The Official Gazette published this week includes reinstatement notices for 41 patents that had previously expired due to a failure to pay applicable maintenance fees. We have added a comment indicating the reinstated status to the FizzDisplay for each of these patents.

We were able to calculate the length of the period between expiration and reinstatement for 36 of the 41 reinstated patents. The reinstatement comment for these patents includes this information as well.

The Official Gazette published this week includes maintenance fee related expiration notices for 1250 patents. We have added a comment indicating the expired status to the FizzDisplay for each of these patents.

The Official Gazette published last week includes reinstatement notices for 38 patents that had previously expired due to a failure to pay applicable maintenance fees. We have added a comment indicating the reinstated status to the FizzDisplay for each of these patents.

We were able to calculate the length of the period between expiration and reinstatement for 32 of the 38 reinstated patents. The reinstatement comment for these patents includes this information as well.

We generate a lot of empirical data as we perform various functions on our patents and comments databases. We plan to share as much of this data as possible in the hopes that others will be able to use it in their writings, studies, investigations, or other projects.

In that spirit, we launched the “Data by PatentFizz” page tonight. We’ll be building a master index - with links - of our various data files there, so be sure to keep an eye on it.

If you do use some of our data, we ask that you cite PatentFizz as the source of the data and include a link to http://patentfizz.com/public_data/ if possible.

First up is the 2007 log for our maintenance fee expirations project. The log includes a tabulation of the total number of patents listed in each week’s OG as expired for failure to pay maintenance fees, as well as a breakdown of that total number according to maintenance fee year missed (4, 8, and 12).

To our knowledge, this breakdown of maintenance fee-related expirations is not available from any other source. We’re hopeful that someone will find it interesting…and hopefully useful.

Access the 2007 log from the Data by PatentFizz page.

Note that we will not share any identifying information for any single comment or group of comments posted on the FizzDisplay pages. So, please don’t ask.

The Official Gazette published this week includes maintenance fee related expiration notices for 1140 patents. We have added a comment indicating the expired status to the FizzDisplay for each of these patents.

The IT section of the blogosphere heated up a bit last week with the granting of US Patent No. 7,278,273 to Google for a “Modular Data Center.” Lots of people were whipped into a frenzy when they noticed that 1) the patent was granted to Google, 2) it has something to do with a shipping container-based data center, and 3) it was granted to Google.

Many were quick to accuse Google of being evil because it had so clearly pursued patent protection on Sun’s Project Blackbox.

A few samples:

The Register - “Google now owns a patent for data centers stuffed into shipping containers. You know, data centers like Sun’s Project Blackbox”

Ars Technica - “Google patents datacenter-in-a-shipping-container, ignores Sun’s BlackBox…So if the idea is not new, why is Google patenting it? As is the case with many high technology companies these days, the goal is to patent as many ideas as possible in a race to collect the largest patent portfolio and stave off possible lawsuits from small companies (including firms that do nothing but hold patents) wanting to cash in on a big patent lawsuit payday.”

Information Week - “The patent, granted Tuesday, covers “modular data centers with modular components that can implemented in numerous ways, including as a process, an apparatus, a system, a device, or a method.”

But does the patent cover Blackbox?  PatentFizz commenters quickly jumped on the case….and revealed some interesting details about the patent claims and the details of Blackbox.  Go ahead and review the comments on the FizzDisplay of the Google data center patent - we think you’ll find the discussion fascinating.

Here’s a progress report on our maintenance fee expirations project -

2007 is complete and up to date.  We’ve added an expiration comment to every patent that expired this year for failure to pay maintenance fees.  Going forward, we’ll add a new comment to each patent that expires this way…every week.

And we’re still marching backwards, too.   Stay tuned for more updates.

The Official Gazette published this week includes maintenance fee related expiration notices for 1174 patents. We have added a comment indicating the expired status to the FizzDisplay for each of these patents.

Did you know that over 1,200 patents expired prematurely last week due to a failure to pay applicable maintenance fees? Did you know that a similar number expire every week for the same reason?

It’s true. And we’re making sure that you’ll know about it when it affects the patents you’re reviewing on PatentFizz. Over the last couple weeks, we’ve put the final touches on a workflow that allows us to tag each and every patent that expires for failure to pay maintenance fees. We’re adding a comment to each patent that provides the expiration date, a link to the USPTO Official Gazette notice of the expiration, and a couple of links that provide more information on the legal aspect of maintenance fees.

Want an example? Check out the comments on patent 5,442,530. Or 5,933,863.  Or even 6,604,251.  Beautiful, isn’t it?

We’ll be adding comments to every patent that expires this way each week. And we’re going back in time, too. We’ll update our coverage here on the blog, so keep watching.

How do you use this feature? Simple…just look for expiration comments when pulling up a FizzDisplay of a patent.  When you see one, you’ll know that the patent expired for failure to pay a maintenance fee.  You’ll immediately know the exact date on which the patent expired, and you can verify it with one-click access to the official OG Notice regarding the expiration.

How’s that for public notice?

We’re well aware of the pesky reinstatement rules that allow the USPTO to reinstate these expired patents in certain circumstances…and we’re working on it.  Look for an all new-feature that deals with these situations in coming weeks.

We’re quite proud of this new feature, and we hope you find it useful. To our knowledge, PatentFizz is the first place on the web that presents expiration information alongside the patent text

Now available directly from the PatentFizz website, FirstPage Reports give you the perfect document for quickly reviewing and delivering information about a group of United States patents. Each FirstPage Report is a single .pdf document containing the first page of every patent related to your project, making it the perfect overview document for a variety of projects. Our beta users have found them an invaluable tool for providing patent portfolio overviews and updates, distributing competitive intelligence, brainstorming, and other patent-related projects.

Just enter each of your patent numbers in a simple form and we’ll generate the report for you…and present a link for immediate download. You can then copy and distribute the Report any way you’d like.

Simple form, immediate download, copy and distribute to your heart’s content.

The pricing structure for FirstPage Reports is based on the number of patents you want in the Report:

1. up to 5 US patents - FREE

Go ahead…give it a try…and another. Create as many as you’d like. This is our way of introducing you to the convenience and usefulness of FirstPage Reports in hopes that you’ll use them for your larger patent projects in the future.

1. Up to 25 US patents - $4.95

2. Up to 50 US patents - $7.95

3. Up to 100 US patents - $12.95

To get started with any of these options, including the free report, go straight to the FirstPage Reports order page.

We’ve developed custom solutions for a few of our beta testers, and would love to do the same for you.

Need a way to update folks on the status of your portfolio at regular intervals? How about an easy way to update a team on the issued patents of your competitors? Looking for a way to get the creative juices of your inventors flowing?

FirstPage reports are an effective tool in each of these scenarios. Send an e-mail to orders@patentfizz.com to learn more, see examples in action, or to inquire about pricing for custom solutions.