An Introduction to PatDocs Basics

PatDocs - Legal

Accessing legal status information in PatDocs





  • Custom legal reports:
    • Next to the number box, there is a list of checkboxes. These are the options for the columns to be included in your report
    • Once you have submitted your numbers, PatDocs will generate a report table with links to all of the columns that were requested. To obtain a copy of the File history (US documents only) click the File icon in the appropriate column of the report. This opens up a pop-up window to order the file history through Tempus IP. Please note, ordering files in this manner will be subject to a fee
    • To download this report table, you can provide an optional custom file name and then click on the Export to Excel button, a new tab will open (so you can close the results table page if you want) and once PatDocs has finished generating the Excel file it will automatically download and close the tab. If you want to share the Excel file with non-PatDocs users, the links within the file will still work
  • Legal Status viewer

    • (The legal status viewer can be accessed once you click through to see the full text of a document from the legal Results. Just select the Family tab.)

    • Switch between timeline and table view, view the reassignment history and check if there is any ongoing litigation. You can publish an online link to share with colleagues (even non-users) by clicking the link button at the top right of the screen. For more information about the legal status viewer, please refer to the help guide available under Document Links

Frequently Asked Questions

How can I share legal status information with non-PatDocs users?

To share a legal report, simply go to the bottom of the Custom Report screen, provide an optional name and click Export to Excel. The links included in the Excel file work even for non-PatDocs users.



To share information from the legal status viewer, there are several options: You can print or export as an Excel, PDF or Word file. Alternatively, you can share an offline link – this allows even non-PatDocs users to open the legal status viewer window.


In this example we will be sharing the legal status timeline for a family, however, the process will work the same with the Table, Reassignment and Priority Map as well.


Open the legal status view for the family of interest and navigate to the screen you wish to share.


Next, click the additional options symbol as shown in the screenshot below to access a dropdown list of the various formats in which you can share/export the date in the current view.



The file formats available will change depending on the data being viewed: for example the excel file format is available as an option when viewing the legal status table information but not when viewing the timeline.


There is also an option from each section to generate a link which you can send directly to a colleague, or an email option which will open a new email message and automatically populate it with a link and a short message, as shown below.
Where is the legal status data derived from?

We pool information directly from top patent offices, including JPO, DPMA, INPI, INPADOC and USPTO, combined with information from the global PatBase data feeds.