!080594 Three new PTO Depositories plus APS/Internet rumor It seems that the Patent and Trademark Office is preparing to open up three more Patent Depository Libraries in the United States: San Francisco Public Library (saving many in SF a trip to Sunnyvale) University of Maine - Orono (first in Maine) Natrona County Public Library - Casper (first in Wyoming) No word yet on when these will be open to the public. In a related matter, I heard a rumor that the PTO is testing out at a few university sites an Internet interface to their 80+ gigabyte APS patent text database system. Though since I haven't seen anything formally announced (for example, what the fee structure is if they have to charge), and since Congress keeps on taking money out of the PTO to pay for other operations, I am not sure if the PTO has the funding to pay for the extra equipment needed to handle the tremendously large volume of people who will try to access APS thusly. As it is, during the day, APS tends to respond lethargically from time to time. A thousand more users would cripple APS. Stay tuned. Greg Aharonian Internet Patent News Service