The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office has rolled out a web-based platform to help the general public search and visualize patented invention data gathered over a nearly 40-year period.USPTO said Thursday the PatentsView tool is still in beta phase and designed to allow users to view technological, individual-level and regional patenting activities that occurred from 1976 to 2014.
“We are always working to improve the discoverability, accessibility and usability of the USPTO’s valuable patent and trademark information,” said USPTO Director Michelle Lee.
The agency built the data visualization platform in collaboration with the U.S. Agriculture Department, Periscopic, the Center for the Science and Innovation Policy, University of California, the American Institutes for Research and Twin Arch Technologies.
USPTO plans to hold a workshop on Thursday to encourage participants to develop methods for disambiguation of inventor identities.
