Google and USPTO team up to provide bulk patent and trademark data

The USPTO announced last week that Google will make available, for no cost, bulk data files that had previously only been available through the USPTO for a fee.

What does this mean for us consumers of patent and trademark data? Not much yet -- the data, available from Google in large ZIP files and containing such information as patent images, bibliographic data for patents and trademarks, assignments and fees information, and Trademark Trial and Appeal Board proceedings -- is available only in unaltered (except for formatting for ZIP files) form.
But there is a potential value for the public in that, by making the data available for free, the USPTO and Google have removed a barrier to third-parties who may take the bulk data and create innovative means of accessing patent and trademark information.

Score one for open access to government information!