Introduction
PatentMax provides all the functions
and features you’ll need to search any of the major patent databases, get Hit Lists
of results, then download both Text and Page Images.
You now can View, Print, and Save patents all within a single, user-friendly
program.
PatentMax allows you to:
- Select a database to search
- Compose your search query directly on the Search Screen
- Send your search query to the database server by pressing the Submit
button
- Receive a Hit List containing the patent numbers/titles
- Navigate easily through every Hit List page obtained during a
session
- View a patent immediately by double-clicking on it in the Hit
List
- Designate and perform up to150 Batch Mode operations for patents
in each Hit List page
- Use the Session Log to record all activity, to facilitate cost
recovery and accounting
- Switch instantly between viewing Text and viewing Page Images of
a patent
- Navigate easily through the pages and sections of each patent
- Use Zoom, Rotate, Pan and Copy (to the clipboard) within a patent
document
- Save each patent to a named file containing text, images and
the original search string
- Import third party patent document files (in PDF format) directly
into PatentMax
- Configure the Display Mode for either single or multiple window
presentation
- Use the Customize dialog box to configure most program functions
and features
Note that only the Elite
level of PatentMax provides all features; see the PatentMax web site at www.patentmax.com for a complete description of the
features provided at each level.
The Organization of
PatentMax
PatentMax is organized as a series of inter-related screens. The three main screens are: the Search Screen; the
Hit List screen and the Log screen. In
addition, as you select patents for viewing, any number of Patent Document screens may be
automatically created during a session.
The following sections will introduce you to the key features of
PatentMax.
Selecting and Searching a
Database
When PatentMax is started, the USPTO Patent Grant database is always
selected by default., however, you may select another database for your search from the
choices provided in the Database drop-down
list located on the Search screen: click on the arrow to see the list. Note that the search screen format may change when
you change the database selection, to accommodate the capabilities of each particular
database server.
When either of the US databases (Patent Grants and Published
Applications) are selected, you have the choice of using the Basic or the Complex Search
methods. The USPTO supports date-range
searching: to select the date range of interest; use the Select Years drop-down list to
choose a range of years.
To prepare a Basic Search, simply enter words in the term entry boxes
(see Help for details); you may use the associated drop-down list boxes to restrict the
search to particular Patent Fields. A
description of any of these fields may be accessed by clicking on its blue link in the
table provided at the bottom of the Search Screen. If
you use both term entry boxes, you can specify the logical (Boolean) operator to join them
when the search query is sent to the database: the options are AND, OR and ANDNOT. A Clear button is provided for each term
box.
To prepare a Complex Search, enter a term, phrase (in double-quotes),
a complex Boolean expression, an individual patent number, or a white-space-delimited list
of patent numbers into the Complex term entry box. When
you press Submit, the search will start. You
may also paste lists of patent numbers (created in any compatible Windows program)
directly into the Complex entry box: when you press Submit, a Hit List will be
returned, with the patents listed in order of the search list.
You can always return to the Search Screen by pressing the Search
button located in one of the toolbars present on every window.
Understanding and Using a
Hit List
When your search is completed, a list of ‘hits’ that
satisfy the criteria of your search will be returned, and the first 50 items will be
immediately displayed in the Hit List screen. Your
original search query, and the total number of Hits returned, will be displayed at the top
of the screen. Once a search has been
performed on either of the US databases (Patent Grant or Published Applications), the
search string appearing at the top of the Hit List screen may be edited or completely
replaced: a press on Submit starts the revised (or new) search. Note that an ongoing search may be instantly
terminated from the Hit List screen by pressing Cancel (the Submit button
turns into a Cancel button until the Hit List is returned).
To immediately download and view any patent in the Hit List, simply
double-click on it. When the patent appears,
its name in the Hit List will turn blue, indicating that it is present in a viewable
screen. You can also use the Batch Mode
Processor to View (and Print or Download) many patents at once with only a single mouse
click: see Batch Mode Processor.
The patents in the Hit List are each uniquely identified by Index
Numbers appearing in the column immediately to the left of the patent numbers; whenever a
Hit List item is viewed, the patent's index number will appear in the status bar area at
the bottom of its Patent Display screen.
Once the first page of as Hit List has been returned, use the Next and Jump to Page functions to get more
pages.
Every Hit List obtained during a session remains in memory. To see the results of any previous search, use the
double magenta arrow
buttons to scroll across previously obtained Hit Lists, then use the Hit List page
navigation functions to get to a particular page.
Hit List pages may be printed individually if desired.
The Batch Mode Processor
automates Hit List operations
CAUTION: It is easily possible to Download and/or Print thousands
of pages in a single Batch Mode event. To
avoid unexpected results, please read the following section thoroughly before using the
Batch Mode Processor.
The Batch Mode processor allows you to designate up to 150 separate
operations on a Hit List page via an array of checkboxes; any combination of the View,
Print and Download operations may be designated for
each patent on a Hit List page, using the checkboxes at the left side of the screen. The checkboxes are arranged in three columns,
where each column corresponds to one of the three Batch Mode operations: View, Print and
Download. Use the mouse to designate
individual checkboxes; above each column is a small button (V, P, D) to facilitate selecting
and de-selecting every checkbox in the column.
A Batch Mode event is started by clicking on the Run Batch button; the
corresponding Abort Batch button allows you to
instantly terminate all ongoing Batch Mode operations at any time.
When a Batch Mode View operation is executed, any necessary patent
information is retrieved from the database and automatically prepared for display. You may use the Customize dialog box to specify
whether only the Text or both the Text and first Page Image of the patent will be
retrieved (set the Initial Download option); you may also specify whether the Text
or the Page Image will be displayed first in the associated Patent Display screen (set the
Initial Patent Context option)
When a Batch Mode Print operation is executed, any necessary patent
information is retrieved from the database and automatically sent to the printer. If any Print checkbox is designated when a Batch
Mode event is started, a Print dialog box will appear allowing the print parameters for
those Batch Mode print operations to be adjusted. CAUTION: to avoid unexpectedly large print outputs, you may
wish to adjust the Batch Mode Print Limit via the Print menu in the Customize dialog box. The limit value determines the maximum number of
pages that will be printed for each patent.
When a Batch Mode Download operation is executed, information from
the designated patent(s) is automatically retrieved from the database and placed into the
Data Store (a temporary file created to hold information during the program session). To view a downloaded patent, access the current
list of patents via the Patents button
and select the item(s) to view. CAUTION: to avoid unexpectedly large downloads, you may wish
to adjust the Batch Mode Download Limit via the Save menu in the Customize dialog box. The limit value determines the maximum number of
page images that will be retrieved for each patent.
The Session Log and the
24-Hour Log screens
Each of these screens may be accessed through the drop-down menu
available via the Log button.
The Session Log screen provides a summary of the activity of the
current session. The User Name and the Client
Name may be changed at any time via the General menu in the Customize dialog box. The information on the Session Log screen may be
saved to a named file if desired.
The 24-Hour Log screen provides a summary of the activity during the
current 24 hour period (midnight to midnight, Eastern Standard Time).
Using the Patent Display
screen
Patents are displayed individually, either one at a time in Same mode, or in multiple
windows in Many
mode. Each Patent Display screen is equipped
with a large number of functions summarized below (see the User Manual for complete
descriptions of all functions).
Either the Text Context or the Page Images Context may be selected. To see the text or images of a patent, press the T button or the I button, respectively (located by
default at the left end of the toolbar area).
The number of the current patent appears in the Patents edit box. The numbers of all displayed patents appear in the
drop-down list: click on any number to jump immediately to that patent. The Patent Scroll double-magenta arrow
buttons allow you to directly scroll through all viewable patents (the conventional Shift-Tab
and Ctrl-Shift-Tab functions may be used as well).
A single-step Back
function is also provided: click on the light blue double arrow button to jump back to the
previously viewed patent.
The Section edit
box allows you to retrieve and view entire patent sections with a single click; simply
select the desired section name from the drop-down list, and all pages of that section
will be immediately retrieved from the database, and the display will shift to the show
the first page of the selected section.
The Page edit
box allows you to individually retrieve (or jump to) any desired page of a patent: click
on the page number in the drop-down list. Alternatively,
simply type the desired page number using the keyboard, and press the Enter key to
jump to any page. Four conventional page
navigation arrow buttons are provided: the double arrows jump to the first or last page of
the patent, while pressing a single arrow button jumps to the adjacent page. Alternatively, the conventional gray keys, Home,
Page Down, Page Up and End may be used for page navigation.
Select any of three Zoom
levels (100%, 50%, 25%) from the drop-down list in the Zoom edit box. Automatic display enhancement is provided to
ensure readability at every level. You may
also engage and disengage the Zoom function using the magnifying glass buttons and the hand button, respectively, located
in the toolbar area.
The Birdeye
button yields a small auxiliary window. The
current display area is indicated as a pale blue rectangle: you may 'grab' the blue
rectangle with your mouse to simplifying panning. Note
also that if a Copy area has been selected, it will appear yellow in the Birdeye view.
A jitter-free Pan
function is available in Image Context: when the handcursor is present,
hold down the left mouse button to drag the image. Alternatively,
you may use the scroll bars for panning.
Six conventional Image Transformation buttons are
provided, including Rotate, Mirror and Restore functions.
The Copy function
allows you to select a rectangular area within a page image, and copy it directly to the
Windows clipboard; use the standard paste function to insert it into any compatible
Windows application. Pressing the large
yellow button selects the entire page, while the smaller yellow button allows you to
select an arbitrary rectangular area. Press
the small yellow button to enable the variable select function (as indicated by the
appearance of a cross-hair cursor); hold the left mouse button down to create a
yellow select area.
Several specialized buttons provide explicit control over patent
download functions. The Download Current Page button is
used to refresh the current page, in case of any errors; the Download All button is used to
automatically retrieve every page image of the patent; the Cancel Download button may be used
to halt any ongoing downloads initiated from the Patent Display screen.
The PatentMax
logo button provides direct on-line access to the PatentMax website, right
within the displayed screen.
The Email
feature allows you to send an entire patent (specifically, the text, all locally available
page images and the original search string) as a PMX file.
Pressing the Save
button yields a dialog box to select both the file name and Save-To destination for
a patent document. When a patent is saved,
both the Text and Page Images are saved, according to the particular options selected; in
addition, the original search string is saved:
when a saved patent document is re-opened, clicking on the Hit List button will
re-retrieve the original source Hit List.
Pressing the Print
button from within a Patent Display screen yields a dialog box, featuring a variety of
print options: you may choose to save the current page, a range of pages, any combination
of entire patent sections, or the entire text.
Pressing the Open
button allows you to immediately select and view any of the patents present in the
currently specified patent Save-To folder; another folder may be selected using the
conventional directory navigation functions. The
default Save-To folder may be changed via the Customize/Save menu. You may open most third party patent documents
that have been provided in PDF format.
Choosing a Display Mode: the Same / Many options
The Display Mode menu is reached via the Display button located in the top
row of toolbars at the top of every screen: the current display mode may be instantly
changed at any time. To change the default
setting for the Display Mode at any time, click on the Customize button at the top of any
screen and use the General menu.
In Display
in Same Window mode, one window is displayed, and only a single screen may be
viewed at a time. Navigation buttons
described below allow you to switch between screens.
In Display
in Many Windows mode, multiple windows are displayed. One window is used to hold the several main screens, viewable one at a time,
while a separate window is provided for each displayed patent.
Any main screen may be displayed immediately using the Search, HitList and Log buttons provided at the top
of every window; to view patents that have already been retrieved, click on the Patents button and select the
desired patent(s) from the list.
Use Minimize
All Windows to reduce every displayed PatentMax window to an icon in the tool
tray; click on any icon to restore its window.
The Features of the
Customize dialog box
Five tab-selectable menus are provided, through which many of the
default settings of PatentMax may be adjusted. Each
time PatentMax is closed, the current default settings are saved, and will be
automatically restored for the next session.
Note that the composition and position of the Patent Display screen
toolbars may be modified separately for the Text and Image contexts; use the Toolbars
and Toolbar Design menus for this.
Sources of Additional
Information about PatentMax
See the About PatentMax section on the PatentMax web site at www.patentmax.com for pictures and additional
descriptions of the features.
Use the Help buttons provided within the program itself.
Contact Technical Support at support@patentmax.com
if you have further questions.
PatentMax is a trademark of MESA, Ltd.