Patent Case Law Portal Adds Amazing Search Functions

April 2, 2007 on 11:55 am | In Caselaw, Lawsuits |

You’ve GOT to like what Matt Buchanan is doing over at FedCirc.us. That site is really coming together as one “heck” of a patent law portal. As fast as Matt is rolling out new functions, the site almost needs a change log.

The most recent change? A one stop shop search page for patent case law…everything you need to search Federal Circuit cases, FedCirc.us summaries, patent blogs, and other sources. Unreal.

Here’s what Matt said about it:

We’re pleased to announce an exciting new search feature — search.fedcirc.us — that gives you quick and easy access to patent caselaw and commentary.

Click the ‘Search’ button at left and you’ll be taken to the new search page. For direct access, we’ve linked the page to the following shiny, easy-to-remember URL: http://search.fedcirc.us. Trust us…you should bookmark it.

The new tool is simple…it’s powered by Google, so you already know how to use it.

Here’s how it works:

A simple, Google-powered search box is provided on the left side of the page. Search results are presented under the box once a search is performed (it’s pre-loaded with a search…keep an eye on those as we’ll change them from time to time just for kicks). You know the Google drill….enter your search string and click the button.

A series of tabs appears below the search box. Clicking on these tabs will focus your search results as follows:

“FedCirc.us Case Reviews” - this tab gives you fedcirc.us case reviews that match your search criteria. Use this to quickly find our analysis of a given case our to quickly find our commentary on a particular topic.

“Court opinions” - this tab is truly amazing…and powerful. It presents the results of your search performed on .pdf’s of court opinions. Yep…it searches inside the opinions. Think about that for just a second…and consider the power of this tab….the results presented are direct links to slip opinions that match your criteria. We’ve had a lot of fun testing this out…it gives interesting results when searching case names, keywords, and citations. Go ahead…get creative and give it a whirl. You can use all standard Google search terminology (quotes, parens, booleans, etc). If you draw a blank and need a little help coming up with an example, try some of the searches highlighted above the search box. Ah…simplicity paired with power…it is beautiful, don’t ya think?

“Leading commentary” - We’re really excited about this. We’ve called on our patent blogging friends and have enrolled their wonderful sites into a Google-powered custom search engine. Clicking on this tab gives you results from only these sites, providing a quick and easy tool for finding the leading patent commentary on the web. We think the patent community is blessed to have so many insightful and critical bloggers on the job, and we’re proud to provide this gateway tool that, we hope, will present their content to a wider audience. Please…please…click those links and show your love for these guys. They truly are doing amazing work and deserve your attention.

“News” - this tab presents the results of an unrestricted Google news search of your search terms. We have found this helpful for finding news stories about particular cases…and the parties involved in those cases.

“Web” - this tab gives the results of an unrestricted Google web search. Because you never, ever know….

The page has a few other useful features outside of the search functionality. A “blog bar” appears on the far right. This gives you a live search for patent-related content across all blogs on the web, always presenting the most recent blog entries. Glancing over to the right will always give you a snapshot of patent topics being discussed on the web. Chances are, you’ll be amazed at the broader discussion, and will probably find yourself sneaking a peek every time you visit the page. Go ahead and make the jump…you’ll definitely have fun, and might even read something useful. It’s not limited to the leading commentators behind the search engine….it’s a search of all blogs on the web. Don’t say we didn’t warn ya.

Above the blog bar is a listing of the leading commentators. If you want to learn a little bit more about these guys, click these links to go directly to their main site or bio….

We hope you find this exciting new feature useful. We’re happy to continue providing innovative solutions to your patent informational needs. As always, please contact us with any comments, questions, or suggestions…

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