CML / SVG support

[alexthurgood]

Hi all,

Does the current software implementation cater for the use of CML (chemical markup language) to be able to represent chemical structures, or do formulae based on CML have to be converted into an image format ?

This leads me to my second question :
If images are required to represent chemical formulae instead of CML, does the software support the W3C SVG or SVGZ standards ?

Alex

[twesthues]

Hi Alex,

here is what our expert provided:

WIPO Standard 36 foresees the possibility of filing chemical equations in an XML format and/or in an image format. However, it seems that the chemical industry has not yet clearly decided on which format to use. The EPO is in favor of using CML, but we still have not managed to overcome the objections of the USPTO, who support instead the Chemdraw format.
As a result, the only filing formats we can accept for the time being are TIFF G4 and JPEG.
We hope to come to an agreement within the following months and, as soon as this happens, the EPO will accept CML filings. The patents published by the EPO will then contain both the CML coding and the TIFF representation, for the benefit of those browsers which still don't support CML rendering.
It is not contemplated in the short term to use other image formats, such as SVG.

I believe this pretty much answers your question.

Kind regards,
Thorsten

[alexthurgood]

Hi Alex,

here is what our expert provided:

I believe this pretty much answers your question.

Kind regards,
Thorsten

Wow, Thorsten, this is good news, at least it will be if the USPTO finally agrees to adopt an open, documented and non-proprietary format.


Thanks a lot for the info,

Alex

[alexthurgood]

Any update / news available on this topic ? CML is gaining ground all the time, as is Inchl/SMILES, would be nice to know where the EPO is heading ?

Alex

[squall]

What kind of software again?

_____________________

[alexthurgood]

The initial question was in relation to whether the online filing software was going to support CML or SVG representations for chemical formulae, or some other, free, open and fully documented standard. At present, if you want to file chemical formulae, e.g. Markush structures, you have to provide them as TIFF images, which unfortunately neither corresponds to the way structural chemical information is stored in electronic form today, nor to one of the normalised representations for such structures.



Alex Thurgood

[twesthues]

I'm afraid, that sqalls entry was merely made to add a URL to a none-related subject to this forum - I have removed the URL for security reasons.

[alexthurgood]

Hi Thorsten,

Yes I only realised after my post that this person has been essentially polluting the list subjects. Couldn't you just unsubscribe them ?

Alex