I'm unable to view the "Images" related to US patents -- the USPTO
says I need a properly installed "TIFF G4 plug-in".  How can I
purchase such a plug-in and how do I install it so when I click the
"Images" button at the end of a patent I'm viewing in the US Patent
Office database of US patent applications, the attached drawings, etc.
will be displayed?  Thanks in advance.

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Request for Question Clarification by feilong-ga on 14 Sep 2004 08:35 PDT

What OS and software are you using?

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Clarification of Question by frank2-ga on 14 Sep 2004 09:46 PDT

Hello feilong-ga . . . I'm using Windows XP Professional (Service Pack
2 is installed) and Microsoft Outlook Express 6.  I'm bringing up the
US Patent and Trademark Office, Patent Application Full Text and Image
Database.  Let me know if there's any other info. you need.

Hi Frank2,

Thanks for your reply. I'm assuming that you're using Internet
Explorer 6 since you're using XP. I found the answer in the USPTO site
in the link below:

"The only free, unlimited time TIFF plug-ins offering full-size,
unimpeded patent viewing and printing unimpeded by any advertising on
Windows® x86 PCs of which we are aware are:

    * AlternaTIFF:  http://www.alternatiff.com/ (tested: IE, Netscape, Opera)
    * interneTIFF:  http://www.internetiff.com/ (tested: IE, Netscape)"

(Source: Your System Requirements for Viewing Images -
http://www.uspto.gov/patft/help/images.htm#nav, ©2003)


The plug-ins are basically free so you don't have to buy. From what I
read, "interneTIFF" offers other features in the full version but you
need to buy it. In case you're interested, you can get it here:

interneTIFF
http://www.internetiff.com/docs/buy.htm

interneTIFF Reviews
http://www.internetiff.com/docs/reviews.htm


About the installation, click on this link if you're installing AlternaTIFF:

AlternaTIFF ActiveX auto-installation for Internet Explorer
http://www.alternatiff.com/install/

For other related info on AlternaTIFF, click on the link below.

AlternaTIFF Frequently Asked Questions
http://www.alternatiff.com/faq.html

interneTIFF automatically installs when you double click the installer
file as described in the product FAQs:

How do I install the product?
http://www.internetiff.com/docs/faqs.htm


I found some interesting software that you can try. Here they are:

Pictures Grabber 1.0
"With @Pictures Grabber you can control the picture type to download
(Jpeg, Gif, Tiff)."
"Pictures Grabber comes with a browser plug in, so you can capture
pictures on the fly while surfing the Internet."
http://www.download.com/Pictures-Grabber/3000-2377-8760148.html?tag=lst-3-2

PicViewer 2.74
"This image viewer can display pictures in the most common image file
formats, including BMP, ICO, CUR, WMF, EMF, GIF, JPEG, PNG, PCX, TIFF,
TGA, and PCD."
"Version 2.7 supports thumbnail printing and new plug-in modules,
shows HTML pages, and plays several different audio and video files
(WAV, MP3, WMA, AVI, MOV, MPEG, ASF, and more)."
http://www.download.com/PicViewer/3000-2192-10163982.html?tag=lst-3-3

You may be able to find other related software via this link:

TIFF G4 plug-in free download
://www.google.com/search?num=100&hl=en&lr=&ie=UTF-8&newwindow=1&safe=off&q=TIFF+G4+plug-in+free+download&btnG=Search


Search strategy:

Searched the USPTO site for related info.
Used Google Web Search to look for related software.
Searched Download.com for additional related software


I hope this helps you. If you have a question, please feel free to
post your clarification and I'll attend to you as soon as possible.
Thanks for asking.

Best regards,
Feilong