Adobe PDF Documents

Adobe [External Link] provides a format for documents called Portable Document Format[External Link](PDF). Adobe PDF Documents may be viewed on a wide range of computers and print correctly across a wide range of operating systems and printers.

Adobe also provides its Adobe Acrobat Reader [External Link] software for free! This software is available from Adobe by clicking the "Get Acrobat Reader" image below. Help for Acrobat Reader is available at Adobe Acrobat Reader Support [External Link]

[External Link]

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Unable to Open PDF Documents

Make sure you have installed the Adobe Acrobat Reader [External Link] for your specific operating system. If you are unable to open a document in your web browser by clicking on the icon, try the following options:

  • [Windows Only] - Make sure the Express Search CD is in the CD-ROM Drive. Open 'My Computer'. Right click on "Express Search Logo" icon and select 'Explore'. This will open Windows Explorer and show you the contents of the CD-ROM. Double Click on any of the .pdf icons. If you are not able to open the file in this manner, please check the troubleshooting section of your Adobe Acrobat Reader Software


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Viewing PDF Documents

The Bottom Navigation Bar


The bottom navigation bar (pictured above) allows the user to move between pages and display pages in different configurations. It is located in the lower left hand corner of the Adobe Acrobat Reader window. The left and right arrows on either side of the page number move the viewer back or ahead one page. This may also be accomplished by using the up and down arrows (small movement) or the page up and page down buttons (big movement). The following three buttons, located on the bottom navigation bar, change how pages are viewed.

The "Single Page" button allows only one page on the screen at a time. When the user browses past the end of one page, the next page is fully displayed.

The "Continuous" button creates a continuous scrolling set of pages. When the end of one page is viewed, the top of the next is shown.

The "Multi-Page" button shows several pages at once. This view is good for reviewing drawings, but too small to read most text.


Changing the Size of the Document

The Zoom Bar (pictured to the left) is located with the menus at the top of the Adobe Acrobat Reader window. The minus button 'zooms out' or reduces the size of the document and the plus button 'zooms in' or increases the size of the document. The down arrow allows specific levels of 'zoom' to be set.


Document Bookmarks

When viewing a .pdf document, the left edge of the screen contains a tab marked "Bookmarks." This tab contains links to different parts of the .pdf document. Clicking the "Bookmarks" tab will open a list of current bookmarks. Clicking the "Bookmarks" tab again will close the list of current bookmarks.


More Adobe Acrobat Reader Help

A complete list of menus and commands is available in the Adobe Acrobat Reader Help document provided by Adobe. Specifically, the following bookmarks are of interest when viewing patents:
  • Contents -> Adjusting the view of PDF documents
  • Contents -> Navigating in PDF documents
  • Contents -> Printing PDF documents
  • Contents -> Copying and pasting text and graphics to another application


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Text in PDF Patent Files is Not Readable

The patent .pdf files are created from images, not text. At some viewer settings it can be difficult to read the text of the patents. Try using the 'zoom out' button to decrease the size of the text. If no acceptable setting is found you can always print the document.

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Cannot Select Text in PDF Patent Files

If you are unable to select text in the abstract of a us patent, please email the patent to Express Search for review. If we did not provide you with text searchable patents with you project, we will recreate the project with text searchable patents

Although the document has been made text searchable by Express Search, there are times when specific words are not recognized. Often, these words are considered part of a picture. Other times the text does not correctly detect columns, resulting in data that reads from a line in column one, followed by a line in column two, followed by the next line in column one.

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Printing Patents

  • click 'Patent Files' on the left hand navigation bar to open the folder containing the copies of the references cited.
  • Select the patents you wish to print by holding the control key and clicking once on the desired patents.
  • Right-click on a selected patent and select 'print'.
OR
  • Open the .pdf patent from either the search reports page or the abstracts page.
  • click the 'print' icon (picture of a printer)



Online Database Information

Data contained on the Search Results and Patent Abstracts pages are created using information obtained from the ESpaceNet [External Link] and USPTO [External Link] online databases. Neither of these sites guarantees the information provided over the internet. As a result, the information listed for a patent may not exactly match the information on the actual document. This is especially true for foreign and translated documents, where the title in the ESpaceNet database may differ from the title on the actual document.

Additionally, the information stored in these databases changes over time. It is very possible that updated information may appear and previously available information may be missing. As a result, if Express Search, Inc. reconstructs project results using either of these databases, the bibliographic information contained on the original and reconstructed Search Results and Patent Abstracts pages may differ.



Requesting Additional Copies of the CD-ROM

Multiple copies of this CD-ROM may be requested at the time the project is authorized. A nominal fee will be charged for the creation of additional CD-ROM copies.

After the completion of the project, if copies of the results are required the client will be charged for the following:
  • 1 hour at the current rate - reconstruction of the project
  • Cost of Patent Images associated with the project
  • Shipping

It must also be noted that Express Search cannot guarantee the bibliographic information contained on index.html page or the abstracts.html page will match the original search. (see "Online Database Information")



Search Results HTML Document

File: index.html

The "Search Results" web page contains links to the project report, the invoice, and the references. All of the links in the body of this web page connect to .pdf documents.

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Report PDF Document

File: report.pdf

This is a .pdf version of your project report. It contains information about the project specification, references sited, search criteria, and other project details. This is the report that is faxed on completion of the project.

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Abstracts HTML Document

File: abstracts.html

This page contains a list of patent abstracts relating to the references. The links at the top of the page take you to the bibliographic information for each of the patents.

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Patent Files Folder

File: ./patents/

On most operating systems, this link will open a folder containing the .pdf versions of the references. If this link does not open a folder with the references, browse this CD and find the "patents" folder.

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Patent Services HTML Document

File: services.html

This is a list of the patent services offered by Express Search, Inc. If you have any questions about our services or are interested in a service not listed, please give us a call at (703) 535-5455.

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Search Staff HTML Document

File: staff.html

This is a list of our search staff. All searchers are degreed professionals and have been trained by Express Search in the field of patent research. The search staff is comprised of employees and contractors.

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Contact Us HTML Document

File: contact.html

A list of contact information for Express Search, Inc.

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Help HTML Document

File: help.html

If you have questions not addressed by this page, please give us a call at (703) 535-5455.

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