I've been following this, and some valid points have been made. But I
have conceptual problems with the USPTO's position that, in effect, the
database exists to perpetuate the errors in printed patents. We've all
seen errors in Derwent materials, and even sometimes in CA printed
products, which turn up in databases and are subsequently corrected
there, even if the original print products aren't.
I realize there's a big difference between a commercial information
product and a legal document, but can't there be some way of putting
corrections into the USPTO database and identifying them as such? Keep
the original data as well, if necessary - make separate fields.
Certificates of correction, even in electronic form, are pieces of paper
which just aren't useful to the ordinary searcher.
- Sara Davis, GlaxoSmithKline
"Robert Buntrock" <buntrock2@earthlink.net>
Sent by: owner-piug-l@derwent.co.uk
11-Jan-2002 13:40
To: "PIUG Posting"
cc: "Nicholas White", "David J. Dickinson"
Subject: Re: Quality Control; More stinky biblio
Nicholas White wrote:
> However, Stu is making an important point and raising an important
issue
> that should be addressed by the patent offices.
>
> The emphasis should be on not making the mistakes in the first place.
> This is in the hands of the patent offices, which have control of the
> printed record.
Right on. Anyone who has taken Crosby Quality training or any of its
derivatives knows the basic tenet, "Dirty Foot" -- Do It Right The First
Time -- is absolutely essential to effective quality control. In a
previous life I believed that the only errors were occasional ones in
assignments (e.g., Standard Oil Co. Chicago stet Standard Oil Co.
Indiana, etc.) apparently even more serious errors are on the increase.
Of course, if patent offices don't acknowledge these problems and if the
only incentive for examiners is to crank out n examinations per day --
or else -- errors will continue to increase.
-- Bob Buntrock
Buntrock Associates, Inc.
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