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ClaimMaster Pro Changelog

What's new in ClaimMaster Pro 2021.0.0.0

Feb 1, 2021
  • New! Proofreading figures for formatting informalities
  • New! Improved figure and antecedent basis HTML reports
  • New! Auto-suggest for part names
  • Improved part number error detection with reduced false positives
  • New! Integration with Patent Center for quick file wrapper downloading
  • New! Custom download file names
  • New! Customizable download filters for PAIR/Patent Center downloads
  • New! Auto-detection of fields for Office Action shell conversion
  • New! Snippets of OA citations (in image format) into OA shells
  • New! Insertion of direct prior links into annotated Office Actions
  • New! Detection of inherency and Official Notice arguments in Office Actions
  • New! Patent Reader for easy review of patents, publications, and applications
  • New! Improved HTML family trees with bibliographic data tables
  • New! Improved identification of various document sections
  • New! Optional software usage monitoring/statistics
  • Improved antecedent basis error detection with reduced false positives
  • Fixes to IDS SB08 form generation
  • Updates to the latest claim fees and USPTO forms
  • Other minor fixes and improvements

New in ClaimMaster Pro 2019.5.0 (Oct 22, 2019)

  • New! Improvements to speed, stability, and patent proofreading reports
  • New! Significant improvements to shells, forms, and PAIR tools
  • New! Pan & zoom for patent family trees
  • New! Extract and compare IDS information between SB08 forms (XFA format)
  • Fixed PDF downloading for foreign patent numbers with kind code
  • Fixed antecedent basis detection issues on French/Germans versions of Office
  • Improved antecedent basis preferences and fewer ambiguous false positives
  • Improved Summary section generation from claims
  • Improved Private PAIR automation widget
  • Streamlined menus and preferences
  • Updates to the USPTO forms
  • Fixes to Office 365 licensing/activation issues
  • Other minor fixes and improvements

New in ClaimMaster Pro 2019.1.0 (May 18, 2019)

  • Significant speed and stability improvements for the 64-bit Office version
  • Revised automation to handle internal changes in Private PAIR
  • Improvements to the part-of-speech (POS) tagger
  • Improvements to the IDS generation
  • Other fixes and improvements

New in ClaimMaster Pro 2019.0.0 (Jan 8, 2019)

  • New! Stand-alone HTML reports built with modern web interfaces
  • Intuitive, user-friendly, and easier to review
  • Dynamic highlighting and suggestion features
  • Smart searching
  • Up to 50% faster report generation
  • New! All PAIR automation features updated to deal with the USPTO changes to the portal
  • Persistent Private PAIR widget that keeps the authenticated session open
  • Revised automation for Public PAIR
  • Improvements to antecedent basis checking
  • Embed inline comments in claims that do not affect AB checking
  • Option to keep original document styles when generating clean claims
  • Other fixes and improvements

New in ClaimMaster Pro 2018.9 (Sep 24, 2018)

  • New! Generate figures from method claims in Visio/PPT formats
  • New! All-improved specification support search feature for claim terms/words
  • New! Auto-complete/suggestions of part numbers and acronyms using boilerplate tools
  • New! Check bibliographic data in your documents against USPTO data
  • New! Generate shell emails for client reporting
  • New! Shell generation wizard to simplify creation of shells
  • New! Identify potentially mistyped (but still correctly spelled) terms not consistent with the usage in the document
  • New! Automatic login to Private PAIR and EFS-Web pages using stored credentials
  • Many improvements to Office Action analysis and shell generation tools, including new replacement fields
  • Improved highlighting/reporting interfaces for all proofreading features
  • Improvements to IDS generation
  • All downloading features now correctly handle of 10M+ patent numbers
  • Improvements to foreign patent downloading, including biblio data and PDFs
  • Save patent family tree data in Excel format
  • Improved tools for repairing/fixing ClaimMaster installations
  • Improved handling of citations with foreign characters in IDS forms
  • Improvements to antecedent checking to reduce false positives
  • Installer detects the original end-user prior to elevation
  • Fixes to many reported bugs and other small improvements

New in ClaimMaster Pro 2018.2 (Apr 10, 2018)

  • Improved claim renumbering operations, especially handling of multiple-dependent claims
  • Major speed improvements for part number and antecedent checking, including handling of large documents
  • Fixed downloading of design patents from the USPTO
  • Improved display of licensing/installation information
  • Simplified installation process for administrative users installing for target users
  • Installer now allows users to choose whether to overwrite/backup certain settings
  • Automatic detection of ClaimMaster template/version mismatch to avoid stale template issues
  • Fixed issues related to Word’s “keep original formatting” copy & paste for claims with tracked changes
  • Fixes/improvements for Office Action summary generation and shell templates
  • Fixed some false antecedent issues
  • Improved identification of document sections
  • Fixed Private PAIR time-out issues for generating patent family trees
  • Fixed time-out issues when accessing EPO’s espacenet
  • Updated the latest USPTO excess claim fees
  • Highlighting of claim terms and part numbers in claim charts
  • Fixed page numbering issues for EFS Web document uploads
  • Other minor bug fixes improvements

New in ClaimMaster Pro 4.7 (Jun 19, 2017)

  • Fixed the simultaneous ClaimMaster review/document edit issue - you can now fix issues in your documents while reviewing them in ClaimMaster (e.g., missing antecedents, incorrect part numbers, etc.) and the location of the errors identified by ClaimMaster will remain correct even after the document is edited
  • Added local cache for bibliographic data used to fill-out USPTO forms, IDSs, and shell templates – greatly improves form generation speed. Import all bibliographic data directly from Private PAIR XML or docketing tools (CSV format). [ProPlus & LitePlus only].
  • Improved shell templates with many additional replacement fields for flexible template design [ProPlus & LitePlus only]
  • Customizable citations of prior art references in the Office Action summaries
  • Include various bibliographic information from PAIR (e.g., inventor name, examiner, title, art unit, etc.) into the family tree graphs
  • Fixed handling of grouped dependencies in multiple dependent claims
  • Resolved issues with IDS data downloading from the EPO’s OPS database caused by OPS server throttling
  • Fixed PDF downloading issues caused by changes to the EPO’s espacenet website
  • Removed duplicate dependent claims listing when using “Create Application Summary Section from Claims” feature
  • Antecedent checking improvements
  • Fixed layout issues in stand-alone reports
  • Fixed various localization issues on foreign versions of Windows
  • Other small bug fixes & improvements

New in ClaimMaster Pro 4.5 (Feb 1, 2017)

  • Fillable USPTO Forms and Word Shells [ProPlus & LitePlus only]:
  • Fill-out most of the official USPTO forms and Word shells with downloaded bibliographic data and custom replacement fields storing attorney/firm information
  • IDS Tool Improvements:
  • Prior to generating the IDS form for an application, use PAIR to identify any pending related applications that might need the same IDS submission
  • Generate IDS forms for a set of patent applications (with individually filled-out header information and certification pages)
  • Automatically fill-out signature fields on the confirmation page
  • Improved EPO Data Sources:
  • ClaimMaster now downloads various bibliographic data and patent documents for non-US patents/application using EPO’s Open Patent Services (OPS) interface, resulting in significantly faster, more reliable downloads and better PDF quality, including TOC bookmarks in patents
  • Enhanced Proofreading of Figures:
  • ClaimMaster’s new interface lets you simultaneously review part numbers in the figures AND the specification, ensuring maximum proofreading efficiency
  • Numerous PAIR Downloading Improvements:
  • When processing eOfficeActions, ClaimMaster will pull all documents from PAIR from the same date, even those not cited in the eOfficeAction
  • Simply drag & drop one or more e-Office action emails from Outlook into the text box to start the PAIR downloads
  • Downloading specific documents from PAIR, such as foreign references or non-patent literature (NPL).
  • Download issued patents or publications from USPTO using U.S. application numbers
  • Claim Comparison Improvements:
  • Improved comparison feature, which now shows both additions and deletions between claims in a format that is similar to track changes
  • OCR Improvements
  • SmartOCR option – when processing Office Actions, only OCR the Examiner’s rejections and cited references, skipping OCR of other sections for faster OCR experience
  • User Interface Enhancements:
  • Minimize various forms, such as IDS generator, PAIR, and patent downloaders to system toolbar to continue working on your computer without interruption.
  • Right-click on downloaded documents to send as attachments in Outlook or send to default printer
  • Other:
  • Compatibility with the latest Office 2016/365 updates
  • Immediate link to help for each feature
  • Lots of other bug fixes & small improvements to many features

New in ClaimMaster Pro 4.0 (Jul 6, 2016)

  • New: PAIR Data Downloading - seamlessly download PDF documents and bibliographic information from the USPTO’s Private and Public PAIR sites:
  • Batch download file histories for multiple patents/applications from PAIR
  • Cut & paste E-Office Action text into ClaimMaster to download the new USPTO correspondence from Private PAIR (use stored password/certificate location for automated log-in) [ProPlus & LitePlus only]
  • Apply document or date filters to only download documents of specific types or within specified date ranges (e.g., Office Action responses within the last 6 months)
  • Download various bibliographic information about patent applications (Examiner name, Art Unit, date filed, etc.) to populate headers in IDS forms (SB08 & 1449), shell Office Action responses, or export data to Excel.
  • Improved stability and speed – removed reliance on the default Internet Explorer for accessing the PAIR site
  • New: Shell Office Action Responses [ProPlus & LitePlus only] – instantaneously generate shell responses using predefined templates. ClaimMaster will auto-populate headers (e.g., Examiner name, Art Unit, App. No.) and other fields in the templates, including claims from previous responses with updated status indicators, summary of rejections from the Office Actions, etc.
  • New: Office Action Analysis Improvements:
  • Much more accurate rejection/objection parsing (reference names are verified from the USPTO/EPO databases)
  • Automatically download PDFs of the cited references from the USPTO/EPO
  • Generate summary of rejections and identify unaddressed claims
  • Generate shell Office Action responses based on built-in templates [ProPlus & LitePlus only]
  • New: OCR Integration [ProPlus & LitePlus only]:
  • OCR any PDF documents downloaded from the USPTO or stored on your computer. This feature is also integrated in the PAIR Data Downloading and OA Analysis tools.
  • New: Automatic Boilerplate Paragraphs:
  • store and quickly insert boilerplate, formatted paragraphs into your documents from easily customizable templates. Quickly share boilerplate templates with your colleagues. Works with Word 2007 or later versions.
  • New: IDS Improvements:
  • populate headers in SB08 and 1449 forms with bibliographic information obtained from either Public PAIR (all versions) or Private PAIR [ProPlus & LitePlus only]
  • export downloaded bibliographic data to Excel/CSV format
  • New: Patent family tree improvements – improved stability and the following features:
  • Private PAIR integration - more stable platform for evaluating large patent families, which does not require periodic authentication via CAPTCHA
  • Identify inconsistent dependencies and inventor names
  • Control arrow directions and insert color legends
  • Download PDFs of identified US patents in the family
  • Improved stability and speed – removed reliance on the default Internet Explorer for accessing the PAIR site
  • New: Patent Downloading:
  • Instantaneous access/review PDFs of the downloaded patents.
  • Improved document downloads from the EPO
  • Other Improvements:
  • Command line silent install with automatic activation/custom template directory placement
  • Improved handling of placeholder claims (e.g., 1x3) during renumbering
  • Improved import of part numbers from the PDF and PowerPoint documents
  • Optional removal of extra spaces when processing amendments
  • Missing spaces between words are fixed in the generated claim charts
  • Improved update availability checking
  • Fixed import of recent publication #s into IDS tool
  • Updated excess claim fees for EPO
  • Verified Office 2016 support
  • Many other small fixes and improvements

New in ClaimMaster Pro 3.4 (Oct 6, 2015)

  • Windows 10 compatibility
  • Greatly enhanced documentation
  • Significantly improved stability across all features
  • Identification of parts in the specification with missing part numbers
  • Large multiple-dependent claim sets no longer cause the software to hang
  • Updated SB08 form and excess claim fees
  • Improved handling of cancelled and withdrawn claim groups
  • Improvements to antecedent checking accuracy
  • Improved installation/activation for non-administrative users
  • Various other minor improvements and bug fixes

New in ClaimMaster Pro 3.3 (Oct 6, 2015)

  • All-new, improved summary reports with full citations, visual claim trees, error highlighting, figure proofreading, suggestions, and printing to PDF for Word 2010-13
  • No need to parse claims! Every feature can be invoked directly
  • Claim browsing enhancements , including dynamic claim trees that show overlaid claim text
  • Correct parsing of claims with limitations organized as multi-level bullet lists
  • Improved recognition of proper claim regions; last claim in the set no longer picks up text from the Remarks section
  • Improved accuracy of antecedent checking by default, strict checking is enforced so that any mismatches between terms
  • All stand-alone reports & UI windows now provide suggestions for fixing errors
  • Improvements to parts checking/editing
  • Fixed downloading of kind codes for foreign references
  • Fixed downloading of info/documents for EPO references and pre-2004 WO references.
  • Fixed downloading of inventor information for pre-1976 US patents
  • Consistent inventor naming for US applications
  • ClaimMaster installer warns if installation is attempted with the 64-bit Office (currently not supported)
  • Uninstall of the software prompts users to deactivate the automatically software license on the computer
  • New administrative tools for deploying templates to multiple users for server installations
  • Various other minor improvements and bug fixes

New in ClaimMaster Pro 3.2 (Apr 27, 2015)

  • Significantly improved parsing/reduced false positives for reference #s
  • Reduced false positives for antecedent checking
  • Updated a list of available status indicators to comply with MPEP 714.II.C
  • Shortcut buttons for amendment/status indicator operations
  • Fixed crash in antecedent checking/acronyms that happened in localized versions of Windows (German, French, etc.)
  • Fixed handling of multi-level looping dependencies
  • Fixed crashes due to hidden highlights removed with tracked changes
  • Fixed problems with Summary section generator
  • Fixed new version checking
  • Release includes a number of other minor bug fixes and improvements

New in ClaimMaster Pro 3.1 (Sep 22, 2014)

  • ClaimMaster supports Ribbon interface for Word 2007-2013
  • Improvement/fixes to IDS generation (kind codes, XDP file export, and more)
  • Improvements to antecedent checking
  • Fixed highlighting/track changes/hidden text issues
  • Various pther minor improvements and bug fixes

New in ClaimMaster Pro 3.0 (Sep 22, 2014)

  • Significant improvements to patent downloading and IDS generation
  • Generation of application Summary section from claims
  • Batch mode for patent family tree generator
  • Batch editing of part numbers
  • Various minor improvements and bug fixes

New in ClaimMaster Pro 2.9 (Aug 28, 2013)

  • Improved handling of "tracked changes" amendments
  • Conversion of "tracked changes" amendments to hard amendments
  • Improvements to IDS generation, claim parsing, patent downloading
  • Various bug fixes

New in ClaimMaster Pro 2.8 (Aug 28, 2013)

  • Major speed improvements
  • Improved license management and system utilities
  • Improvements to claim renumbering, reference parts checking, claim comparison, IDS generation, and GUI
  • Various bug fixes

New in ClaimMaster Pro 2.7 (Aug 28, 2013)

  • Auto-completion of element names/numbers as you are typing the application
  • Import/export of element names and numbers to & from Excel
  • Insertion of element numbers into claims (per EPO practice)
  • Ability to compare claims between different files and patents
  • Drag & drop claim renumbering
  • Enhancements to IDS generator
  • Various bug fixes

New in ClaimMaster Pro 2.5 (Aug 28, 2013)

  • Downloading of file wrappers, assignment, and maintenance data from the USPTO
  • Generation of patent family trees
  • Improved claim tree graphics
  • Text search with citations
  • Enhancements to IDS-related features
  • Many minor improvements & bug fixes

New in ClaimMaster Pro 2.15 (Aug 28, 2013)

  • Improvements to patent downloading features (including batch downloading of patent PDFs from PTO/EPO)
  • Enhancements to IDS-related features
  • Analysis of Office Actions and patent file histories
  • Improvements to rule editing and report-reviewing features
  • Many minor improvements & bug fixes

New in ClaimMaster Pro 2.0 (Aug 28, 2013)

  • Improvements to reporting (commented reports, batch reporting)
  • IDS generation improvements (SB08 forms)
  • Acronym checking
  • User-customizable antecedent checking rules
  • Auto-docking reporting windows
  • Bug fixes, etc.

New in ClaimMaster Pro 1.7 (Aug 28, 2013)

  • Improvements to claim parsing accuracy
  • Check consistency between reference numbers in the specification and figures, including duplicate #s in figures
  • A number of small bug fixes and improvements

New in ClaimMaster Pro 1.6 (Aug 28, 2013)

  • Automatic updates
  • Speed improvements for all features
  • Accuracy enhancements for antecedent and reference # checking
  • More informative status bars
  • Reference term checking is now working on 64bit Vista and Windows 7 system
  • Fixed some hang-up issues when checking reference term numbers
  • Fixed some issues with sequential claim renumbering of temporary claims
  • Other small bug fixes/improvements

New in ClaimMaster Pro 1.5 (Aug 28, 2013)

  • Batch download/processing of patents and patent publications
  • Auto-generation of 1449 IDS forms
  • Improved claim renumbering - renumber duplicate claims, claims with placeholder numbers, sequence renumbering.
  • Calculation of excess claim fees in EPO.
  • Many new claim/text rules to identify "patent profanities", etc.
  • Other small improvements and bug fixes.