 1977;

  Data can be retrieved on the basis of any one or a combination of the factors listed above, manipulated on most any given basis and presented in a number of formats, e.g., lists, tables, graphs, and charts. This flexibility is illustrated in TAF (TAF is the predecessor of PTMB) publications, such as Technology Assessment and Forecast Reports and PATENT PROFILES, and by the sample custom reports available for downloading from the Internet.

Custom Technology Profile Report Format (sample report: sampl_tp.pdf)

  This standard format, multi-part report uses many of the elements in the TAF database to provide a detailed patent profile of a specific technology or subject area. Information provided includes rate of patenting, country of origin based on the residence of the first-named inventor, category of ownership (type of assignment), specific assignee (first-named assigned owner), patent numbers and their titles, and names and addresses of "independent" inventors. There are four parts (parts A, B, C, & D) which comprise a complete report. Part A includes patenting activity percentages, and time series distribution by general assignment category and origin of patents. Part B is a ranked listing of organizations which displays counts of patents granted by both year of application filing and year of grant. Part C lists organizations alphabetically with patent numbers and titles. Part D gives the name and address of the inventors of patents assigned to individuals or unassigned at time of issue, and includes patent numbers and titles. Please note that parts C and D are run separately and are available only by special arrangement. This report can be tailored to specific needs. A sample TAF (TAF is the predecessor of PTMB) Custom Technology Profile report is available for download at the USPTO Internet site (see below).

Custom Organizational Profile Report Format (sample report: sampl_op.pdf)

  This report profiles patent activity across all of the classes and subclasses of the USPC System, and gives specific patent numbers and titles. The reports may be limited to specific classifications. This type of report can be prepared for the patents of any organization or grouping of organizations, or for the patents granted to the residents of any state or country or grouping of states or countries. A sample TAF (TAF is the predecessor of PTMB) Custom Organizational Profile report is available for download at the USPTO Internet site.

Custom Patent Counts by Class by Year Profile Report Format

  The Patent Counts by Class by Year Profile Report shows the number of patents granted in each of the approximately 470 U.S. patent classes, the primary divisions of technology within the U.S. Patent Classification System. Yearly totals are provided for the most recent years. The report consists of two parts, one that lists patent counts by primary (called "original") patent classification only and one that lists patent counts by primary and "cross-reference" classifications with duplicate patent counts eliminated within each class. This report can be generated for specific organizations or populations of patent holders (e.g., foreign origin, U.S. origin, specific countries of origin).

  The format of this report is similar to the PTMB Counts By Class By Year Report (viewable report file: cbcby.pdf)

Custom Activity Index Profile Report Format (sample report: sampl_ai.pdf)

  The Activity Index Profile Report may be generated for a selected subset of utility patents. The report identifies areas of greater and lesser patenting emphasis by means of a patenting activity "index". Separate index values are calculated for each of the approximately 430 utility patent classes of technology which make up the U.S. Patent Classification System. Only primary (called "ORIGINAL") patent classifications are considered in this report. This report can be generated for specific organizations or populations of patent holders (e.g., foreign origin, U.S. origin, specific countries of origin). A sample TAF (TAF is the predecessor of PTMB) Custom Activity Index Profile report is available for download at the USPTO Internet site.

Custom SIC Product Field Report Based Formats

  PTMB maintains a concordance between utility patent subclasses of the United States Patent Classification System and 55 product fields of the 1972 Standard Industrial Classification System. SIC product fields included in the concordance are presented in the following list. Each line entry in the list includes the product field title followed by the corresponding SIC codes.

  LISTING OF SIC PRODUCT FIELD TITLE AND SIC CODE

  - FOOD AND KINDRED PRODUCTS; 20
  - TEXTILE MILL PRODUCTS; 22
  - CHEMICALS AND ALLIED PRODUCTS; 28
    - Chemicals, except drugs and medicines; 281,282,284-289
      - Basic industrial inorganic and organic chemistry; 281,286
        - Industrial inorganic chemistry; 281
        - Industrial organic chemistry; 286
      - Plastics materials and synthetic resins; 282
      - Agricultural chemicals; 287
      - All other chemicals; 284,285,289
        - Soaps, detergents, cleaners, perfumes, cosmetics and toiletries; 284
        - Paints, varnishes, lacquers, enamels, and allied products; 285
        - Miscellaneous chemical products; 289
    - Drugs and medicines; 283
  - PETROLEUM AND NATURAL GAS EXTRACTION AND REFINING; 13,29
  - RUBBER AND MISCELLANEOUS PLASTICS PRODUCTS; 30
  - STONE, CLAY, GLASS AND CONCRETE PRODUCTS; 32
  - PRIMARY METALS; 33,3462,3463
    - Primary ferrous products; 331,332,3399,3462
    - Primary and secondary non-ferrous metals; 333-336,339 (except 3399),3463
  - FABRICATED METAL PRODUCTS; 34 (except 3462,3463,348)
  - MACHINERY, EXCEPT ELECTRICAL; 35
    - Engines and turbines; 351
    - Farm and garden machinery and equipment; 352
    - Construction, mining and material handling machinery and equipment; 353
    - Metal working machinery and equipment; 354
    - Office computing and accounting machines; 357
    - Other machinery, except electrical; 355,356,358,359
      - Special industry machinery, except metal working; 355
      - General industrial machinery and equipment; 356
      - Refrigeration and service industry machinery; 358
      - Miscellaneous machinery, except electrical; 359
  - ELECTRICAL AND ELECTRONIC MACHINERY, EQUIPMENT AND SUPPLIES; 36,3825
    - Electrical equipment, except communications equipment; 361-364,369,3825
      - Electrical transmission and distribution equipment; 361,3825
      - Electrical industrial apparatus; 362
      - Other electrical machinery, equipment and supplies; 363,364,369
        - Household appliances; 363
        - Electrical lighting and wiring equipment; 364
        - Miscellaneous electrical machinery, equipment and supplies; 369
      - Communications equipment and electronic components; 365-367
        - Radio and television receiving equipment except communication types; 365
        - Electronic components and accessories and communications equipment; 366-367
  - TRANSPORTATION EQUIPMENT; 37,348
    - Motor vehicles and other transportation equipment, except aircraft; 348,371,373-376,379
      - Motor vehicles and other motor vehicle equipment; 371
      - Guided missiles and space vehicles and parts; 376
      - Other transportation equipment; 373-375,379 (except 3795)
        - Ship and boat building and repairing; 373
        - Railroad equipment; 374
        - Motorcycles, bicycles, and parts; 375
        - Miscellaneous transportation equipment; 379 (except 3795)
      - Ordinance except missiles; 348,3795
    - Aircraft and parts; 372
  - PROFESSIONAL AND SCIENTIFIC INSTRUMENTS; 38 (except 3825)
  - ALL OTHER SIC'S; 99
  - ALL INDUSTRIES

  By means of the concordance, custom patent reports, such as the Technology Profile Report, can be prepared based on patents associated with these Product Fields. Please note that there is only limited availability of custom SIC product field reports.

Other Custom Report Formats

  PTMB has developed the flexibility to prepare other custom format reports designed to meet the needs of a large number of users. These include: (1) Corporate Patenting Report where patents of the designated organization are given in numerical order, and (2) Mailing Labels (see "Inventor Mailing Labels" under "Other Products and Services" elsewhere in this brochure).

Sample Custom Reports (available for Internet downloading)

  Sample reports containing selected excerpts are available for downloading from the USPTO Internet site as follows. For specific telephone number and address information, please consult the "Contact Information" section at the end of this brochure.

  - Custom Technology Profile Report Format (sample report: sampl_tp.pdf)
  - Custom Organizational Profile Report Format (sample report: sampl_op.pdf)
  - Custom Activity Index Profile Report Format (sample report: sampl_ai.pdf)
Custom Report Output Media

  PTMB Custom Reports are generally prepared with paper as the output media. Some reports are available in hypertext web page format. In many cases, report data elements may be extracted and placed in files in one of a variety of formats (e.g., ASCII delimited, spreadsheet format, etc.).

How to Obtain PTMB Custom Reports

  Contact PTMB to discuss the type of information you need. A PTMB analyst will discuss information availability, assist you in determining the report content and format that best suits your needs, and provide you with an estimate of its cost. If the terms are acceptable and staff resources available, the report will be prepared and sent, usually within seven working days.

Cost

  All Custom Reports are provided on a reasonable cost basis sufficient to recover incurred costs. These costs may vary widely -- from as low as $50.00 plus $10.00 for every 30 single-sided report pages and $25.00 per one and a half megabytes of uncompressed electronic file output. More complex or large-scale treatments can range in price to several thousand dollars. The preparation of specially tailored reports, requiring extensive professional time, programming and/or computer time, is subject to the availability of PTMB resources.

Who to Contact

  Contact information is listed at the end of this brochure.

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## Other Products and Services

Inventor Mailing Labels

  Inventor labels containing full street addresses suitable for mailings can be generated for inventors of U.S. patents for which ownership was unassigned at the time of grant. Labels can be limited to a subset of those inventors based on criteria such as the year of grant, the zip code of inventor residence, the U.S. patent classification, etc. Inventor label information can be placed in various electronic file formats, if required.

Concordance Between the Standard Industrial Code (SIC) Classification System and the U.S. Patent Classification (USPC) System

  Includes concordance information between 41 unique SIC-based product fields and the USPC System as it existed at the end of calendar year 2004. The concordance also includes a product field entitled "All Others," that contains USPC subclasses not concorded to any of the 41 unique product fields. This concordance is used to generate the Patenting Trends In The United States Reports described elsewhere in this brochure. The diskette file is in ASCII delimited format suitable for database software. This file is also available for download at the USPTO FTP site.

Subclass Listings

  Listings of patent numbers according to their classification in the U.S. Patent Classification System can be generated on paper or on diskette.

Digital Media Having Information Contained in the TAF Database

  Bibliographic patent information contained in the TAF database and used to generate the above reports is available for purchase on a variety of digital media.

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## TAF Publications and Products Available From NTIS

Older TAF (TAF is the predecessor of PTMB) publications (Patent Profiles, Technology Assessment and Forecast Reports, and others) and products (Industrial Patent Activity Report) may be purchased from the National Technical Information Service (NTIS). Descriptions of these older reports may be viewed separately.

Other products available from NTIS contain patent data as obtained from the TAF database such as the "Statistical Abstract of the United States" (prepared by the Department of Commerce and the Bureau of the Census). Contact NTIS for a current list of their complete products and services.

## Obtaining PTMB Reports, Products, and Services From the Electronic Information Products Division

### Reports Available for Internet Downloading

Many selected PTMB statistical reports are available for downloading from the USPTO Internet site free of charge. PTMB reports that are available for downloading are either in Adobe ® Acrobat ® format (".pdf" file extension), in ASCII text format (".txt" file extension), or in HTML hypertext format (".htm" file extension). Links to available, free software for viewing and printing PDF files may be obtained by accessing the following page: ( http://www.uspto.gov/web/menu/plugins/pdf.htm).

Please note that table data in some of the PTMB Hypertext (.htm) format pages can be directly imported into many newer software programs (e.g., newer spreadsheet software). Check your software documentation for details. The reports may also be obtained by contacting PTMB. For specific PTMB address and telephone number information and for Internet address information, please consult the "Contact Information" section at the end of this brochure.

Please note that there are some PTMB reports that are available only on the Internet (e.g., the various drill-down reports)!

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### Price List

Some general statistical Patent Technology Monitoring Branch (PTMB) Reports are available free of charge, subject to availability. However, fees are charged for other selected reports, products, and services, as listed below, due to their large size and specialized nature. Such fees are intended to cover printing and distribution costs.

> SELECTED PTMB REPORTS

>   The following table displays the price list for selected PTMB patent activity reports and other various products, available from USPTO.
>   Title | Media | Order Number | Price
>   --- | --- | --- | ---
>   PATENTING TRENDS IN THE UNITED STATES REPORT and PATENTING TRENDS IN THE UNITED STATES-- STATE COUNTRY REPORT 2003 | CD-ROM | EIP-3075-CD | $ 25
>   U.S. COLLEGES AND UNIVERSITIES -- UTILITY PATENT GRANTS, 1969-2003 (also on the USPTO Web Site) * | CD-ROM | EIP-3091-CD | $ 25
>   U.S. GOVERNMENT PATENTING, 2003 (also on the USPTO Web Site) * | CD-ROM | EIP-3092-CD | $ 25
>   PATENT ACTIVITY INDEX REPORT, and PATENT ACTIVITY INDEX REPORT, CORPORATE PATENTING, and PATENT ACTIVITY INDEX REPORT, UTILITY PATENT APPLICATIONS, and PATENT ACTIVITY INDEX REPORT, CORPORATE UTILITY PATENT APPLICATIONS, 2003 | CD-ROM | EIP-3035P-CD | $ 25
>   BUTTONS TO BIOTECH, U.S. PATENTING BY WOMEN, 1977 to 1996 - includes limited update through 2002 (approx. 30 pages) | Paper | EIP-3050P-PP | $ 20
>   SELECTED TECHNOLOGIES REPORTS (variable lengths) | Paper/Electronic File | various | $ 20
>   Issue Dates and Patent Numbers Since 1836 * | Paper | EIP-3140P-PP | $ 5
>   Utility Patent Applications By Country of Origin Since 1965 * | Paper | EIP-3150P-PP | $ 5
>   Patent Counts By Class By Year Report (each report) * | Paper | various | $ 5
>   Utility Patent Counts By State, County, and Metro Area * | Paper | EIP-3210P-PP | $ 5
>   CONCORDANCE BETWEEN THE STANDARD INDUSTRIAL CLASSIFICATION SYSTEM AND THE U.S. PATENT CLASSIFICATION SYSTEM (2004) (5 MB, compressed) (also on the USPTO FTP Site) * | Diskete | EIP-3060-FD | $ 25
>   OTHER GENERAL PTMB PATENT STATISTICAL REPORTS (variable lengths) * | Paper/Electronic File | various | (some are free)

>   Please note that there are some PTMB reports and products that are available only at the USPTO Web Site and/or the USPTO FTP Site (e.g., some of the various drill-down reports).

> DIGITAL MEDIA HAVING INFORMATION CONTAINED IN THE TAF DATABASE
>   (Prices and availability vary depending on the information wanted and available staff resources. Contact PTMB for further information.

> INVENTOR MAILING LABELS
>   Labels are available at a price of $50 plus:
>   - $0.35 per page of paper output
>   - $0.70 per page of label stock output
>   - $ 25 per 1.5 megabytes of uncompressed electronic file output

> CUSTOM REPORTS
>   Prices for custom reports vary according to the size and complexity of the requested report. Generally, report prices will be $50 per request plus $10 for every 30 single-sided report pages and $25 per 1.5 megabytes of uncompressed electronic file output. Custom report availability is subject to the availability of PTMB staff resources.

> SUBCLASS LISTINGS
>   Price is $3 per requested subclass on paper. Additional $25 for electronic file output.

Diskettes are PC-compatible, 3 1/2 inch, high density, although other media may be available. Electronic files generally consist of text files in ASCII format and spreadsheet files in LOTUS 1-2-3 ® ; ".wk1" format or in MICROSOFT ® ; Excel ".xls" format although other formats can often be accommodated.

Payment by check, made out to the Commissioner of Patents, is acceptable.

Prices are subject to change.

* Many general statistical reports and products, including those noted with an asterisk, are available for free via the USPTO Internet Web Site and the USPTO FTP Site.

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## Contact Information

Questions regarding this report should be directed to:

> U.S. Patent and Trademark Office
> Electronic Information Products Division - PTMB
> MDW 4C18; P.O Box 1450
> Alexandria VA 22313-1450

> tel: (571) 272-5600
> fax: (571) 273-0110
> email: oeip@uspto.gov

> address of PTMB pages at the USPTO Web Site: http://www.uspto.gov/web/offices/ac/ido/oeip/taf/tafp.html
> ftp download of selected PTMB reports and materials from : ftp.uspto.gov/pub/taf/

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