Questel has created 27 event groups which regroup similar actions from the different patent offices:
| Code | Definition of the code | Comment |
| ACL | Accelerated Prosecutions | |
| ADM | Administrative notifications | |
| APL | Applicant appeals and petitions | |
| CCL | Classification amendments | |
| COR | Corrections, amendments | |
| CPA | Continued Prosecution Application (US only) | US only |
| DCS | Designated contracting states (WO and EP) | WO and EP |
| ENP | Entry into national phase, translations (AP, EA, EP, OA, WO) | |
| EXM | Requests for examination, review procedures and review process, research reports | Need to combine with STATUS/ACT=PENDING P (event group) |
| INT | Examiner Interview (US only) | US Only |
| LAVL | For patents declared available for licensing or sale | |
| LIC | License event (licensed or candidate patents) | General category for any event related to licensing |
| NLAV | Willingness to license withdrawn, revoked | Opposite of LAVL |
| NENP | Nonentry into national phase (WO and EP) | WO and EP |
| NIF | Not in force due to patent or application lapsed, expired, surrendered, withdrawn, abandoned, refusal, rejection, abandoned, etc. | Only for dead patents (LAPSED, REVOKED, EXPIRED) |
| NMC | Change of party name (applicant, assignee, inventor, opponent) or address | |
| NOPP | No opposition filed | Only present if we get a specific event that the legal period for file 3rd party oppositions has passed. |
| OA | Official Office Action (final rejection, nonfinal rejection, Quayle Action, Vacate 2nd Off. Action (US only) | US only, customized for use by Orbit analysis |
| OAI | Applicant (incoming) initiated action or response to an office action or office communication (US only) | US only |
| OAO | Office action or office communication Outgoing (US only) | US only |
| OPP | Opposition, reexaminations, requested by 3rd parties | Does not include applicant appeals |
| PAY | Fee payment events | These events will be sorted in ACT based on effective date EFFD, not action date AD. |
| PIF | Patent in force | Combine with STATUS/ACT=GRANTED P (event code) |
| RAS | Reassignment, transfer of rights | Triggers breakout field REAS |
| RCE | Request for Continued Examination (US only) | US Only |
| RES | Restitution, restoration: in effect | |
| SPC | Actions concerning complementary or supplementary certificates of protection, extension of protection period. |
These Event groups are searchable in combination with the legal status described here or with other search criteria. To learn more about the syntax in the /ACT field, please refer to the article "Understand the events groups in the Legal status".
Warning: the AND operator will search inside the family, not only within one member. You can use the P operator instead to narrow down within an application legal status.
Example of search:
FR patents (national procedure or EP / PCT) having an extension on the term of protection (SPC)
EG/ACT=SPC P (PC/ACT=FR OR CC/ACT=FR)
The paragraph operator P is used to specify that the patents retrieved with an extension of term (SPC) are FR patents.
Patent offices or countries also form part of the ACT index. You have two possibilities to search for countries; either PC/ACT which is country of publication or CC/ACT which is a designated state on a PCT or EP application.
Please refer to the FamPat factsheet for Orbit to see a listing of searchable fields and details regarding syntax.