The document discusses reclassifying PRS codes from EPO legal status data. It begins work to normalize PRS codes by assigning them categories and subcategories to better track the type and vector of legal status events. Additional analysis is done to validate the taxonomy, including extracting the last PRS code for supposedly expired patents from 2007 data. The results show categories like "EXPIRED", "WITHDRAWN", and "LAPSED" as expected, indicating the taxonomy is consistent with expectations. However, some event histories show missing or delayed information, highlighting limits in the available data.

1. 1
PRS inpadoc legal data
reclassification: db
structure and some
insights
Gianluca Tarasconi

2. 2
Reclassifying PRS codes – starting
from:
http://www.epo.org/searching/data/data/tables/regular.html EPO
table (very well hidden) giving a list of categories for part of the codes
Licensing and change of ownership in international patent legal status
data Catalina Martínez (CSIC – Institute of Public Goods and Policies
(IPP))
Michele Pezzoni – Inpadoc legal data (presentation @ OST)
WIPO CDIP/8/INF/2 SEPTEMBER 1, 2011
Committee on Development and Intellectual Property (CDIP)
Feasibility study on the establishment of national patent register
databases and linkage to patentscope

3. 3
LIMITS:
EPO root taxonomy Given categories
CATEGORY DESCRIPTION
are not clear (ie
CLC
COR
Change of Classification
Corrections / Amendments/ Modifications in Specification
difference among
COW
CRE
Change of Owner / Applicant
Change of Representative
errata and
DIV
ERR
Divisional and Additional Applications / Partition
Errata
correction?)
EXP Expiries
EXT Time Extensions (e.g. Payments, Completion of Specs., etc,)
LAP Lapses (non payment of fees) Given categories
LIC Licencing / Exploitation
MIS Miscellaneous or Ambiguous are not mutually
NUL Nullification of Parts of Original Rights / Limitation
ONF EA, EP, AP, OA entering nat. phase (Translations) exclusive (ie
OPP Opposition Proc. / Re-examination / Appeals to the Court
PAY Fee Payments or In Force Announcement corrections due
PNF PCT entering (non-entering) nat. phase
PUB Notice of Publications to oppositions)
REI Reinstatement / Restoration
REQ Request for Examination / Search Report / Examination Proc.
REX
WIT
Term Extension of Rights (e.g. SPCs)
Withdrawals. Refusals, etc. Vector not clear
21 PRS classes (ie LIC+ vs LIC-)

4. 4
Reclassifying PRS codes – additional
work
• Existing XLS file from EPO ment to seek PRS
one by one; data have been transposed
into a table.
• PRS with similar description had been assigned
same cathegories (normalisation).
• Top PRS by application count assigned, if
missing, by hand, doublechecked and, in case of
EPO doubtful assignation, reassigned.
• Subcategories added in order to better track
type of PRS and vector.

5. 5
Subcategories added
CATEGORY SUBCATEGORY SUBDESCR
LAP LAP-
MIS GRANT PATENT GRANTED
LIC WLIC+ WILLINGNESS TO LICENCE
LIC WLIC- WILLINGNESS TO LICENCE
LIC LIC+ LICENCE
LIC LIC- WITHDRAWAL OF LICENCE OFFER
LIC WLIC WILLINGNESS TO LICENCE
COW COW+ CHANGE OF OWNERSHIP
COW COW- CHANGE OF OWNERSHIP
COW ULICOW+ UNDEFINED
COW ULICOW UNDEFINED
COW ULICOW- UNDEFINED
COW ADNMCG ADDRESS NAME CHANGE
COR AMENDMENT AMENDMENT
COR CORRECTION CORRECTION
OPP OPPOSITION OPPOSITION RAISED
OPP OPPOSITION- OPPOSITION WITHDRAWN / REJECTED
OPP OPPOSITION+ OPPOSITION SUCCESSFUL
WIT WITHDRAWAL WITHDRAWAL
NUL OPPOSITION+ REVOCATION FOLLOWING OPPOSITION
COR OPPOSITION+ CORRECTION FOLLOWING OPPOSITION
WIT OPPOSITION+ WITHDRAWAL DUE TO OPPOSITION
CHANGE OF OWNERSHIP WITHOUT NEW
COW COW OWNER DATA
PAY FEE RENEWAL FEE PAYMENT

6. 6
Table structure (library valbrev)
PATLEGAL
List of legal status events from inpadoc DB
Corresp.
PRSCODES
field name type Description
TAG
PUBLN_AUTH $(2) Publication authority
Appln_id 9 Application number
Prs_event_seq_nr Int(5) Progr event number ny punr publn_ctry publn authority
Prs_gazzette_date Date Date of occurrence
Prs_code $(4) Type of legal event prscode1 PRS code
PRSREFCY $2 Corresponding country code for PRS code •EP REG•• L501EP
PRSEPCOD $4 Corresponding EP code 1 for PRS code •EP REG•• L502EP
flag1
PATCORR $20 Corresponding patent document L503EP corr_ctry L501EP
PATCORRCY $2 Country code of corresponding patent document L504EP
PATCORRPD DATE8 Publication date of corresponding patent L505EP corr_ep_prs L502EP
PATCORRKD $2 Kind of corresponding patent document L506EP
DCSTLIST $300 List of designated states L507EP description long prs code description
EXTCY $2 Extension state L508EP
New owner name or address if name or address of owner changes;
PRSCATEGORY Category
NEWOWNER $255 L509EP
addresses are NOT stored in this tag
subcategory subcategory
NOTES 700 Free format text L510EP
SPCNUMBER $20 SPC number L511EP datefrom validity date from
FILINGDT DATE8 Filing date L512EP
EXPIRYDT DATE8 Expiry date L513EP dateto validity date to
INVNAMES $255 Inventor name (separated by ;) L515EP
IPCS $50 International Patent Classification (comma separated) L516EP
REPRNM $255 Representative's name(s) L517EP
PAYDATE DATE8 Payment date L518EP
OPPNAME $50 Opponent name(s) L519EP PRSSUBCAT
FEEPAYYR 10
Year of fee payment - contains the xxth year for which the
L520EP PRScategory PRSCAT
payment was made
NEWIPRNR $30
New kind of IPR, new number; e.g. Brazil utility model - code
L521EP Subcategory PRScategory
GA;"MI4601602-3"
REQNAME $50 Name of requester L522EP description description
EXTDATE DATE8 Extension date L523EP
List of countries concerned with an event L507EP & L508EP have
CTRYLIST2 $100 L524EP
special significance.
EFFECTDT DATE8 Effective date; DATE_IN_FORCE L525EP
WITHDRDT DATE8 Date of withdrawal (EP 18W) L526EP
Indicator for format of attribute list document number following
rules for either (F)iling applications or (P)ublications. If not
FPFLAG2 $1 L527EP
known, this tag will not be present; refers to the document given
in L503EP and L504EP

7. 7
Existing information
• Documentation is meager
• Some info can be derived (ie filed L526EP date
of withdrawal but filled only for 65000 records;
L518EP payment date allowed to validate 49 fee
payment events)

8. 8
Results obtained
• Main category: missing on 1.3M PRS out of
69.4M ( <2%)
• EPO missing 300K out of 31.4M (< 1%)
• 11M PRS have a subcategory assigned (18%)
• 6.6 M EPO PRS have a subcategory assigned
(22%)
• Information from type REG added (ie rescuing
25% more on ownership changes)

9. 9
Example: COW PRS codes added
EP0267778
http://worldwide.espacenet.com/publicationDetails/inpadoc?CC=EP&NR=0267778A2&KC=
A2&FT=D&ND=3&date=19880518&DB=worldwide.espacenet.com&locale=en_EP
PRS Date : 2007/12/31
PRS Code : REG BE CCCH
CHANGE OF
Code Expl.:
HOLDER OF SPC
NEW OWNER : KUREHA CORP, JP
SPC NUMBER : 97C0083
FILING DATE : 19970806
EPO COW increase from 419.325 to 639.997 including new
reclassification (compared to using RAP1,2 only)
NOTE: not all new COW contain data on new assignee

10. 10
Validation of taxonomy: last PRS
• First data validation exercise is to extract last
PRS for patents who are supposed to be expired
(3 yrs of inactivity)
• Patents EP where last PRS is dated 2007 (PRS
table is dated 2011) are extracted and
reclassified;
• Expectation is that only ‘terminal’ categories will
appear in the list (LAP, WIT, EXP)

11. 11
Validation of taxonomy: last PRS (II)
Exam on 2011 PRS data counting last valid PRS code from 2007
publn_ctry prscode1 corr_ctry corr_ep_prs description CATEGORY subcategory # patents
EP 18D DEEMED TO BE WITHDRAWN WIT 359603
LAPSED IN A CONTRACTING STATE ANNOUNCED VIA POSTGRANT
EP PG25 IT INFORM. FROM NAT. OFFICE TO EPO LAP 251448
EP REG FR ST NOTIFICATION OF LAPSE LAP 221004
EP 18W WITHDRAWN WIT 93925
LAPSED IN A CONTRACTING STATE ANNOUNCED VIA POSTGRANT
EP PG25 DE INFORM. FROM NAT. OFFICE TO EPO LAP 81716
EP EUG SE: EUROPEAN PATENT HAS LAPSED LAP 75835
EP 18R REFUSED WIT 41745
GB: EUROPEAN PATENT CEASED THROUGH NON-PAYMENT OF
EP GBPC RENEWAL FEE LAP 32222
EP REG ES FD2A EP-PATENT LAPSED IN SPAIN LAP 21909
EP REG GB PE20 PATENT EXPIRED AFTER TERMINATION OF 20 YEARS EXP 16373
NL: LAPSED BECAUSE OF REACHING THE MAXIM LIFETIME OF A
EP NLV7 PATENT EXP 13382
EP 17Q FIRST EXAMINATION REPORT REQ 12648
LAPSED IN A CONTRACTING STATE ANNOUNCED VIA POSTGRANT
EP PG25 GB INFORM. FROM NAT. OFFICE TO EPO LAP 12471
TOTAL 1339735 92% 1234281
Cathegories (EXP, WIT, LAP) look consistent with expectations. Are data as
well consistent?

12. 12
Type 17Q: EP14288855 – event history
Event 17.09.2002 APPLICATION DATE 0 https://register.epo.org/espacenet/applicatio
history 04.04.2003 PCT data prior to European publication 1
n?number=EP02799471&lng=en&tab=event
05.04.2003 PCT data prior to European publication 1
21.02.2004 PCT data prior to European publication 2
24.03.2004 PCT data prior to European publication 2
31.03.2004 PCT data prior to European publication 2
31.03.2004 Deletion: Fee payment for extension state 2
31.03.2004 Deletion: Withdrawal of extension state 2
22.04.2004 PCT data prior to European publication 2
30.04.2004 Publication in section I.1 EP Bulletin 2
30.04.2004 Request for examination filed 2
01.10.2004
17.12.2004
New entry: Renewal fee paid
Change - applicant
2
2
Events listed in
29.07.2005
29.07.2005
Supplementary search report
Change - classification
3
3
register but
01.10.2005
05.10.2006
New entry: Renewal fee paid
New entry: Renewal fee paid
3
4
missing from PRS
11.07.2007 New entry: Despatch of examination report + time limit 5
17Q 13.07.2007 First examination report 5
28.09.2007 New entry: Renewal fee paid 5
10.11.2007 New entry: Reply to examination report 5
29.08.2008 Change - representative 6
19.09.2008 New entry: Renewal fee paid 6
17.09.2009
28.09.2010
New entry: Renewal fee paid
New entry: Renewal fee paid
7
8 Data not
17.02.2011
01.07.2011
New entry: Despatch of examination report + time limit
Change: Despatch of examination report + time limit
9
9 available in 2011
03.08.2011 New entry: Application deemed to be withdrawn: despatch of communication + time limit 9
ediction
01.11.2011 New entry: Additional fee for renewal fee: despatch of communication + time limit 9
25.11.2011 Application deemed to be withdrawn 9

13. 13
Type PG25: EP0230021 – event history
0 https://register.epo.org/espacenet/applicatio
Event 19.12.1986 APPLICATION DATE
n?number=EP86117736&lng=en&tab=event
history 13.06.1987 Publication in section I.1 EP Bulletin 1
15.11.1988 Request for examination filed 2
18.10.1989 Change - representative 3 21 years of life: we
12.12.1989 First examination report 3
17.05.1991 (Expected) grant 4
expect a very high
PGFP DE 17/12/1991
+ POSTGRANT: ANNUAL FEES PAID TO
4
value patent
NATIONAL OFFICE
09.01.1992 Lapse of the patent in a contracting state 5
15.01.1992 Lapse of the patent in a contracting state 5 Real life: 6 years…
26.02.1992 Lapse of the patent in a contracting state 5 Only one postgrant
29.04.1992 Lapse of the patent in a contracting state 5 renewal. Probably delay in
07.05.1992 No opposition filed within time limit 5
16.06.1992 Lapse of the patent in a contracting state 5
comunication with national
18.08.1992 Lapse of the patent in a contracting state 5 office (IT)
08.07.1993 Lapse of the patent in a contracting state 6 EFFECTIVE DATE :
PG25 23.11.2007 Lapse of the patent in a contracting state 21 19910703
(note: a special event for
Italy exists
EP ITTA IT: LAST PAID
ANNUAL FEE)

14. 14
Calculating patent life
Hypothesis evaluated (granny theory)
• 1 – a patent is alive when keeps on giving signs
of life (renewals)
• 2 – a patent is alive until its death (last event =
withdrawal / lapse  age = year of last event)

15. 15
Signs of life? (I)
years count cumulate perc
0 226440 10% About 46% of patents are sleeping for 3
1 543710 34%
2 444338 54% or more years: death or hybernation?
3 333857 68%
4 218510 78%
5 142531 84%
6 105895 89%
7 72767 92% 600000
8 47673 94%
9 18871 95%
500000
10 16535 96%
11 9351 96%
12 6700 96% 400000
13 5944 97%
14 4848 97%
15 5802 97%
300000 count
16 6529 97% years
17 7897 98% 200000
18 8521 98%
19 8358 98%
20 7790 99% 100000
21 7142 99%
22 5707 99% 0
23 5032 100%
1 3 5 7 9 11 13 15 17 19 21 23 25 27 29
24 4116 100%
25 2761 100%
26 1588 100%
27 612 100% We can do further check only aftergrant to avoid
examination lag time…
28 102 100%

16. 16
Signs of life? (II)
years count cumulate %
0 40838 3,9% Considering only granted patents and PRS
1
2
278306
146175
30,8%
44,9%
events after grant date, things go even
3 118409 56,3% worse. About 55% of patents are sleeping for 3
4 112118 67,1%
5 91703 75,9% or more years
6 82536 83,9%
7 63672 90,0%
8 44205 94,3% 300000
9 17410 96,0%
10 15900 97,5%
250000
11 8930 98,4%
12 6263 99,0%
13 5132 99,5% 200000
14 2848 99,7%
15 1547 99,9% 150000 years
16 564 99,9%
count
17 306 100,0%
100000
18 94 100,0%
19 87 100,0%
20 25 100,0% 50000
21 8 100,0%
22 14 100,0% 0
23 11 100,0% 1 3 5 7 9 11 13 15 17 19 21 23 25
24 3 100,0%
25 1 100,0%

17. 17
Life before death(I)
Example EP0230021
Has shown out Event 19.12.1986 APPLICATION DATE 0
that last lapsehistory 13.06.1987
15.11.1988
Publication in section I.1 EP Bulletin
Request for examination filed
1
2
18.10.1989 Change - representative 3
event date 12.12.1989
17.05.1991
First examination report
(Expected) grant
3
4
cannot PGFP DE 17/12/1991
+ POSTGRANT: ANNUAL FEES PAID TO
NATIONAL OFFICE
4
09.01.1992 Lapse of the patent in a contracting state 5
be used to 15.01.1992
26.02.1992
Lapse of the patent in a contracting state
Lapse of the patent in a contracting state
5
5
calculate 29.04.1992
07.05.1992
Lapse of the patent in a contracting state
No opposition filed within time limit
5
5
16.06.1992 Lapse of the patent in a contracting state 5
patent life. 18.08.1992 Lapse of the patent in a contracting state 5
08.07.1993 Lapse of the patent in a contracting state 6
PG25 23.11.2007 Lapse of the patent in a contracting state 21

18. 18
Life before death (II)
May we consider a patent dead if last event is a withdrawal?
Examples of WITHDRAWN PRS codes (18D,R,W)
• 74.119 patents with a 18D not last PRS
• 11.984 patents with a 18R not last PRS
• 25.876 patents with a 18W not last PRS
A few examples where 18W, D , R are not last event
EP1963898 18W 18/03/2009 WITHDRAWN 06/05/2009 R17D SEARCH REPORT (CORRECTION)
EP1468681 18W 21/01/2009 WITHDRAWN 18/02/2009 RAP1 TRANSFER OF RIGHTS OF AN EP APPLICATION
EP0050367 18R 24/01/1990 REFUSED 08/08/2007 RIN1 INVENTOR (CORRECTION)
REG DE
EP1947019 18D 19/08/2009 DEEMED TO BE WITHDRAWN 01/10/2009 8566 DESIGNATED COUNTRY DE NOT LONGER VALID
EP1505565 18R 17/09/2008 REFUSED 25/02/2009 R18R REFUSED (CORRECTION)
Data collection continues after withdrawal

19. 19
Life before death (III)
What are last events when 18W, D , R are not
CODE L501P L502P COUNT DESCR
RIN1 72755 INVENTOR (CORRECTION)
REG DE 8566 15895 DESIGNATED COUNTRY DE NOT LONGER VALID
APPLICATIONS WITHDRAWN, DEEMED TO BE WITHDRAWN, OR
REG HK WD 7784 REFUSED AFTER PUBLICATION IN HONG KONG
R18W 5606 WITHDRAWAL (CORRECTION)
RBV 1884 DESIGNATED CONTRACTING STATES (CORRECTION):
R18D 1606 EP-APPLICATION DEEMED TO BE WITHDRAWN: (CORRECTION)
Let’s see in next slide data from bulletin for a case
where a 18W if followed by a R18W (a double refusal)

20. 20
Life before death (IV)
• Case of double refusal
• http://application.epo.org/bull
etin/archive/bulletin0909.pdf

21. 21
What’s life?
• 1 – a patent is alive when keeps on giving signs
of life (renewals) NO
• 2 – a patent is alive until its death (last event =
withdrawal / lapse  age = year of last event) NO

22. 22
New definition of patent’s life
A patent is alive until it dies.
Death causes are Withdrawal and Lapses for all extension
countries (age = event date – application date)
Otherwise it’s age is the minimum between 20 and the difference
among TLS221 year of production and application date.
WIT AGE =y(WIT)-y(appln_date)
N LAP = N DCST age= max( y(LAP)) - y(appln_date)
age= min( 20, y(TLS221 ediction) -
ELSE y(appln_date) )

23. 23
Two more examples that would fail
granny theorem
PRS
PRS_EVENT_ GAZETTE
PUBLN_NR SEQ_NR DATE PRS_CODE des ctr states L520EP
268838 0 20/10/1987 APPLICATION Lapses on all
268838 1 01/06/1988 AK ATDEFRGBNLSE but 1: fee
268838 6 21/04/1993 PG25 (LAPSED) NL
268838 7 21/04/1993 PG25 SE payment
268838 13 22/10/1993 PG25 GB registered
268838 14 22/10/1993 PG25 AT
268838 17 30/06/1994 PG25 FR
only at yr 20
268838 19 02/01/2007 PGFP (POSTGRANT: ANNUAL FEES PAY) DE 20
PRS_EVENT_
PUBLN_NR SEQ_NR PRS_GAZETTE_DATE PRS_CODE L501EP L502EP des ctr states L520EP
870653 1 14/10/1998 AK DEGB Renewal after
Revocation do not
870653 8 28/08/2002 REG GB FG4D GRANT
870653 11 23/07/2003 26 OPPOSITION FILED
870653 12 11/08/2004 R26 implies to be alive
870653 13 05/04/2006 PGFP GB 9
870653 14 06/04/2006 PGFP DE 9
870653 15 30/05/2007 GBPR
870653 16 30/05/2007 27W REVOKED
870653 17 24/11/2007 PGFP GB 10