In a Patent Alert e-mail distributed last month, the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office announced the release of an enhanced version of its Patent Assignment Search System. The Office noted that the new system provides an improved layout, labeling, and tooltips, allowing users to perform a "Quick Look-Up" search to display desired assignment data directly. The new layout (see screenshot below) also includes "Search" and "Advanced Search" tabs. Users will be able to export data to CSV, PDF, and XML files, and view attached patent assignment documents for all electronically available documents from mid-1998 to the present. In addition, users will be able to access the legacy Assignments on the Web (AOTW) system. Finally, an API (application programming interface) will be available for external applications to retrieve and read assignments data. A full list of new features and enhancements can be found here.
