Change Regarding CASPIR Coding of U.S. Patents As of March 31, 1995, Patent Examining Group 2300 intends to discontinue the CASPIR coding activity of marking the specification margins of printed United States patents issuing in Class 395, Digests 1 and 2. CASPIR is a system for searching computer related inventions by means of codes representing concepts contained in patents issuing in these digests. These codes are assigned by an examiner at the time of allowance of the patent application. Previously, after the patent was printed; the margins of the specification were marked with the appropriate codes, and the marked pages of the specification were then added to the patent image data base of the Automated Patent System (APS) in the Certificate of Correction section for the patent. This has been an activity which has been both costly and difficult to properly maintain. Furthermore, reclassification of many parts of the Class 395 art has reduced the need for reliance upon CASPIR for searching. The proper CASPIR codes will continue to be assigned at the time of allowance of a patent application, so that CASPIR coding will be maintained, but the marking of the margins of the specification with the codes after the patent is printed will be discontinued. Due to a backlog of printed patents awaiting to be marked by examiners in the Group, patents which have issued since January 1, 1994 may not have CASPIR codes marked in the specification margins. It will still be possible to search recently issued patents by CASPIR codes in the Automated Patent System (APS) by employing the class/subclass searching technique, but CASPIR coded pages of the specifications will no longer appear in the Certificate of Correction section of the patents. For further information, please consult the GROUP 2300 USERS GUIDE FOR APS IMAGE SEARCHING (CASPIR), available from Gareth Shaw, Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 2316. Any comments or questions should be directed to Gareth Shaw, Supervisoy Patent Examiner, Art Unit 2316, by telephone at (703) 305-9600 or by mail marked to his attention and addressed to Commissioner of Patents and Trademarks, Washington, D.C. 20231. Jan. 23, 1995 BOBBY GRAY Director, Group 2300