Table of Contents

1 Introduction.

1.1 Brief Description.

1.2 The contents of the eRegister.

1.3 Purpose.

2 How to Search in eRegister.

2.1 Quick Tips.

2.2 Search for Patents - Quick Search.

2.3 Search for Documents - Quick Search.

2.4 Search for Patents - Advanced Search.

2.5 Search for Documents - Advanced Search.

3 Managing List of Results.

3.1 How to Sort Search Results.

3.2 How to Navigate through Search Results.

3.3 How to Export Search Results.

3.4 How to View and Translate Document Text (Documents Search)

4 Viewing Patent Details.

4.1 Structure of the Patent Details Page.

4.2 Display Patent Information in Espacenet.

4.3 Display Patent Information in EPO's European Patent Register.

4.4 Navigate through Search Results.

4.5 Return to Search Results List.

4.6 Perform New Search According to IPC Code.

4.7 Access Child/Parent Patent (Division)

4.8 Access SPC/Basic Patent.

4.9 Download Patent Details in XML file

5 Managing My Patents List.

5.1 How to Add a Patent in My Patents List.

5.2 How to Remove Patents from My Patents List.

1 Introduction

1.1 Brief Description

ERegister system consists one of the several systems available within the Benelux Patent Platform. ERegister system does not demand user registration and is available to public users, such as they are able to search for and consult:

· published Belgian patent applications and patents

· granted European patents valid for the Belgium

· filed certificate applications and granted certificates

It is possible to perform a search for patents or for respective documents. Searching can be performed with the help of a quick or an advanced search page.

If needed, the contents of a patent specification can be consulted, including related patent documents.

The application is available in four languages (Dutch, English, German and French), and it is possible to zoom in on the displayed data.

You can select and save specific patent results in a patents list.

Additionally, the search query can be registered by means of an RSS feed.

1.2 The contents of the eRegister

As mentioned above, the eRegister system contains bibliographical data and public documents of published Belgian patent applications, Belgian patents, granted European patents valid for the Belgium, and Belgian certificates. These data are updated regularly within the administrative system of the BE Patent Office, and the updates are reflected to eRegister on a regular basis.

1.3 Purpose

The purpose of the help page is to familiarize ERegister users with the application's functionalities.

2 How to Search in eRegister

eRegister allows you to search for the data you want using any of the following options:

· perform a quick search for patents, using the quick search page and a basic set of search criteria

· perform a quick search for patent documents, using the quick search page and a basic set of search criteria (related to the patent or to the patent's documents)

· perform an advanced search for patents, using the advanced search page and an extended set of search criteria

· perform an advanced search for patent documents, using the advanced search page and an extended set of search criteria (related to the patent or to the patent's documents)

2.1 Quick Tips

Below you may find certain tips to keep in mind when using eRegister to perform a search:

Note: Text fields support wildcards * and ? for searching. To perform a single character wildcard, use the ? symbol. For example search for T?STVALUE will return results for TESTVALUE. To perform a multiple character wildcard search, use the* symbol. For example search for TEST*LUE will return results for TEST1VALUE, TEST2VALUE, TESTINGVALUE etc.

Note: eRegister does not distinguish between capital and normal letters during a search. For example search either for john or JOHN will return the same results: john, JOHN, JOhn etc.

Note: eRegister supports accent search, and allows you to search for a word with or without an accent. For example search either for système or systeme will return the same results: système and systeme.

Note: You may use the date fields or calendars in order to search for a date or date range. The left date-field corresponds to the "From" date value, and the right date-field corresponds to the "To" date-value. You may search using dates in the form of DD/MM/YYYY, MM/YYYY or YYYY.

In order to search for a certain date, insert the target date in both the left ("From") and right ("To") date-fields. For example search for Due Date From 31/03/2014 - To 31/03/2014 will return results with Due Date 31/03/2014 only. In order to search for a certain date range, insert the target dates in the left ("From") or/and the right ("To") date-fields. For example search for Due Date From 31/03/2014 will return results with Due Date equal or after 31/03/2014.

Note: When you insert several words in a search field, the separation by a space is automatically interpreted by eRegister as a logical AND.

Note: eRegister ignores the following common words during a search: "a", "an", "and", "are", "as", "at", "be", "but", "by","for", "if", "in", "into", "is", "it", "no", "not", "of", "on", "or", "such", "that", "the", "their", "then", "there", "these", "they", "this", "to", "was", "will", "with".

Note: When performing an advanced search, there must be at least one positive term in the search query (e.g. contains the words, is equal to, is between etc) in order for the negative terms (e.g. does not contain the words, does not exist, is not equal to etc) to be considered. For example you cannot search for "Agent" "Does not contain the words" "Jack" (i.e. -gemachtigde:(Jack)), but you can search for "Agent" "contains the words" "John" AND "Agent" "Does not contain the words" "Jack" (i.e. gemachtigde:(John) AND -gemachtigde:(Jack))

Note: When performing an advanced search, you may use the "AND", "OR" and "()" buttons in order to compose a search query with more than one search criteria: - () button is used to compose a group of search criteria - AND button corresponds to a logical AND between two search criteria (or two groups of search criteria): it is used to retrieve results that fulfill both search criteria (or groups of search criteria) - OR button corresponds to a logical OR between two search criteria (or two groups of search criteria): is used to retrieve results that fulfill at least one of the search criteria criteria (or groups of search criteria)

2.2 Search for Patents - Quick Search

  1. Select to search for patents, by clicking on the respective radio button on top of the Quick Search page.
  2. Enter some search criteria:

Search Criterion

Explanation

Number

The system will match your input to any of the following numbers: Application number, Publication number, Priority number

Title

Words in the title of the patent, or the product name in case of Certificate

IPC Code

IPC class code

IP Right Type

The type of IP Right (Certificate, National Patent, European Patent Granted for Belgium)

Publication Date

The system will match your input to any of the following dates: Publication Date, Lapsed Date, Registration date, Grant Date, Priority Date

Lapsed Date

Date or date range, using any of the following formats:

DD/MM/YYYY, MM/YYYY or YYYY

Registration date

Date or date range, using any of the following formats:

DD/MM/YYYY, MM/YYYY or YYYY

Grant Date

Date or date range, using any of the following formats:

DD/MM/YYYY, MM/YYYY or YYYY

Priority Date

Date or date range, using any of the following formats:

DD/MM/YYYY, MM/YYYY or YYYY

Applicant

Words in the name of the applicant (the system will also search the history applicants)

Agent

Words in the name of the agent (the system will also search the history agents)

Inventor

Words in the name of the inventor

  1. Click on the Search button or hit the Enter key.

2.3 Search for Documents - Quick Search

  1. Select to search for documents, by clicking on the respective radio button on top of the Quick Search page.
  2. Enter some search criteria:

Search Criterion

Explanation

Number

The system will match your input to any of the following numbers: Application number, Publication number, Priority number

Title

Words in the title of the patent or the product name in case of Certificate

IPC Code

IPC class code

Document Filing Date

Date or date range, using any of the following formats:

DD/MM/YYYY, MM/YYYY or YYYY

Document Keywords

Words within the extracted text of the document

Document Type

Type of the document

Document Language

Language of the document

Applicant

Words in the name of the applicant (the system will also search the history applicants)

Agent

Words in the name of the agent (the system will also search the history agents)

Priority Number

Priority Number of the patent

Publication Date

Date or date range, using any of the following formats:

DD/MM/YYYY, MM/YYYY or YYYY

Priority Date

Date or date range, using any of the following formats:

DD/MM/YYYY, MM/YYYY or YYYY

  1. Click on the Search button or hit the Enter key.

2.4 Search for Patents - Advanced Search

  1. Select to search for patents, by clicking on the respective radio button on top of the Advanced Search page.
  2. Select a value from the "Search Criterion" drop-down list. These search criteria are of the type "fixed value" (like "IP Right Type") "free text" (like "Title") or "date" (like "Filing Date"). The full list of available search criteria for patents is the following:

Search Criterion

Explanation

1rst Applicant's Nationality

Country of residence of the first applicant

Agent

Words in the name of the agent (the system will also search the history agents)

Annual Fee Due Date

Date or date range, using any of the following formats:

DD/MM/YYYY, MM/YYYY or YYYY

Applicant

Words in the name of the applicant (the system will also search the history applicants)

Application Number

Application number of the patent

Claims Translation Received Date

Date or date range, using any of the following formats:

DD/MM/YYYY, MM/YYYY or YYYY

Deed Filer

Words in the name of the deed filer

Deed Number

Deed id number

Deed Registration Date

Date or date range, using any of the following formats:

DD/MM/YYYY, MM/YYYY or YYYY

Deed Text

Words in the deed text

Deed Type

Deed type

Deposit Number

Deposit number of the micro-organism

EP B1 Publication Date

Date or date range, using any of the following formats:

DD/MM/YYYY, MM/YYYY or YYYY

EP B2 Publication Date

Date or date range, using any of the following formats:

DD/MM/YYYY, MM/YYYY or YYYY

EP B3 Publication Date

Date or date range, using any of the following formats:

DD/MM/YYYY, MM/YYYY or YYYY

EP Publication Date

Date or date range, using any of the following formats:

DD/MM/YYYY, MM/YYYY or YYYY

Expiration Date

Date or date range, using any of the following formats:

DD/MM/YYYY, MM/YYYY or YYYY

Filing Date

Date or date range, using any of the following formats:

DD/MM/YYYY, MM/YYYY or YYYY

Grant Date

Date or date range, using any of the following formats:

DD/MM/YYYY, MM/YYYY or YYYY

Institute Name

Words in the name of the institute where the micro-organism was deposited

Inventor

Words in the name of the inventor

IP Right Type

The type of IP Right (Certificate, National Patent, European Patent Granted for Belgium)

IPC Code

IPC class code

IPC Main Code

IPC main class code

Lapsed Date

Date or date range, using any of the following formats:

DD/MM/YYYY, MM/YYYY or YYYY

Last Annual Payment Date

Date or date range, using any of the following formats:

DD/MM/YYYY, MM/YYYY or YYYY

Last payer

Words in the name of the payer for the last paid annual fee

Legal Status

Legal Status

Licensee

Words in the name of the licensee

Marketing Authorization Number

Number of the marketing authorization

Number

The system will match your input to any of the following numbers: Application number, Publication number, Priority number

Pledgee

Words in the name of the pledgee

Priority Claim Date

Date or date range, using any of the following formats:

DD/MM/YYYY, MM/YYYY or YYYY

Priority Date

Date or date range, using any of the following formats:

DD/MM/YYYY, MM/YYYY or YYYY

Priority Number

Number assigned to the priority patent application on the basis of which the priority is requested

Product Name

Product name of the Certificate

Publication Date

Date or date range, using any of the following formats:

DD/MM/YYYY, MM/YYYY or YYYY

Publication Number

Publication number of the patent

Registration date

Date or date range, using any of the following formats:

DD/MM/YYYY, MM/YYYY or YYYY

Restoration Filing Date

Date or date range, using any of the following formats:

DD/MM/YYYY, MM/YYYY or YYYY

Restoration Filing Date

Date or date range, using any of the following formats:

DD/MM/YYYY, MM/YYYY or YYYY

Restoration Request Number

Id number of the restoration request

Search Request Date

Date or date range, using any of the following formats:

DD/MM/YYYY, MM/YYYY or YYYY

Title

Words in the title of the patent, or the product name in case of Certificate

Translations Received Date (B1 EP Publication)

Date or date range, using any of the following formats:

DD/MM/YYYY, MM/YYYY or YYYY

Translations Received Date (B2 EP Publication)

Date or date range, using any of the following formats:

DD/MM/YYYY, MM/YYYY or YYYY

Translations Received Date (B3 EP Publication)

Date or date range, using any of the following formats:

DD/MM/YYYY, MM/YYYY or YYYY

WO Publication Date

Date or date range, using any of the following formats:

DD/MM/YYYY, MM/YYYY or YYYY

  1. Select a value from the "Match type" drop down list.

Note: Depending on the selected search criterion, the system refreshes the possible values of the "Match type" drop-down list.

  1. Insert a value in "Query keyword" input field.

Note: Depending on the selected search criterion, the system refreshes the possible values of the "Query keyword" type, to be: - Text field(s) and pop-up calendar(s) (for "date" search criteria, for example "WO Publication Date") - Drop-down list (for "fixed value" search criteria, for example "IP Right Type") - Text field (for "free text" search criteria, for example "Title")

  1. Click on the Add button. The system adds your selections in steps 2, 3 and 4 in the displayed textbox.
  2. You may further define the final search query, by constantly adding new choices of search criteria (repeating steps 2-5), and using the "AND", "OR", "()" buttons:

· AND button is used to retrieve results that fulfill both entered search criteria (logical AND)

· OR button is used to retrieve results that fulfill at least one of the entered search criteria (logical OR)

· () button is used to compose a group of search criteria

Note: The textbox is also completely adjustable by hand.

  1. After you have defined your final search query, click on the Search button or hit the Enter key.

2.5 Search for Documents - Advanced Search

  1. Select to search for documents, by clicking on the respective radio button on top of the Advanced Search page.
  2. Select a value from the "Search Criterion" drop-down list. These search criteria are of the type "fixed value" (like "IP Right Type") "free text" (like "Title") or "date" (like "Filing Date"). The full list of available search criteria for documents is the following:

Search Criterion

Explanation

1rst Applicant's Nationality

Country of residence of the first applicant

Agent

Words in the name of the agent (the system will also search the history agents)

Annual Fee Due Date

Date or date range, using any of the following formats:

DD/MM/YYYY, MM/YYYY or YYYY

Applicant

Words in the name of the applicant (the system will also search the history applicants)

Application Number

Application number of the patent

Claims Translation Received Date

Date or date range, using any of the following formats:

DD/MM/YYYY, MM/YYYY or YYYY

Deed Filer

Words in the name of the deed filer

Deed Number

Deed id number

Deed Registration Date

Date or date range, using any of the following formats:

DD/MM/YYYY, MM/YYYY or YYYY

Deed Text

Words in the deed text

Deed Type

Deed type

Deposit Number

Deposit number of the micro-organism

Document Filing Date

Date or date range, using any of the following formats:

DD/MM/YYYY, MM/YYYY or YYYY

Document Keywords

Words within the extracted text of the document

Document Language

Language of the document

Document Type

Type of the document

EP B1 Publication Date

Date or date range, using any of the following formats:

DD/MM/YYYY, MM/YYYY or YYYY

EP B2 Publication Date

Date or date range, using any of the following formats:

DD/MM/YYYY, MM/YYYY or YYYY

EP B3 Publication Date

Date or date range, using any of the following formats:

DD/MM/YYYY, MM/YYYY or YYYY

EP Publication Date

Date or date range, using any of the following formats:

DD/MM/YYYY, MM/YYYY or YYYY

Expiration Date

Date or date range, using any of the following formats:

DD/MM/YYYY, MM/YYYY or YYYY

Filing Date

Date or date range, using any of the following formats:

DD/MM/YYYY, MM/YYYY or YYYY

Grant Date

Date or date range, using any of the following formats:

DD/MM/YYYY, MM/YYYY or YYYY

Institute Name

Words in the name of the institute where the micro-organism was deposited

Inventor

Words in the name of the inventor

IP Right Type

The type of IP Right (Certificate, National Patent, European Patent Granted for Belgium)

IPC Code

IPC class code

IPC Main Code

IPC main class code

Lapsed Date

Date or date range, using any of the following formats:

DD/MM/YYYY, MM/YYYY or YYYY

Last Annual Payment Date

Date or date range, using any of the following formats:

DD/MM/YYYY, MM/YYYY or YYYY

Last payer

Words in the name of the payer for the last paid annual fee

Legal Status

Legal Status

Licensee

Words in the name of the licensee

Marketing Authorization Number

Number of the marketing authorization

Number

The system will match your input to any of the following numbers: Application number, Publication number, Priority number

Pledgee

Words in the name of the pledgee

Priority Claim Date

Date or date range, using any of the following formats:

DD/MM/YYYY, MM/YYYY or YYYY

Priority Date

Date or date range, using any of the following formats:

DD/MM/YYYY, MM/YYYY or YYYY

Priority Number

Number assigned to the priority patent application on the basis of which the priority is requested

Product Name

Product name of the Certificate

Publication Date

Date or date range, using any of the following formats:

DD/MM/YYYY, MM/YYYY or YYYY

Publication Number

Publication number of the patent

Registration date

Date or date range, using any of the following formats:

DD/MM/YYYY, MM/YYYY or YYYY

Restoration Filing Date

Date or date range, using any of the following formats:

DD/MM/YYYY, MM/YYYY or YYYY

Restoration Filing Date

Date or date range, using any of the following formats:

DD/MM/YYYY, MM/YYYY or YYYY

Restoration Request Number

Id number of the restoration request

Search Request Date

Date or date range, using any of the following formats:

DD/MM/YYYY, MM/YYYY or YYYY

Title

Words in the title of the patent, or the product name in case of Certificate

Translations Received Date (B1 EP Publication)

Date or date range, using any of the following formats:

DD/MM/YYYY, MM/YYYY or YYYY

Translations Received Date (B2 EP Publication)

Date or date range, using any of the following formats:

DD/MM/YYYY, MM/YYYY or YYYY

Translations Received Date (B3 EP Publication)

Date or date range, using any of the following formats:

DD/MM/YYYY, MM/YYYY or YYYY

WO Publication Date

Date or date range, using any of the following formats:

DD/MM/YYYY, MM/YYYY or YYYY

  1. Select a value from the "Match type" drop down list.

Note: Depending on the selected search criterion, the system refreshes the possible values of the "Match type" drop-down list.

  1. Insert a value in "Query keyword" input field.

Note: Depending on the selected search criterion, the system refreshes the possible values of the "Query keyword" type, to be: - Text field(s) and pop-up calendar(s) (for "date" search criteria, for example "WO Publication Date") - Drop-down list (for "fixed value" search criteria, for example "IP Right Type") - Text field (for "free text" search criteria, for example "Title")

  1. Click on the Add button. The system adds your selections in steps 2, 3 and 4 in the displayed textbox.
  2. You may further define the final search query, by constantly adding new choices of search criteria (repeating steps 2-5), and using the "AND", "OR", "()" buttons:

· AND button is used to retrieve results that fulfill both entered search criteria (logical AND)

· OR button is used to retrieve results that fulfill at least one of the entered search criteria (logical OR)

· () button is used to compose a group of search criteria

Note: The textbox is also completely adjustable by hand.

  1. After you have defined your final search query, click on the Search button or hit the Enter key.

3 Managing List of Results

After you have performed a search, you will see a list with results. You can perform a set of actions to this list of results, like sorting by a certain column or exporting it to a CSV file.

3.1 How to Sort Search Results

  1. To sort results in ascending order, click the column header. The system displays a respective triangle indicator on the column header.
  2. To sort results in descending order, click the same column header again. The system displays a respective triangle indicator on the column header.

Note: Not all result columns are available for sorting. Columns for which sorting is not applicable will not display any triangle indicator if you try to click on them.

3.2 How to Navigate through Search Results

Note: By default, when the amount of results is larger than 10, you will only see the first 10 results.

  1. You can navigate through the patent results by any of the following ways:

· Use the navigation arrows, available on the bottom of the page

· Use the page number text field, available on the bottom of the page

· Select to see more results per page, with the respective dropdown list on the bottom of the page

3.3 How to Export Search Results

  1. Click on the Export button displayed in the target results section. The system creates and provides for download a CSV file with the returned results. Only the first 1000 results are included in the export file.

3.4 How to View and Translate Document Text (Documents Search)

If you have performed a search for documents, you are able to to read the text of the document that was extracted from the PDF file, and translate it (with Google translate), by the following steps:

  1. Click on the text icon displayed next to the target search result; the system displays a pop-up page with the extracted word content of the PDF document.
  2. Click on the Google translate button, after possibly having selected in a frame the text to be translated; the system displays the document translation using Google translate. The text is translated in the language of the eRegister interface.

4 Viewing Patent Details

ERegister system provides a dedicated interface for viewing patent's details, including related patent documents. Additionally, you can use this page to perform a set of actions, like searching for other patents with the same IPC Code, or viewing the patent details in EPO Espacenet.

4.1 Structure of the Patent Details Page

  1. After having clicked on the Publication Number of a patent in the results list, you see the bibliographical details of the patent, in a single page ("Data" tab of the patent). The details are divided into various sections:

Note: When a section is not applicable, or has no information available, it will not be shown. The same applies for fields within the sections.

  1. To see the documents related to this patent, click on the "Documents" tab.

4.2 Display Patent Information in Espacenet

  1. Click on the "Espacenet" link; the system opens a separate page with the patent information in Espacenet of the EPO.

4.3 Display Patent Information in EPO's European Patent Register

  1. Click on the "European Patent Register" link (available only for European patents); the system opens a separate page with the patent information in the European Patent Register.

4.4 Navigate through Search Results

  1. You can navigate to the next/previous patent result (Details page of each patent), by clicking on the respective arrow links.

4.5 Return to Search Results List

  1. Click on the Search results link. The search result previously displayed is high-lighted.

4.6 Perform New Search According to IPC Code

  1. Click on an IPC Code; the system performs a new search using this IPC Code as search criterion. The Quick Search page of eRegister system is displayed, with the corresponding results in the Search Results section.

4.7 Access Child/Parent Patent (Division)

  1. Click on a "Has split"/"Is Split Of" patent link; the system the system displays the "Data" page of the Child/Parent Patent respectively.

4.8 Access SPC/Basic Patent

  1. Click on an "SPC Number" or "Basic Patent Number" link; the system displays the "Data" page of the SPC/Basic Patent respectively.

4.9 Download Patent Details in XML file

  1. Click on the ‘Download XML file’ link; the system provides for download an XML file with the target patent details.

5 Managing My Patents List

After you have performed a search for patents, you can select and save specific patent results in a patents list. This list is accessible by clicking on the "My patent list" tab.

Note: The list of patents is stored on your browser, so make sure you use the same browser to manage this list.

5.1 How to Add a Patent in My Patents List

5.1.1 Add Patent in Patents List from results table

  1. In the search results table, click on the star icon displayed next to the target patent.

Note: The number of patents that exist in your patents list is displayed on the header of the "My Patents List" tab.

5.1.2 Add Patent in Patents List from Patent Details Page

  1. In the patent details page, click on the Add to My patent link;

5.2 How to Remove Patents from My Patents List

  1. While on the My Patents List tab, check the respective checkboxes displayed next to the patent result(s), in order to select the target patent result(s) to remove.
  2. Click on the Delete button.