Westlaw Patents: Suddenly, it comes together

West recently released the first installment of Westlaw Patents—the comprehensive resource that contains all patent-related content and features on Westlaw.

Westlaw Patents contains content and features such as the following:

• U.S. patent file histories recently captured from Thomson Reuters Scientific—the largest online portfolio of U.S. patent file histories available anywhere—in addition to the U.S. patent file histories already available on Westlaw. Approximately 87,000 complete U.S. patent file histories are now available on Westlaw; approximately 500,000 additional patent histories, in which only the original and final claims are compared, will be added soon. (See the U.S. Patent File Histories database (US-PAT-HISTORY).)
• Related office actions, correspondence, and exhibits: Click the appropriate link on the Links tab for selected documents from full-text patent, patent application, and patent file history databases.
• Graphical view of the U.S. patent family tree: With a single click, you can display a visual representation of the connections between multiple patents. Click US Patent Family Tree on the Links tab.
• Claims version comparator: You can display the original, amended, and final versions of patent claims. Deletions and additions are shown in color-coded text so you can easily compare versions and instantly spot the changes. Click any of the links under Claims Versions on the Links tab.
• Graphical view of patent claims: With a single click, you can display an easy-to-read, visual representation of the evolution of the claims in the patent you are viewing. An additional click displays the version of the claim at any stage in the patent application process. Click Graphical Claims History on the Links tab.

In other words, you don't have to go to several locations—or even several databases—to gather the materials you need for patent prosecution, patent litigation, and IP portfolio management. In addition, the claims versioning and graphical views mean you can spend less time making sense of your results.

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