In June, the State Intellectual Property Office (SIPO) of China and the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) signed Data Exchange Agreement for Patent Information(hereinafter as “The Agreement”). It is learnt that the Agreement will improve and enhance the examination capability of the examiners of the two countries and will provide new ways for the public to get access to IP information of China and the United States.
According to the Agreement, from now on, Americans can get Chinese patent information via the USPTO website, and SIPO can also provide the U.S. patent information via SIPO website and Chinese local patent information service centers. Based on the Agreement, SIPO and USPTO will both further deepen the cooperation and share patent data.
The importance of accessing the data by examiners and the public was already recognized in the second half of 2011. Both offices began to discuss data exchange for patent based on the experience of information technology cooperation.
