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Patent Families on lexis.com® and nexis.com®
(March 5, 2004)

Patent family reports are now available on lexis.com and nexis.com!  

What is a patent family? When an inventor files for protection on the same invention in multiple countries, these filings - and any following publications that may result from them - are known as a patent family.  Patent families can become very complex and include multiple filings from just one country.  This complexity is due to national patenting laws that differ among countries. 

Links to patent family reports will be available in any U.S., European, Japanese or PCT patent documents.  However, these reports are NOT currently included in any subscription; they are available transactionally.  There is no additional charge for printing the PDF.

When the patent is first published by the patent authority, there is a one to two week lag time between initial publication and the availability of the family report.  You can click on the "Check for Patent Family Report PDF Availability" link to check the availability of the report as often as necessary at no charge.