Free patent .pdfs from your XP desktop

I recently installed the pat2pdf script on my laptop. The script allows me to download free US patent .pdf’s right from my XP desktop. Again. Thanks go to Canadian attorney Peter Eliopoulos for documenting the nuts and bolts of getting the script to run on XP.

Peter’s install notes are here.
Nipper added some of his own notes.

Here are notes from my installation experience:

1. Regarding Peter’s step 1, Nipper wondered if he needed both the bin and src files for the cygwin packages Peter instructs us to download. I’m guessing the src file is the source code for the package, so I skipped these files. My installation is working - you only need the bin files.

2. In Peter’s Step 5, he instructs you to run the mount command in the cygwin bash shell. My aging eyes didn’t detect that there are two paths listed for this command (I typed Peter’s instruction in as one continuous path). Thus, in this step, you must enter the command as follows:

mount D:/patents [SPACE] /patents

Each of the paths is the patent download directory you created in Peter’s step 3. The first instance includes the drive letter. The second doesn’t. The [SPACE] between the paths is a single space (i.e., don’t type in [SPACE]). Not recognizing this added about 30 minutes to my installation. Damn this small screen on my tablet PC….

3. Nipper reports trouble with the CD command. CD is working fine for me, but I have no clue as to why. Peter is looking into it….

The script works beautifully. Thanks again, Peter.