Abstract: This package is a set of utilities for exploring the hierarchical patent classification system of the U.S. Patent & Trademark Office (USPTO). These utilities include:

• A Microsoft Access database of this classification system (the enclosed database is current as of the date of this package.)
• USPTO Class Explorer (Windows): A Windows application for exploring the classification system by relying on the database.
• USPTO Class Explorer (Web): An ASP.NET web application for allowing users to explore the classification system via a web interface.
• USPTO Classifier Builder: A Windows application for building and updating a local database by scavenging information from the U.S. Patent & Trademark Office website. This application is meant to be run interactively, and to provide helpful feedback in the process.
• USPTO Classifier Builder Service: A Windows system tray utility for automatically (and silently) building and updating the local database.
• USPTO Classifier Builder Service Configurator: A small application for altering the settings of the USPTO Classifier Builder Service.

This package also includes:

• A setup package for the Windows applications.
• A setup package for the ASP.NET web application.
• The class library (.dll) containing some components shared by several of the applications. (The DLL is automatically put in the correct place as needed by the other applications, so you don't have to do anything special with this object.)

Version: 1.0 - last updated Wednesday, January 04, 2006

Links: Online Version; Download (Contents: Executable (Windows), Web Application (ASP.NET), Source Code (C#), Database (.mdb), Class Library (.dll))

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