Patent Information Centre Research Articles

Considerations of providing patent and trademark assistance services at one's library

PurposeThe authors' goal in writing this article was to provide background information and detailed considerations to assist those wishing to provide patent and trademark assistance at their libraries. The major considerations include staffing, spaces and resources, with the time commitment from the staff being the most significant.Design/methodology/approachThis paper combined the experiences of an author relatively new to patent and trademark librarianship with one who has years of experience. These were used in tandem with knowledge gained from a decade of attendance at annual week-long seminars at the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) as well as by way of a comprehensive literature review.FindingsThe main commitment needed in providing patent and trademark services to the public is not money but the investment of time, which includes professional development, staffing, teaching classes and workshops, outreach and consultations.Originality/valueThe information in this paper should serve as guidance to anyone new to providing patent and trademark services within their libraries, including those at Patent and Trademark Resource Centers (PTRCs), Patent Information Centres (PATLIBs) and beyond. Although articles have been published on various aspects of intellectual property (IP) and libraries, a comprehensive guide to providing patent and trademark services has yet to be published.

Goods Under Registered Geographical Indications (GI) From Rajasthan and the Details Thereon

So far only three categories have been noted from Rajasthan goods under registered GI tags and these are Agricultural, Handicraft and Natural Goods. The Patent Information Centre (PIC), Rajasthan, has been made the nodal agency for GI protection. The Centre will identify GIs in Rajasthan in consultation with concerned organizations. Cost of registration under the GI Act will be borne through the department of science and technology (DST). Some of the registered GI handicraft goods from Rajasthan are Kota Doria, Phulkari (Punjab, Haryana & Rajasthan), Blue Pottery of Jaipur, Molela Clay Work, Kathputlis of Rajasthan, Sanganeri Hand Block Printing, Bagru Hand Block Print, Kota Doria (Logo), Thewa Art Work, Pokaran Pottery, Molela Clay Work (Logo), Blue Pottery of Jaipur (Logo), Kathputlis of Rajasthan (Logo).

Fifty years of patent information centres in Russia

The article contains a brief historical review of developing patent information centres in the structure of the State Committee on Inventions and Discoveries (Rospatent) and their participation in establishing the national patent information system. The process is divided into three stages resulting from, first, changes in demands made by the new generations of users of information products and services and, second, renewal of methods, technologies and organizational forms of information support of innovation processes.

Regional PATLIB centres as integrated one-stop service providers for intellectual property services

Exemplifying the case of PATON, a large patent information centre in Germany, this paper describes a wide range of services PATLIB centres can offer today. The expansion of its scope of products and services beyond classical patent information in order to become a regional patent centre is also described. The paper further argues that PATLIB centres can benefit from an increasing demand of patent statistics, a tendency PATON responded to with the development of its own in-house software tool, and deliver complex patent and literature analyses one-stop to create value for firms.

Patent information from the Polish Patent Office

The Polish Patent Office activity within the scope of its patent information policy—with emphasis on the changes since the 1990s—is described. In addition to aspects of patent searching, such as documentation and databases, dissemination activities, for example education and training, and the role of Patent Information Centres, is covered. New challenges associated with the promotion of intellectual property protection and its role for the economy are also highlighted.

Route to profitable European PATLIB centres with a process orientated business model in intellectual property services

Patent information centres in Europe (PATLIB) have to reorganise their business model because of the changing market situation for information services in Europe. It is shown, that the present approach only covers a small segment of the information service market and results in low accessible market volumes for PATLIB centres. Furthermore free-of-charge web-based patent information tends to result in difficulties to achieve cost covering prices for PATLIB services. The future PATLIB market situation can be summarised as expecting danger of reduced economic viability. Based on the specific PATLIB centre characteristics a redesign of business model is described. To generate a profitable future perspective it is necessary to focus on customer relationship marketing (CRM) for the main customer, respectively the business potential of small and medium enterprise (SME) environment. Six steps are proposed for the reorganisation into IP service centres. The first two steps are the orientation along the SME-customers IP value chain and a process oriented marketing approach. The next two steps are basic business models to meet the new process orientation. Finally the necessity and the arrangement of a tight European service network to offer top quality customer services and redesigned marketing activities is described.

From information supplier to system provider: the diversification of patent information services at patent information centres

In recent years, patent information centres have had to adapt to clients' new requirements. In the past, the services required tended to fall into the standard categories, such as document procurement, searches for bibliographic data, and technology watches. Nowadays, however, clients are looking for tailor-made services that frequently go beyond the original information or search request. This paper considers the type of advice and services that clients now need, such as on the various information products and media available, their performance levels and prices, special agreements with suppliers, integrating the products into existing IT systems, managing information distribution and customising to corporate workflows. It then explores the service packages patent information centres can offer—with examples from the experience gained by the Nuremberg Patent Information Centre, how customer relations are changing, and what qualifications staff at patent information centres now need.

Language technologies and patent search and classification

Research on a number of developments in language technologies, targeted at improving patent processing procedures within patent offices and in subsequent patent database search systems, is described. Aspects of patent processing covered are (1) OCR correction, to assist the conversion of paper documents to electronic versions, and (2) text classification, to assist in the allocation of new patent applications to the correct technical experts. Aspects of patent searching covered are (3) terminology enrichment, linking keywords to IPC terms, (4) table and figure reference extraction, to enable the corresponding text to be located, and (5) multilingual information access, to help formulate queries in other languages for the search of documents in those languages, and then to provide contextual translation of key sections of the documents retrieved. The authors conclude that these types of technologies will support more sophisticated search activities, for example in patent information centres, to complement the low-cost or free offerings on the Internet.

Patent information centres – a broader service concept to back up the dissemination of patent information

This paper reports on further progress in the development of the concept of patent information centres in Finland integrated into the services of the regional Employment and Economic Development Centres (EED-Centres). The problems with the initial pilot scheme stemmed from the patent information services being a separate module within those available to SMEs and entrepreneurs in these centres. A closer integration, specifically into the product development projects is described.

Patent information today and in the future – a survey of small and medium-sized enterprises in Bavaria

Patent information centres have to adapt their services to changing sources of information. At the same time, their customers, especially small- and medium-sized enterprises, are changing their expectations of patent information services. In order to determine what customers want, the Nuremberg Patent Information Centre carried out a survey in late 1999 of some 1500 small- and medium-sized enterprises in the manufacturing industry. About one-third of those questioned already knew of the services provided by the patent information centre, while the remainder had not previously been customers of the centre. 12 groups of questions gathered information on topics including the following: type and frequency of use of patent information, familiarity and use of various information media, assessment of information facilities, assessment of Internet information services, particular obstacles to patent information, technical equipment of the enterprises, information services required in future, and training and advisory service requirements. The paper summarises and analyses the results of the survey, and draws conclusions for the future development of services. It confirms the ongoing trend towards the fast and paperless supply of patent copies. The paper notes that the majority of those surveyed had some awareness of the possibilities and limitations of Internet databases and of the commercial databases; concomitantly many of them welcome assistance from patent information experts as their search needs develop, as well as more training to improve their own skills.

German Patent Bulletin in assistant mode on the WWW – the first year's experience

The German Patent Bulletin has been available online on the web for over a year. To help inexperienced users, an “assistant-mode” access enables search technique and strategy enquiries to be formulated in “plain language”, and e-mail them to their selected PATLIB centre in Germany. The patent information centre will answer the question by e-mail, fax, post or telephone. This paper summarises the results of the service over the first year. The paper describes how many enquiries have been received, which user groups are taking advantage of the service, what kind of questions are being asked, how they are being dealt with by the PATLIB centres and whether the service is opening up new user groups for the patent information centres.

An electronic future in the Finnish Patent Office

Initially, the article describes how the Finnish Government has developed telecommunications and Internet use by launching initiatives, such as electronic identity cards for Finnish citizens to enable clear authentication for e-commerce. In addition, Finnish law for e-commerce in the public administration already provides the legal basis for filing, e.g. patent applications, electronically. Against this backdrop, the article describes the way in which the Finnish Patent Office is moving forward rapidly in the provision of services on the Internet. These include both statutory and legal filing and like actions, as well as, in cooperation with the EPO, the dissemination of patent information. On patent information, the plans to make all Finnish patents and the corresponding legal status accessible through the Internet, to expand the patent information centres and to heighten public awareness, are outlined.

A survey of users of the new British Library Patent Information Centre

The British Library acts as the national patent library in the UK. The patent library moved into a new, purpose-built building in London in 1999, to join other parts of the national library. A market research study was commissioned to study the changes in use of the patent library brought about both by the move and by other factors such as the increased accessibility of patent information on the Internet. The study looked at, for instance, the geographical location and type of business of users, their reason for searching (for themselves or for others, for checking originality, technical background, etc.), the extent to which users actually visited the library, what attributes they required of the services provided, and their use of Internet resources. The results reported include some comparisons with regional patent libraries in the UK. The article concludes that users' requirements have changed significantly, especially as a result of the impact of the Internet, and that the services provided need to adapt to these changes. The study results are being further analysed to determine the best way forward for these services.

Certification of a patent information centre according to DIN EN ISO 9001

The certification of quality management systems is currently one of the key topics in the industrial and tertiary sector. More and more companies are having their systems certified, and are demanding that their suppliers also obtain the appropriate certification. For the Landesgewerbeanstalt Bayern (LGA), as one of the leading undertakings in the fields of examination, review and consulting, certification of its quality management system is therefore a must. The Information and Innovation Division, which includes the patent information centre in Nuremberg, was one of the LGA's first divisions to undertake this task. This paper describes the requirements specified in the DIN EN ISO 9001 standard and the approach taken by the patent information centre to implement and accommodate these requirements.

Patent Information Centres – value added services through the network

An Employment and Economic Development Center (EED-Center) is a regional service point where the services of three departments of state are integrated to the same regional customer service center in the province. The ministries are the Ministry of Trade and Industry, the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry, and the Ministry of Labour. The service concept of the centers will upgrade the quality of the services aimed especially at starting SMEs and for those who are developing their operations or products. The leading principle in establishing the EED-Center has been one-stop-shop-principle, in other words, you can get all services from the same spot. This principle has strengthened remarkably now that the services of National Board of Patents and Registration are available in EED-Centers. The co-operation started during the autumn 1998 and now SMEs can have the following services in all 15 EED-centers: • trade register information services, • trade register official notices and advisory services, • patent applications, advisory services for applying for a patent, • utility model, trade mark, design model, application and advisory services. Five of the 15 EED-centers are committed to become Patent Information Centers, and in those centers we have built up a service based on video/PC contentions, shared databases and the services of examining engineers in FIPO. The service is aimed at the SMEs starting their business or developing their operations or products. The service concept consists of three different services: • pre-evaluation of product-idea, • examination of technical solution, • technical evaluation of project proposal. All services will be provided during a videosession between a customer, EED-Center-company analyst and the examining engineer in FIPO. The video connection is created between the FIPO and Patent Information Center with three fold ISDN-speed (384 Kb) on a standard PC, and during the session the examining engineer will connect to EPOQUE and share the data with the customer. The project is in the pilot-phase. After that we will make a decision on how to continue with the concept.

PIZnet, the joint Internet site for German patent information centres

The objective of the Arbeitsgemeinschaft Deutscher Patentinformationszentren e.V. (The Association of German Patent Information Centres) is to encourage the ongoing development of the centres and to achieve broader public dissemination of industrial property rights information. Since use of the Internet has steadily increased amongst wide sections of the public in recent years, and since patent offices have taken steps to give the public free access to patent information, the association has set up a Germany-wide network known as PIZnet (“PIZ” standing for “patent information centres” in German) in co-operation with the Federal Printing Office. This network includes a presentation on all German patent information centres and the services they provide, it answers questions on the patent system, publishes offers of licences, and covers much else besides.

Project support for patent information centres in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany

In North Rhine-Westphalia (NRW), information on industrial property rights is made available at four patent information centres. Three of these are located at universities (Aachen, Dortmund and Krefeld), while the fourth (the Bielefeld patent information centre) is run as an Eingetragener Verein (registered association) by a number of partners (among them the Bielefeld Chamber of Industry and Commerce). The three patent information centres in Aachen, Dortmund and Bielefeld are receiving financial support from the NRW Economics Ministry as part of a project running from 1995 to 1999. The aim is to achieve a substantial improvement in the range of services offered by the centres. Apart from ensuring high performance in the areas of document supply and search on demand, a primary objective is to enhance the technical infrastructure. One of the early results has been the building up of local area networks allowing for efficient, user-friendly access to CD-ROMs to help the public conduct their own searches. At the same time the local collections of patents have been methodically extended on the basis of full-text CD-ROMs and made available in a convenient form through jukebox technology. This package of measures in conjunction with targeted promotional activities has resulted in greater acceptance and usage of the patent information centres in NRW. A further project starting in the year 2000 is to focus on maintaining the level that has been attained and on adapting the structures to match new developments in the field of national and international networks.

Commercial exploitation of academic and scientific research inventions – a new duty for patent information centres

The problems arising from the low level of use of the patent and other industrial property rights and information in German academic and scientific research organisations, and methods of tackling them, are described. It is proposed that the more positive approach by the universities and similar organisations can be well supported by the many regional patent information centres, such as that run by the Hamburg Chamber of Commerce. It is argued that wide-ranging commercial exploitation centres are needed to help these organisations ensure that their inventions reach and benefit the public through technology transfer, as well as providing a proper return to the universities and research institutions themselves.

European Patent Organisation support for efficiency-boosting projects at German patent information centres

This article reviews the increasing use of CD-ROM jukebox solutions to the problems of space and accessibility of paper patent collections.Also included are the networking solutions developing between many of the centres in Germany.

`Gaining the edge through patent information': roadshow in Bavaria

The Patent Information Centre in Nuremberg views a pivotal aspect of its remit as being to make the public at large, and small to medium-sized companies in particular, more aware of the potential benefits of patent information. This was the motivation behind its decision to stage a roadshow entitled `Gaining the edge through patent information' — although it also drew inspiration from a similar event staged by its British colleagues. The core idea is to reach out to companies and bring home to them the information potential in patents by coming out to them, thus saving them travelling time and hence money which they would otherwise have to spend attending such events. The Patent Information Centre, which is run by the Bavarian state's trade supervisory office (LGA), drew up blueprint for the roadshow in 1996 and found a partner to help it implement the project in Bayern Innovativ GmbH, a company whose activities include coordinating technology transfer in Bavaria as well as supporting patent information projects.