Request for Information for ProducingIndex of Patents of the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, and Authority File, 1790-1976. The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) is issuing this Request for Information for the purpose of conducting market research. The USPTO has a requirement for an electronic fielded, searchable index, or indexes, which will capture the bibliographic data for U.S. patent grants from 1790 through 1976. This requirement should utilize best practices for use as a web based search file, as a standalone optical disc product, and /or as a printed publication or publications. In fulfilling this requirement, it is expected that an economic model can be developed to eliminate any cost to the USPTO or to the Government. Some of the source data for this requirement is available in printed volumes, which are in fragile condition, with crumbling paper, which will eventually result in the loss of data. This requirement would be a meld of information in the following and other sources: I. The annual printed indexes and selected lists form the most recently titled, Index of Patents, Part I, List of Patentees, Issued from the United States Patent and Trademark Office, and Part II, Index to Subjects of Inventions, years from 1872 through 1976, variable paging, including entries for about 4,155,000 patent documents. II. Early U.S. Patent Data in the United States Serial Set, Dave Morrison, Documents and Microforms Division, Marriott Library, University of Utah, Salt Lake City, UT 84112;
[email protected] III. Index of Patents Issued from the United States Patent Office from 1790 to 1873, Inclusive, volumes I, II, and III, Government Printing Office, Washington, DC, 1874, 1951 pages, including entries listing the invention, name of inventor, residence of inventor, date, and number for about 132,000 patent documents. IV. A list of Patents Granted by the United States from April 10, 1790, to December 31, 1836, with an Appendix, Containing Reports on the Condition of the Patent Office in 1823, 1830, and 1831, Government Printing Office, Washington, DC, 1872, 805 pages, including entries listing the invention, name of inventor, residence of inventor, and date for about 10,000 patent documents. V. Name and Date Patents, July 31, 1790 – July 2, 1836, Patent Office Historical Collection, Reproduced by Patent and Trademark Depository Library Program, U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, August 19, 1999, 198 pages, including entries for about 10,000 patent documents. VI. Name/ Date Patent Index, typed ledger of X-numbered patents with hand written notations, about 305 pages, including entries for about 9,902 patent documents. VII. Early Unnumbered United States Patents 1790 – 1836; Index and Guide to the Microfilm Edition, Research Publications, Inc., Woodbridge, CT, 1980, 693 pages, including entries for about 9,957 patent documents. It is anticipated that the part of this requirement resulting from source number I above would be fairly straightforward. For sources numbered II through VI above, the requirement would include all variations of spelling, names, places, and dates; and respectively refer to the patent document number within the identified source. Source number VII above was a commercially available, copyrighted product, which is available in the USPTO and in Patent and Trademark Depository Libraries. The name and date patents are indexed alphabetically by class, subject, patentee name, and chronologically. Each entry refers to a reel number of an accompanying microfilm image of the name and date patent document. It should be understood and stated in any response to this Request For Information that any resulting IT product shall contain the following features and rights in data provisions: A. All deliverables, where applicable, shall be in compliance with Section 508 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1998; B. The USPTO shall have unlimited rights in data as defined in FAR §52.227-14; C. In addition, the USPTO will require a fully paid-up, royalty-free license to use the electronic file(s) produced; D. The USPTO shall have the right to disseminate the file(s) to USPTO international exchange partners without limitations on the use of the data; E. The USPTO shall retain the right to use the file(s) in any derivative products produced by the USPTO or its contractors; [For example, this data may serve as the first step in creating an electronic text version of U.S. patent documents from 1790 through 1967.]; F. The USPTO shall retain the right to make any Internet based search tool freely available to the public through its Web homepage; G. The USPTO shall retain the right to freely distribute any optical disc product(s) or printed document product(s); and, H. An acceptable quality assurance plan and schedule shall be developed and maintained with regularly scheduled reports on meeting goals. It is desirable that: 1. A browse feature be utilized to find variant spellings of names, place names, and words; and to the extent possible, an authority file, or files, be developed and utilized; [These discrepancies (typos) and variant patent document numbers have been caused, in part, by the restoration of patent grant documents necessitated by a disastrous fire in the U.S. Patent Office on December 15, 1836.] 2. Variant numbering for the same document listed in different sources be accommodated; and to the extent possible, an authority file be developed and utilized; [For tracking and data processing purposes, over the years, the name and date patents have been assigned “X” numbers. There may be discrepancies in the X-numbers assigned to name and date patents listed in various sources.] 3. An errata, discrepancy, exception report, or reports, be developed and maintained; and when possible and approved, corrections should be made; 4. Any electronic product should facilitate electronic document retrieval, viewing, and printing; 5. Source number VII above be included in this requirement, having resolved any and all copyright issues; and that, 6. This requirement be developed at no cost to the USPTO or the Government. It is suggested that any offeror: a. Provide information on the marketability of products; and, b. Provide cost models to achieve the requirement at no cost to the Government. Note that the Government does not intend to award a contract on the basis of this RFI or to otherwise pay for the information solicited.