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Support : eNewsletters : Chronolog Archives
From the Editor In this issue of the Chronolog, also read about: the new Harvard Business Review with Images database; simple patent families in INPADOC/Family and Legal Status and aerospace and defense searching in Inspec®. Learn about ProQuest, and check out a new opportunity for SLA members. And, of course, don’t miss the Free File of the Month. We’re also pleased to announce the launch of ProQuest IQ, the newsletter designed to keep you up to date on new and upcoming announcements for the ProQuest business product line and introduce you to complementary resources on Dialog. Speaking of new communiqués, watch later this month for Issue 2 of Eye on Innovation for new ideas on how to find actionable intelligence in your industry, and subscribe to have them sent to you directly.
Holiday message from your friends at Dialog Dialog and the ProQuest family would like to wish you a happy holiday season and a prosperous new year. Since joining ProQuest, Dialog has participated in so many exciting events, initiated new ideas, created additional communication channels and illustrated its innovative streak with new products, enhancements to content and more. We’d like to share with you a few of the highlights from 2009. Content
Partnerships
Product development
Training
Communication
Service
Dialog is already looking ahead to a productive and innovative 2010. Stay tuned – your Chronolog will bring you all the details you’ll want to know about news and events at Dialog.
It’s all about content: Meet the Dialog Content Database Development team Content is the beginning of everything at Dialog. Searching many databases in a consistent format, indexing for precision searching, new and reloaded content and much more—the Content Database Development team makes this possible on Dialog. Q: What is the Content Database Development (CDD) group and what do you see as the team’s main mission? A. The Content Development (CD) team is important to the content you search on Dialog every day. The CD team is comprised of two groups: the CDD and the Content Quality Assurance (CQA) teams. We introduced you to the CQA team in the July/Aug 2009 issue. This month you get to meet the CDD team. Our primary mission is to design, develop and maintain premium quality content with superior search and display characteristics for timely distribution through a variety of channels. Assignments range from reloading a database – for example, MEDLINE® is reloaded every year with the new MeSH® headings – to creating a new database like The Lancet, a premier health database. It also can include working on enhancements to existing files, such as adding simple patent families to INPADOC, described in this issue. Q: Who is on the Content Database Development team? A. Led by Charles Sullivan, the CDD is comprised of seven members; all have been with Dialog for more than 12 years and four for more than 20 years. Our educational backgrounds range from degrees in natural sciences, computer science, physics and applied mathematics to chemistry, biochemistry and chemical engineering. Advanced degrees, including MBAs, an MLS and a PhD round out our areas of expertise. Our group divides its tasks so that each of us works with specific information providers and subjects; however, any one of us can address an urgent request if need be. We are all very familiar with the Dialog databases, information providers and the processes necessary to design the content. Q: What tasks support your mission? A. Our team provides ongoing production support throughout the database lifecycle. Here are some examples of what we do daily:
Q: Why is your team’s role so important to Dialog customers? And, what makes your job at Dialog so exciting, especially since you have been with the business for such a long time? A. We add value to the databases. For example, we take the data provided in all kinds of different formats by all of our information providers and “translate” it into a search and display experience for Dialog customers that is as consistent as possible across all the databases. We solve puzzles on a daily basis including answering the difficult customer questions. We are able to explore and learn the nitty-gritty bits about a wide range of databases. We even help to create new online products. In addition, we interact with many other groups at Dialog, including publisher management, the Knowledge Center, information providers, and file loading and software development teams. Each day is different. Who wouldn’t be excited to create content solutions that meet our customer needs?! Watch for interviews with other groups at Dialog in the coming months.
Free File of the Month: TecTrends
From more than 200 business, computer, technical, trade and consumer publications, TecTrends compiles three types of records: Articles and Review Records, Company Records and Product Records. Researchers use this information to track products and companies; develop a profile of competing products; determine the owner of a product and contact the company; find analyses of information products, companies and technologies; identify URLs and email addresses for companies and gather information about current trends in the marketplace. Review the Overview of TecTrends to learn more about this unique database for current and emerging technologies, and check the free file page for a schedule of free live training sessions on TecTrends. Throughout December, explore this file up to $100 for free (either DialUnits or connect time). Output and Alerts charges are not included. Take this opportunity to try File 256 for free throughout December.
Harvard Business Review® Full Text with Images available now
File 106 contains every reprint from the Harvard Business Review® from 1994 forward, including one Case Study per issue, plus select articles from November-December 1956 to1994. Images, including charts, graphs, and diagrams, are provided for many records. (Use RT=IMAGE to select only records with images.) Acquisition of this database is more evidence of the synergy of Dialog and ProQuest content. ProQuest corporate customers can now access this full-text resource via a link from ProQuest products such as ABI/INFORM and Health Management that contain abstracts of Harvard Business Review articles. (Subscription to this content on Dialog is required.)
Spotlight on Inspec: Aerospace and Defense by Ron Rodrigues, MLS, senior content specialist, sci-tech segment
Inspec classification narrows the field Two sections of the Inspec classification scheme are devoted specifically to literature related to aerospace (b76...) and defense (b79...). These can be used in conjunction with other relevant sections of the classification scheme:
The recently added E-section extends coverage to include production engineering and mechanical engineering aspects.
Use indexing and classification with Dialog techniques Carry out searches by combining Inspec classification codes and controlled vocabulary, and then use the Dialog RANK and EXPAND commands to examine commonly-used controlled indexing terms, the thesaurus hierarchy and further associated classification codes. Inspec controlled-index terms and classification codes can be used, together with uncontrolled indexing and numerical indexing, to refine a strategy and carry out searches on aerospace and defense “hot topics,” including battlefield communications and sensors, hypersonic flight, UAVs (unmanned aerial vehicles) or drones, robotics, radar cross-sections, body armor textiles and more. Inspec is a most valuable database for research on aerospace and defense.
DWPI country coverage enhancement — Switzerland
In order to provide more rapid distribution of technical knowledge and to improve the position of the applicants as well as third parties, Switzerland made a change to their law. As a result patent applications are now published 18 months after the date of filing or date of priority. The amendment applies to patent applications that were filed after the revised law took effect. This change to the Swiss patenting law is now reflected in Derwent World Patents Index® (DWPI) (Files 351/352, 350). Swiss patent applications are now covered in the file in addition to the granted patents, which have been covered since 1963. The file also now covers the other patent kind changes introduced by the Swiss patent office in July 2008. The following table outlines the new kind codes that were introduced by the Swiss patent office for the coverage of patent applications and granted patents.
This enhancement to the coverage of Switzerland was implemented in DWPI early in November 2009, starting with the records published from July 2009 to date. These are currently being processed by the DWPI editorial teams and are appearing now in recent DWPI updates. The second phase of this enhancement will involve loading the records published from July 2008 to June 2009. This is expected to be completed by mid-December, bringing the coverage of Switzerland up to date, along with the additional new patent kinds.
A Proximal and a Distal Tip Dialog’s Families: “Everybody hold still...”
Patent families are somewhat like human families insofar as they share something in common — a family name or in the case of a patent family, a priority. A priority typically identifies the earliest application in a family...but there is a bit more, and this is where the problems occur. So, to explain patent families in more detail, first we need to look at priority numbers and priority dates. Simply said, patent priorities are an application number and date given to the earliest application for a patent. A Priority depends upon someone actually claiming the priority — a legal right that must be staked out. To understand the patent family, you have to understand the priority application – again, this is the application someone is claiming has some right. Thus, typically, it is the earliest application because the earliest date wins in an argument over who had the idea for the invention first. However, other applications can “spin off” from this original priority application. The first level would be other applications for the same invention (by the same inventor, etc.) in countries other than the country of the priority application. By treaty, you have one year to file in other countries if you want to claim the original’s priority date. This means a patent for an invention will expire at about the same time around the world. If we did not have this agreement, someone could file for a patent in one country and when that patent expired (in 20 years), file in another country, thus keeping a patent in force for the invention somewhere in the world for a very long time. The current system prevents this from occurring. These applications in other countries are like your relatives who live in other countries, but have some kind of relationship (bloodline or other) and share the same family name. By knowing the name of a human family, you can find other family members; by knowing one member of a patent family, you can use the priority number to find other members. The benefit to you is if you have a patent document in a language you do not understand, you may be able to find an equivalent patent document (a family member from another country) in a language you do understand. Enter the “spinoff” stepchildren So, a patent family deals with the same invention in other countries — simple enough. But there is another level I like to call “spinoffs,” because they involve new applications created from the original priority application. Recall that a claim for priority is the key part, and here is where other applications may claim this priority. For example, in the United States (plus some other jurisdictions), there are spinoffs of which (for the U.S.) there are at least three: continuations, divisions and continuations-in-part. The first are continuations in which, typically, an application is finally rejected and the applicant wants another chance, so this person files a new application (which looks exactly like the old one because it quite often is the old one) and thus can claim the original date of priority plus the new application date as a priority. Confused? This typically happens when the continuation is claimed by yet another spinoff and the first two priority dates are critical in the spinoff. Other spinoffs include divisions (also called divisionals). When an application is so ambitious it covers more than one invention, it can be split up. So, one invention is pursued under the original application number and the other invention may be abandoned or, typically, applied for again under what is called (naturally) a division. In both the continuation and the divisional, the data remain roughly the same, but all three (the original, the continuation, and the divisional applications) are prosecuted separately, and any or all may yield a patent or not. The third entrant is called a continuation-in-part (CIP). It’s not hard to understand when you realize an applicant will continue to work on an invention even after applying for a patent. The applicant is not allowed to add new data that was unknown when the original was filed, but can do so by filing a CIP. So, a chemist who has created, say, a new way of making a drug, can file for a patent for this invention, and if six months after filing discovers a catalyst that makes the process quicker and cheaper, this person can file a CIP on the catalyst. It is obvious in this situation there are two “creation” dates (one for the original method, the other for the improved catalytic method), thus two priority dates, because in the CIP there is a blend of the original application data and the new application data. And, again, here both the original and the CIP are prosecuted separately. These three spinoffs will generally yield new priority dates in addition to the original priority date since they are related and someone is claiming priority. The race to the patent office takes advantage of the early filers! So, a patent family can have multiple priority numbers. And each priority number can beget its own part of the family and still be linked to an original priority number. You can see now how families can quickly become fairly complex. Indeed, US 7343660 has 31 family members with the oldest going back to 1954! But, if you keep in mind that a patent family consists of, say, different dynasties, in which foreign equivalents or spinoffs like continuations, divisions or continuations-in-part each has its own piece of the family, you can see that such a complex family can be used to account for different variations of the same invention. Consequently, and most importantly, if you know of any family member and you know about priority numbers, you can find the entire family. Just like human family analogy, any member can create other members (spinoffs beget spinoffs), and again, each is treated as a separate application in which some will be abandoned and others will yield a patent. For example, US 5,000,000 has yielded 27 priorities (by Dialog’s method of computing) starting in 1988 and (so far) ending in 2007. Searching any one member of this extended family leads you to all the other members if you search the priority numbers. Priority numbers lead you to at least one member that may be in a language you understand, thus saving you from paying for a translation. In INPADOC (File 345), Dialog uses all of the priority numbers to establish its families, which illustrates the vast difference between a Dialog patent family and an EPO simple family. In a later article, we’ll talk about the differences between families in INPADOC and other databases.
Understanding simple patent families by Sophie Hudnut, MS in chemistry, MLS, senior product engineer, IP segment Inventors generally seek to protect their inventions in their own countries by filing a patent application with the national patent authority. If the invention is of sufficient importance, protection can also be sought in other countries that participate in the Paris Cooperation Treaty (PCT). According to this agreement, applications filed in other countries within one year of the original filing date can claim that filing date as a priority date. The benefit of claiming an earlier date as a priority may mean the difference between getting the patent rights in a given country as opposed to losing them to another application filed in the interim period. Applications filed under these conditions are considered to be equivalents because they share the same priority data. Inventions can evolve over time, so multiple applications can be filed that share one or more priorities, and all of the resulting patents are part of a larger family in which one or more of the patents have at least one priority in common.
The European Patent Office (EPO) also provides information about simple families in which patents must have identical priorities. The benefit of the simple family is it identifies patents that apply to a specific invention, and patents that share identical technical content are grouped together. Since the simple families are embedded in the larger INPADOC family, it is possible to determine exactly which equivalent patents are likely to be the same. The following table shows how patent documents 1 through 6 are in the same family because they each have at least one priority in common with other patents. However, documents 4 and 5 are in the same simple family because they have identical priorities.
In INPADOC all full-price formats display at least a complete patent family table. A unique display format, Format 33, shows the INPADOC family table together with the simple family tables that are part of this larger family. Format 33 often includes representative abstracts (usually in English) for most of the simple families, so it is easy to get a quick overview of the evolution of the invention as it moved through the filing process. Formats 35 and 39 also show the INPADOC family together with simple families, but omit the abstract. The simple family tables can also be included in other display formats by using the EF display tag: TYPE S1/3, EF, US provides a display of the INPADOC family table (Format 3), the inclusion of the simple family tables (EF) and the bibliographic and legal status detail for the U.S. members of the INPADOC family.
DataStar files enabled for eLinks and RIS downloads Chemical Business NewsBase (CBNB) and Health Periodicals Database ‘76 (HLTH) on DataStar are now enabled for Dialog eLinks and RIS downloads on DataStarWeb, DataStar Classic Web and DataStar Alerts. RIS downloads allow records to be exported to ReferenceManager, ProCite, and EndNote. Records can also be exported to RefWorks.
CAB Abstracts and Global Health archives available transactionally CAB Abstracts (CAXX,CA72) and Global Health (HUZZ,HU72) archive files on DataStar are now available on a transactional basis to Dialog customers.
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Holiday message from your friends at Dialog It’s all about content: Meet the Dialog Content Database Development team Free File of the Month: TecTrends Business & News Content Updates Intellectual Property Content Updates
Lisbon, Portugal, is the venue for the 7th annual Conference & Exposition in Europe, tailored to the interests of patent information professionals. Mark your calendars for March 7-11, 2010, and register for IPI-ConfEx today.
New: Remember when... Do you have a Dialog story—the one where Dialog “saved your bacon”—for our new Remember when... column? Whether you have been with Dialog six months or 20+ years, we know you have plenty to share about ways Dialog has helped you with your research. Here’s one from the December 1984 Chronolog when Dialog released Dialog 2—25 years ago! “I knew that DIALOG 2 was going to have many new, helpful features, but I didn't anticipate mnemonic END/SAVE serial numbers. Wednesday afternoon, September 19, I had done a search on INVESTEXT (File 545) for research on the tea industry. I retrieved 39 "hits" with tea as a subject descriptor. The network (TELENET) was acting up so I did an END/SAVETEMP and received the serial number "TCUP" for my END/SAVE. Just wonderful! Thanks for this new feature.” James W. Shelar, Librarian
Dialog 2 was introduced in 1984. This complete rewrite of the Dialog software enabled many future enhancements and was launched with a worldwide road trip of training sessions and customer update meetings. This “Dialog Man” cartoon from the period shows the excitement around this shiny new product offering!
Community of Scholars (COS) profiles scholars
The database comprises faculties at four-year universities around the world and their departments. Community of Scholars is a unique tool for finding researchers by specific areas of studies. Profiles include author affiliation, including organization Web page and contact information, co-authors, publications, link to CV, personal Web site, interests and more .Citations of publications appear on scholars’ profiles only after a highly stringent verification process to ensure accurate authorship representation. Scholar Universe™ is an essential resource for publishers, corporations and journalists — any organization that needs to tap external expertise. Use COS to identify expert witnesses, potential employees and consultants.
New free trial opportunity
Start today and explore the first products featured for trial access:
Be sure to watch for the next round of trials in 90 days to gain access to Conference Papers Index (CPI) and Illustrata™.
Searching full text effectively With all the additional full text in Dialog databases, you want to be sure you search these files cost-effectively. Here are a couple of tips. Restrict searches to key fields: Search suffixes allow you to limit a keyword term search to key fields such as the Title (/TI), Descriptors (/DE), Lead Paragraph (/LP) or Abstract (/AB) and can be combined with a comma to limit to multiple fields (S CAT/TI,DE,AB). Consult the file Bluesheets for available suffixes and limiters. Use KWIC format to preview your search results: The KWIC (Key-Word-in-Context) display format lets you view your search terms in a "window" of text and is free in some files. Display records in KWIC format to determine whether your search is retrieving relevant records and which records to display in a longer format. Be sure to select the "Highlight Search Terms" option in your preferences so terms searched appear in bold-faced type.
January Free File of the Month
Search up to $100 for free in the file (connect time or DialUnits) in January. Output and Alerts costs are not included. See an Overview of File 348 to learn more about this European patent database.
Training schedule Have you checked the North America Web-based training schedule lately? Upcoming Webinars are now organized by content area making it easier than ever to identify those that best help you develop search expertise in your areas of interest. For example, if you are a patent searcher, read the articles about Dialog patent families above and then register for the December 16 Webinar: Patent Search Basics on Dialog, Part 3: “Deciphering Worldwide Patent Families in Derwent World Patents Index® and INPADOC/Family and Legal Status.”
 Discover: Focus on Essential Tools for Biomedical & Pharmaceutical Research When looking for pharmaceutical, biomedical, life sciences and chemistry information, check our new Discover Essential Tools page for a Fast Start to finding quick reference guides, search aids, learning resources, and free practice resources. Explore events on the frontiers of science by analyzing research issues, chemical discoveries and commercial developments. Track the drug pipeline and gain market intelligence on your competition by reviewing the latest research, market share information, legislation, drug registrations, licensing and clinical trials. If you have a few minutes free, check the German Training Schedule for these 15-minute sessions:
Download updated Kind codes for Derwent World Patents Index® (Files 351/352, 350) and INPADOC/Family and Legal Status (File 345).
Dialog inducted a new class of InfoStars at Online Information 2009 in London during the first week in December. These honored information professionals take a leadership role in improving the flow of information within their organizations.
Read more about this year’s InfoStars.
Roger K. Summit scholarship awarded Also awarded during Online Information 2009 was the Roger K. Summit scholarship, named in honor of Dialog’s founder. The joint winners for the 2009 Roger K. Summit Scholarship are Maurizio Velletri and Nicolas Labat of the Haute Ecole de Gestion (trans. School of Business Administration) in Geneva, Switzerland. Learn more about the winners.
Dialog Search Tip: Finding innovations in TecTrends with RANK Since TecTrends (File 256) is December’s Free File of the Month, it’s a good time to try scouting innovations on the horizon. Restrict results to articles published in the last six months. Then RANK DE CONT to view industries where innovations are taking place. Command Summary BEGIN 256 Browse descriptors for areas of interest, such as GREEN TECHNOLOGIES, LASERS & OPTICS, IMAGE PROCESSING, CLOUD COMPUTING and more. Enter the Rank number of designated terms and EXIT;Y to leave RANK. EXECUTE STEPS (EXS), and you have data to explore. The Free File of the Month enables you to use up to $100 a month of free searching. Output and Alert charges are not included.
DataStar Search Tip: Using Thesaurus Mapping Biomedical searchers, do you need a quick way to determine MeSH® or EMTREE descriptors? Do you have a brand name (synonym) and need to find the preferred term? EMBASE® provides excellent indexing to help you get to the preferred drug nomenclature for that file. DataStarWeb makes it even easier. Whether you use Easy or Advanced Search, simply go to the database, such as EMBASE (EMED). Check the Thesaurus Mapping box and enter a drug name. The Thesaurus Mapping screen identifies the EMTREE terms found in the records retrieved in the search. In this case, we enter the brand name Exelon, with the Thesaurus Mapping box checked. The Thesaurus Mapping box presents the drug name rivastigme, which is the preferred generic name or International Nonproprietary Name (INN), for Exelon. You can read the scope notes, check the box to the left of the EMTREE term you wish to search and specify it as a major descriptor. DataStarWeb is an innovative platform that makes finding the right term easy and makes you look good when you present your on-target data to your clients. |
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The pace of technological innovation is now so great it is critical to research current and emerging technologies. TecTrends (File 256), the free file of the month for December, is not just about smart phones, Internet enhancements, wireless and mobile technologies, but a recent search also revealed the latest week’s updates covered such topics as management strategies, wireless communications, innovations, genomics, biotechnology, cloud computing, Web 2.0 and bioinformatics. If you are researching new technologies, looking to invest in innovative companies, or checking prior art, don’t overlook this file. Since the file carries product reviews, it is also a good database to include in trademark common law searches. TecTrends tracks developments across a wide range of sectors, from biotechnology, medicine, genetics, and green technologies to electronic commerce, mobile communications, new media, and information technology. 
Dialog now offers the Harvard Business Review® Full Text with Images (
Months after reaching the 10 million record milestone, Inspec® (
A8765 Aerospace biophysics and medical physics 
A new law to the patent process in Switzerland came into effect July 1, 2008. The main change in procedure concerned the publication of patent applications. Previously only the granting of a patent resulted in the patent document being published in Switzerland, which was the only point at which the invention was disclosed. Thus, inventions with pending patents were not made public, and the object for which a patent was finally granted was often disclosed after a significant time lapse from the date of filing — a lapse that could be several years. 
SLA members can receive 90 days of complimentary access to specific ProQuest or Dialog databases. Members can evaluate information products without risk. 
Dialog will offer European Patents Fulltext (