More on the iFdIP mystery; Dominican Republic joins the PCT

Earlier this week a puzzled IPKat wrote about a mystery website offering delivery of patent documents from Esp@cenet. Dutch patent practitioner Bas-Jan 't Jong, the originator of this website, iFdIP, has now written to clarify the position:

"Besides my passion for patents, I always have had a passion for programming. Five years ago I developed an application to get patents from http://ep.espacenet.com/. At that time, internet connections were slow, and you needed to print out each page separately.

Esp@cenet recently introduced a programming interface which made it possible to access data at a more reliable way than my first program, and it triggered again my passion for programming. That is how the iFdIP site was born. I know that you can get the same full documents from Esp@cenet, but I think that the iFdIP site has some small benefit when starting from a publication number, which a patent attorney regularly does. Also, it is no longer necessary to enter the unique code, which is necessary on Esp@cenet.

The possibility of getting full documents is just the start for the iFdIP site. I am currently working on a single search interface from which you can get data of all available patent registers. The data is not based on INPADOC (which is not always accurate or complete), but on the true data provided by the national patent offices. Also, I have some thoughts on providing a graphical overview of patent families. But, as I only can work on the iFdIP site at night and during the weekends, progress is somewhat slow".

The IPKat is grateful to Bas-Jan for his clarification. If anyone wants more information - or can offer Bas-Jan some help - they should email him here.


The IPKat has learned with pleasure and excitement that the Government of the Dominican Republic is acceding to the Patent Cooperation Treaty (as amended and modified). The PCT enters into force there on 28 May 2007.

Left: K-Bear visits the Dominican Republic. Can you spot him?

Current members of the Patent Cooperation Treaty here
PCT texts and resources here
Roberto the Dominican inventor here