FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS:

 

 

I.        WHAT IS THE PHILIPPINE PATENT ONLINE SEARCH SYSTEM (PhilPAT)?

 

The Philippine Patent Online Search System (PhilPAT) is a web-based search tool that enables you to conduct a simple and user-friendly search on IP Philippines Patent Database containing granted and published pending patent documents.

 

 

II.      WHAT INFORMATION CAN BE OBTAINED FROM THE PhilPAT?

 

The Philippine Patent Online Search System (PhilPAT) contains bibliographic data of granted Philippine patents, i.e. inventions, utility models and industrial designs, since 1948, and published patent applications from 1998 to present.

 

Patent bibliographic data from 1998 to 2000 contains incomplete information and are still in the process of being completed.

 

Information that can be obtained from the patent bibliographic data includes the PATENT CATEGORY, APPLICATION/SERIAL NUMBER, PATENT NUMBER, FILING DATE, ISSUE DATE, TITLE, IPC (International Classification System), PH CLASS, INVENTOR/S, APPLICANT/ASSIGNEE, ABSTRACT, REPRESENTATIVE DRAWINGS (IF THERE ARE ANY).

 

In addition, the other significant information can also be obtained from the patent bibliographic data such as following:

 

a.       PRIORITY DATA – refers to the applicant’s claim for priority, which includes the priority number, priority date and the country where the same patent document was filed.

 

b.       1ST PUBLICATION DATE – refers to the date in which a patent document filed under R.A. 8293 is made available to the public through the IPO Gazette, after the expiration of eighteen (18) months from the filing date or the priority date.

 

c.       2ND PUBLICATION DATE – refers to the date in which a patent document filed under R.A. 165 and R.A. 8293 is made available to the public through the IPO Gazette, after the expiration of six (6) months from the date the patent is granted or issued.

 

d.       STATUS – refers to the current standing of the patent document, which may either be any of the following:

 

1)               GRANTED – status of a patent document that is found to be in compliance with the requirements for patentability (i.e. novelty, inventive step, and industrial applicability).

 

2)               PENDING – status of a patent document after the expiration of eighteen (18) months from the filing date, i.e. published pending.

 

3)               WITHDRAWN/ABANDONED – status of a published pending patent document wherein the applicant has failed to prosecute his application within the reglementary period.

 

4)               LAPSED – status of a granted or published pending patent application wherein the applicant has failed to comply with the payment of annual fees within the reglementary period.

 

5)               EXPIRED – status of a granted patent application wherein the term of the patent has terminated counted from the filing date (for Invention and Utility Model) or renewal date (Industrial Design/Integrated Circuits).

 

6)               CANCELLED – status of a granted patent document wherein a petition for cancellation has been filed by a third party and wherein such petition has been found to be valid and proven to be contrary to the requirements for patentability.

 

 

III.    WHAT ARE THE DATABASE SEARCHABLE PARAMETERS AND SEARCH FUNCTIONALITIES OF THE SYSTEM?

 

The database consists of the following parameters within a drop-down menu pertaining to the following search fields:

 

a.       “CATEGORY” – refers to the types of patent documents, i.e. invention, utility model, and industrial design, which can all or independently be selected from a drop-down menu.

 

b.       “SEARCH FIELDS” – refers to the following:

 

1.       TITLE – refers to the title of the published patent application. The original title may be retained, or translated, enhanced, or rewritten by a database producer upon grant.

 

2.       ABSTRACT – refers to a concise summary of the disclosure of the patent application as contained in the description, claims and drawings, if there are any. An abstract usually contains relevant keywords of a patent.

 

3.       PATENT NUMBER – refers to the number assigned to a published granted patent document. Follows a different format for patents under R.A. 165 and patents under R.A. 8293.

 

Example:

 

·   1234 or 12345 for patents under R.A. 165

·   XYYYYZZZZZZ for patents under R.A. 8293, where

X refers to the category of patents

   (1 – invention, 2 – utility model, 3 – industrial design)

YYYY refers to the year the patent document was filed (1998 to present),

ZZZZZZ refers to the six-digit number assigned to a patent document.

 

                                             

4.       ISSUE DATE – refers to the date the patent (i.e. invention, utility model or industrial design) was granted or issued. This is searchable by inputting the date in formats such as “yyyymmdd”, “yyyymm”, “yyyy”, or any number sequence desired, where yyyy refers to year, mm refers to month, and “dd” refers to day.

 

5.       IPC – also known as the International Patent Classification that has an alphanumeric format, is a hierarchical system, which provides a breakdown of technology into subdivisions. It is used by all the main Patent offices either solely or alongside the national classification system for patents.

 

Example: A01B1/00, for a complete list of the International Patent Classification Indexes, visit www.wipo.org/classifications/ipc/en/.

 

6.       PH CLASS - refers to the Philippine Patent Classification or national classification system for patents.

 

For patent documents with CHEMICAL subject matter, PH Class is the same as that of the International Patent Classification System (www.wipo.org/classifications/ipc/en/).

 

For patent documents with MECHANICAL subject matter, PH Class is the same as that of the US Classification System (www.uspto.gov/go/classification/).

     

 

7.       APPLICATION/SERIAL NUMBER – refers to the number assigned upon filing to a published pending patent application. May differ from that of the Patent Number.

 

Example:

 

·   1234 or 12345 for patents under R.A. 165

·   XYYYYZZZZZZ for patents under R.A. 8293, where

X refers to the category of patents

   (1 – invention, 2 – utility model, 3 – industrial design)

YYYY refers to the year the patent document was filed (1998 to present),

ZZZZZZ refers to the six-digit number assigned to a patent document

 

8.       INVENTOR – refers to a person or a number of persons who is registered for a patent or a patent application.

 

9.       APPLICANT/ASSIGNEE – refers to a natural or juridical person, companies, or organizations that are registered as proprietor of the patent or patent application.

 

10.    PRIORITY NUMBER – refers to the application number of a priority or first filed mother application for which priority rights are claimed.

 

 

c.       “FIND”

 

1.       ALL OCCURENCES (Default) – enables the system to find the occurrences of the keyed-in keyword(s)/input(s) as an embedded word or syllable, or as an independent or separate word. 

 

Example:

·   “GAS” in “ALL OCCURENCES” may yield a search result in the following format, i.e. “gas”, “gaseous”, “gastric”, “biogases”, “gas-saving”, “gasoline”

 

 

2.       AS SEPARATE WORD – enables the system to find the occurrences of the keyed-in keyword(s)/input(s) as an independent or separate word only.

 

Example:

·   “GAS” in “AS SEPARATE WORD” will yield a search result in the following format, i.e. “gas”

NOTE: For Advanced Search, it is advised to use “ALL OCCURRENCES” (the default value) for a broader search scope, covering all possible relevant documents related to the keyword(s)/input(s) used.

d.       “SEARCH KEYWORD(S)/INPUT(S)” – refers to  the term(s)/keyword(s) in alphanumeric format strategically and intelligently chosen based on the available information at hand, which, when entered, as search input(s) for the selected Search Field(s), would produce the expected appropriate search results. The Search Field(s) can be title, abstract, inventor, applicant/assignee, IPC, PH Class, patent number and application/serial number. Use a comma (“,”) for an “OR” function/operator between keywords/inputs in an Entry Box.

 

e.       “OPERATOR” – also known as Boolean operators (“AND”, “OR”), that help to further define the relationship between the entered term(s)/keyword(s) in the respective search fields chosen. The default Operator “AND” further specifies the search inputs to come up with a manageable/reasonable number of search hits/results

 

 

 

IV.    WHAT ARE THE DIFFERENT TYPES OF SEARCH PAGES AVAILABLE IN THE DATABASE?

 

 

The different types of search pages available in the website are the following:

 

a.         QUICK SEARCH PAGE

 

The Quick Search page allows you to search the IP Philippines Patent Database using the searchable parameter/s available from the bibliographic data of the patent document. It allows the entry of specific keyword(s) in the text entry box. Only one (1) search keyword is permitted per entry box that corresponds to a particular Search Field (http://www.ipophil.gov.ph/patsearch /other/).

 

 

b.         ADVANCED SEARCH PAGE

 

The advanced search page allows you to search the IP Philippines Patent Database using the information/s available from the patent document. It provides a more flexible means and broader scope/coverage for searching the IP Philippines Patent database  (http://www.ipophil.gov.ph/patsearch/).