Possible to run a query programmatically, e.g. XML, JSON, etc.?

[Timwi]

Is it possible to run a search query in such a way that the results are returned in a programmatically machine-readable format, such as XML, JSON, or similar?

Thanks!

[Christophe]

Dear Timwi,

Unfortunately, this is not possible because we don't have the required infrastructure. Autmated queries are not permitted (See paragraph 3.1 of our terms and conditions at http://www.wipo.int/patentscope/en/data/terms.html). This is to ensure the best possible service for our internet users.

Kind regards,

Christophe

[Timwi]

Thank you for your message.

Since there is clearly demand for it as indicated by several forum posts asking for something similar, are you considering to add support for this? You already have most of the infrastructure, in use by the web UI.

Alternatively you could offer downloads of the entire database in some machine-readable form (e.g. SQL dump, CSV file, ...). To save bandwidth, you can distribute that database via BitTorrent instead of HTTP. What do you think?

[Christophe]

Dear Timwi,

Unfortunately, our infrastructure has been sized to support the traffic for end users through the web application, not the heavy traffic that can be generated programmatically, even with a single computer. To eliminate risks of having the service for the web users affected, we would need to put in place a separate parallel architecture and even then restrict its usage so that one user wanting to bulk download whole years of the collections would be somehow limited and not monopolize all the available resources. We have also internet bandwidth limitations.

For these kind of needs, we do provide electronic products in bulk. You can find more information on these services at:

http://www.wipo.int/patentscope/en/data/products.html

I hope this helps,

Best regards,

Christophe

[N/A]

While I would believe thr bandwidth restrictions, I don't really buy that you don't have the infrastructure, because (as TimWi points out) youve already got a public web portal linked to your database. In addition, how is it that:
- the EPO can offers a similar web-based service but they'll tolerate automated scraping provided you keep the number of requests at or below a certain limit
- the USPTO and Google Patents allow automated scraping and have provided files for bulk-data downloading for a while; since I can do limited PS search via Google Patents, PS must be allowing Google's spiders to scrape & harvest your data, which further undermines your 'we dont have the infrastructure' complaint.

Couldn't WIPO do one or both of the same things that the USPTO and EPO are doing, such as offering bulk-data downloads for historical PCT data (e.g., >1 year old - I understand the business case for selling more recent data). Since automated requests for your data aren't going away (and will probably only increase in the future), you might want to consider these options...

(and BTW TimWi, there are ways to automate retrieving data from PS but it's not easy and you have to be quite careful about the number of requests you make to the PS database server within a given time period)