Introducing Global Dossier: Uniting the IP5 Offices

Global Dossier is a joint project between the IP5 Offices. The IP5 Offices include the European Patent Office (EPO), Japan Patent Office (JPO), Korean Intellectual Property Office (KIPO), State Intellectual Property Office of the People’s Republic of China (SIPO), and the USPTO, i.e., the five largest patent offices in the world.

Global Dossier seeks to increase the efficiency and predictability of obtaining patents globally, as well as reduce the time and cost to applicants. To accomplish these tasks, Global Dossier allows for a stakeholder to have secure access to the file histories of any related patent applications across all five participating patent offices through a single online portal and user interface. The benefit is not just for the end user, however, as the IP5 Offices also plan to use Global Dossier to streamline office procedures between one another.

Global Dossier launches incrementally. In spring 2015, USPTO examiners were given access to the dossier information in related IP5 applications. In June 2015, the USPTO became a providing patent office that allows access to US dossiers via an IP5 Global Dossier User Interface. Then, in November 2015, public stakeholders were granted access to the full file history for a patent application from the participating offices via the USPTO-hosted User Interface, called Dossier Access.

The related file history service is just the first in a group of many that Global Dossier plans to provide. Global Dossier future planned services include: inter-office document sharing, allowing users to set automatic alerts when there is a change in patent application status, downloading XML application content, and implementing an automated system that assigns a single unique name to entities with applications pending in multiple offices.

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