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Reed Technology Marks Milestone in Patent Publication History
LexisNexis Company has published half of all granted U.S. patents
HORSHAM, PA, June 20, 2006 - Reed Technology and Information Services Inc. a LexisNexis company, today announced reaching a significant milestone in patent publishing.
"With the issuance of patent number 7,065,410, Reed Technology has electronically captured and prepared for publication half of all patents granted in the history of the United States," said Sam Hardman, president, RTIS. "Each week, Reed Technology converts over two million pages worth of documents received by the patent office into electronic form and captures text and complex formulae from nearly a half million of those pages."
Hardman said that for more than 35 years Reed Technology (and its predecessor, International Computaprint Corporation - ICC) has performed these vital services for the United States Patent and Trademark Office under a series of consecutive contracts.
In the mid-1960’s, visionary staff members at the USPTO recognized the developing potential for using computers and electronic processes in support of the publishing process. This ultimately resulted in a contract award to ICC in 1969 for the development and operation of a system to perform this work. The first patent grant published using the new system was issued on Aug. 4, 1970. Reed Technology has continuously captured and prepared patents for publication ever since.
Demonstrating outstanding vision, the USPTO collected and retained all of the information captured by Reed Technology for nearly a decade even though no adequate computer-based search system existed at the agency. A decade later, that large collection of Reed Technology’s patent information products was used to populate the new search system at the USPTO. Today, 9,000 to 10,000 newly-published U.S. patent applications and granted patents are added to this repository every week.
"Without the electronic research tools currently in use at the USPTO, the task of examining patents would be impossible," Hardman said. "Thanks to the foresight of visionaries at the USPTO and the hard work and dedication of Reed Technology employees, key aspects of the patent information needs of both the USPTO and the intellectual property community around the world are being met."
He said the data capture and information processing needs of the USPTO are immense.
"We compose nearly 200,000 unique, publication-ready pages each week," he said. "There aren’t many organizations that can boast that kind of publishing volume."
Today, Reed Technology uses its extensive experience with information life cycle management for complex documents to meet the needs of other government customers and the pharmaceutical industry. For pharmaceutical manufacturers, Reed Technology provides electronic document management services including conversion of drug labeling information into XML format: Structured Product Labeling in the U.S. and Product Information Management in Europe.
About Reed Technology and Information Services Inc.
Reed Technology, based outside Philadelphia, creates integrated document and content processing solutions that are designed to fit the distinct needs of clients in both the government and commercial sectors. The company’s service suite includes all facets of information capture, transformation, life cycle management and distribution of large volumes of technical and complex documents with a commitment to accuracy, quality and customer service. Reed Tech has provided the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office with services supporting publication of U.S. patent grants since 1970 and publication of U.S. patent applications since 2001. Today, Reed Tech also provides electronic document management solutions to the pharmaceutical industry and other government customers. For more information, visit www.ReedTech.com. Reed Tech is a member of the LexisNexis Group.
About LexisNexis
LexisNexis® (www.lexisnexis.com) is a leading provider of information and services solutions, including its flagship Web-based Lexis® and Nexis® research services, to a wide range of professionals in the legal, risk management, corporate, government, law enforcement, accounting and academic markets. A member of Reed Elsevier Group plc [NYSE: ENL; NYSE: RUK] (www.reedelsevier.com), the company does business in 100 countries with 13,000 employees worldwide.
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