Dear Colleague

This issue of Dialog Intellectual Property News brings news of major changes to the INPADOC patent file. Expanded content and enhanced formats in INPADOC reflect a continued commitment to provide critical patent content combined with the most powerful and flexible searching capability. Commitment to support our users is also a major focus. The popular How Do I...? series broadens coverage of intellectual property topics with the addition of trademark and copyright search guides.

Several industry topics, search techniques and announcements round out this issue. And, don't forget to give us your input for new 2008 Manual Codes for Derwent World Patents Index.

Keep tuned for more details about the changes to INPADOC happening throughout 2007.

Ron Kaminecki, Director
Intellectual Property Market

INPADOC® Restructuring and Enhancements

Effective April 30, the European Patent Office (EPO) is changing the format of the INPADOC/Family and Legal Status database to a new DOCDB XML structure. The new structure will provide added data and other enhancements that will improve the accuracy and comprehensiveness of your retrieval. You can preview the enhancements in the ONTAP® version of INPADOC (File 253). A special web page (www.dialog.com/inpadoc) has been created to provide further details on the changes to INPADOC.

To accommodate the new features and data, INPADOC will temporarily be split into two separate files in late April 2007. File 345 will contain all of the new features and new family records from January 1, 2007 forward. File 346 will contain all INPADOC records in the current (archive) format from 1968 through April 2007. For all records from January 1, 2007, forward, the full patent family is available in the new format. As subsequent records are added to File 345, the full patent family for those records will be available. As of April 30, approximately 1 million patent family records will be available. The rest will remain in File 346.

Alerts currently set up in INPADOC will continue to run as usual. You will still be able to do full archive searching on INPADOC in File 346, and a search in File 345 will return the most recent patent family records. OneSearch cross-file searches can be run simultaneously in both File 345 and 346 may return some duplicate records in the results.

Later this year, after all INPADOC records have been converted to the new DOCDB XML format, the two files will be merged together into File 345, and File 346 will be removed. Meanwhile, consult INPADOC information page for ongoing status information and additional details.

"Just-in-Time" Trademark and Copyright Search Aids

If you haven’t returned to the How Do I…? Series for your intellectual property search needs, then you are missing the latest Trademark and Copyright applications. The Dialog How Do I...? series supplies concise, step-by-step instructions on how to find the most-requested information on Dialog. Now 13 trademark and 10 copyright solutions have joined the approximately 35 solutions for patents research.

Look at the trademark solutions for how to:

• Find trademarks using classification codes
• Search for a trademark that is a slogan
• Conduct a broad worldwide trademark search

Check copyright solutions to:

• Find the legal document when a copyright has been reassigned to another owner
  
• Find the initial registration of a movie or a monograph or a serial publication
  
• Find a copyright that is owned by someone other than the author

These examples and other applications are in both DialogClassic and DialogLink 5. Visit the Web site to get step-by-step instructions on your intellectual property search needs from the experts.

Check back often for new additions to the How Do I…? series in intellectual property and other subject areas.

Important Research Information from Patents

A recent article, entitled “Patents Provide Important Research Information” by Bob Stembridge of Thomson Scientific, focuses on the importance of patents to researchers and attorneys. Stembridge states that according to the European Patent Office (EPO), “80 per cent of all companies consider the information in patents as important or very important.” Another survey Stembridge cites indicates that “Patent information is apparently most useful in the early stages of product development; during predevelopment and in the invention stage.”

Take a look at the complete article to see how the information professional fits into this process.

Gazette Weekly Highlights

If you need to keep up with new patent developments in the pharmaceutical industry, then the Gazette Weekly Highlights is a must. Available on the Thomson Scientific Web site, this free publication focuses on patent-related issues making the headlines, on noteworthy new applications, and on litigation and legislation affecting the industry.

Highlights are accumulated from a wide range of sources, such as the U.K. Patents and Design Journal, the Japanese Gazette and more, and presented each week as headlines. Clicking the link for a particular week (e.g., 0713) provides more details about each entry.

For more detailed information about patent-related issues, review information about the Gazette Weekly.

Call for Contributors

Participate in knowledge sharing with your colleagues interested in intellectual-property-related topics. Share your story suggestions with us at support.dialog.com/enewsletters/contribute/.