What specialized services does STIC offer for examiners?
The Scientific and Technical Information Center (STIC) offers several specialized services to support patent examiners:
- Foreign patent document retrieval: STIC can obtain copies of foreign patent documents not available in USPTO databases.
- Translations: STIC provides translations of foreign language patents and non-patent literature.
- Scientific and Technical Literature: STIC maintains extensive collections of scientific and technical literature, including journals, books, and conference proceedings.
- Prior Art Searches: STIC librarians can assist examiners with complex prior art searches.
As stated in MPEP 901.06(a): “STIC provides technical literature, foreign patents, NPL patents, database access and search experts to assist examiners in the patent examining process.”
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