info_ptrends2008.txt 21-Oct-2010 **************************************************************** **************************************************************** Patenting Trends in the United States (1963-2008) ------------------------------------------------- This report profiles U.S. patenting in 30 product fields (26 unique fields, and several fields that are combinations or roll-ups of the 26 unique fields) that are based on the 2002 North American Industry Classification System (NAICS). For each product field, the report lists patent counts in a format similar to Parts A1 and A2 of the PTMT "All Technologies Report". Presented are patent activity by country of origin (for the most active countries) and by ownership category, with activity distributed by the year of patent grant and by the year of patent application. The report counts patents in two ways, using a "fractional count" method and a "whole count" method. For viewing patent activity, the preferred patent counting method will depend on the intended usage of the information. A separate portion of the report presents patent activity in the identified product fields by state and country of origin for all states and countries. Separate counts are provided using the "fractional count" method and the "whole count" method. **************************************************************** **************************************************************** The "ptrends2008.zip" file is a compressed file containing the contents of the 2008 PTMT "Patenting Trends in the U.S." report on CD-ROM. To view the contents of the "Patenting Trends in the U.S." report, a user will need approximately 90 Megabytes of free storage space on a PC hard drive. To view the contents of the report: ----------------------------------- 1- create an empty directory on a PC hard drive 2- extract and uncompress the contents of the "ptrends2008.zip" compressed file into the empty directory that was just created; this can be done using an "unzip" file extraction program (e.g., see http://www.uspto.gov/faq/plugins/zip.jsp) 3- Go to the "index_main.html" file in the directory containing the extracted contents of the "ptrends2008.zip" file; open the file with a web browser (with most PCs, a user can find this file with a file manager application and then double-click on it) ---------------------------------- Contact Information Questions regarding these reports should be directed to: U.S. Patent and Trademark Office Electronic Information Products Division - PTMT (formerly TAF Branch) Alexandria, VA 22313-1450 tel: (571) 272-5600 FAX: (571) 273-0110 email oeip@uspto.gov web address of PTMT Reports : http://www.uspto.gov/web/offices/ac/ido/oeip/taf/tafp.html ftp location of PTMT materials : ftp.uspto.gov/pub/taf/