WIPR survey: Readers back patent database launch

More than 60% of respondents to WIPR’s most recent survey have said IBM and Microsoft’s decision to help set up a global database aimed at improving accuracy of patent information was necessary.

The Open Register of Patent Ownership (OROPO), launched on June 15, is a database in which patent owners can record updated information about their patents for free.

The idea behind the database’s creation was that current records on patents at intellectual property offices are inaccurate.

The database was set up after a report called Who Owns the World’s Patents?, put together by IP management company Aistemos, said that one in four records of patent information, such as ownership and class information, is not correct.

Responding to the survey 66% of respondents said that they thought the database could prove useful.

One respondent said: “A unified, one-stop register would improve novelty searches and be especially beneficial for locating prior art that was never filed in any of the major patent offices.”

Defence and aerospace company BAE Systems and app maker Shazam have joined IBM and Microsoft in setting up the register.

At the time, Erich Andersen, deputy general counsel at Microsoft, said: “Microsoft believes that patent ownership transparency continues to be an important part of a well-functioning patent system.

“This voluntary effort, led by top patenting companies, will help to ensure that the patent system continues to promote and encourage innovation across our economy.”

Despite the majority backing the initiatives there were some who looked on it less favourably.

Another respondent said: “It will never be comprehensive and merely complicates the existing landscape. It will quietly get abandoned in a few years’ time.”

This week, WIPR asks: “In Kimble v Marvel the US Supreme Court reaffirmed that a patent owner cannot demand royalties for a patent after it has expired. Was this the correct decision?”