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Archive - Latest Intellectual Property Resources News

Archive News
Friday, August 31 2001
  • Second Birthday for IP Menu!
    Tomorrow, 1 September 2001, will be the 2nd birthday for IP Menu.  Two years ago on 1 September 1999, a small group of IP professionals at Phillips Ormonde & Fitzpatrick celebrated the launch of our new free website called "IP Menu - a global guide to intellectual property resources on the internet".  Back then we had only 70 webpages of information, today we have over 380 pages!  And IP Menu is continuing to grow thanks to a great team here (Simon, Natalie, Saskia, Matthew and John) and the many IP Menu users who send us information.  What next for IP Menu?  Well, as usual we will continue to keep you up-to-date with the latest IP information on our news page, we will continue to expand our IP Firms section to include even more firms (if yours is not listed, send Matthew an email), and we will of course add some new features.  I would like to thank all those people in the IP community who have supported, encouraged and helped IP Menu over the last 2 years.  Your help has been invaluable.  Once again, from the team at IP Menu, "Thank You" and "Happy Birthday!"
    Posted by Rodney Cruise
  • Farewell from the IPR-Helpdesk !
    As the IPR-Helpdesk website closes today(temporarily), I thought Alexander Weir would not mind if I posted his thank you and farewell from the team at IPR-Helpdesk. "All of us here at the IPR-Helpdesk would like to wish a warm farewell to everybody who has been involved in the project, participated in the seminars, subscribed to the news services and given us support over the past three years. We thank you for your interest in the project, and would like to reassure you that the IPR-Helpdesk will be up and running again in the near future under a new contractor, to whom we extend our best wishes. Until then, we wish you all success in your intellectual property endeavours. Below are links to IP-related news sources that we hope will be of use to you while the IPR-Helpdesk takes a short break. All The Very Best From Your IPR-Helpdesk Team !!! NOTE: Although all services will be suspended as of Friday 31 August 2001, we encourage you to keep visiting the website www.ipr-helpdesk.org for further news on the next phase of the project. The website is likely to be off-line until late September 2001, but thereafter will continue to function".
    Posted by Rodney Cruise.

Thursday, August 30 2001

  • Circular Transportation Facilitation Device (aka "a wheel")
    Some IP MENU users have had some trouble viewing the TIFF format of the specification for John Keogh's "wheel" innovation patent.  To help you out, we have included a PDF (text searchable) version of this patent.  Click here to download it.  We have had some questions about what an Australian "innovation" patent actually is, so to help out here is a brief summary.
    Posted by Rodney Cruise

Wednesday, August 29 2001

  • Australian Government Responds to Intellectual Property Reports
    The Australian Government has today responded to two recent reviews of the intellectual property system, the Intellectual Property and Competition Review (IPCR) Final Report of September 2000 and the Advisory Council on Intellectual Property (ACIP) review of patent enforcement of March 1999. "The proposed legislative changes to Australia's intellectual property system will make the system more responsive to users' needs and provide a better balance with competition policy. The IPCR examined legislative restrictions on competition in Australia's intellectual property laws, in accordance with the National Competition Principles Agreement adopted by all Australian Governments. The Agreement requires that restrictions on competition should only be retained if the benefits outweigh the costs to the community as a whole. The proposed changes to Australia's patent and trade marks systems include raising the threshold tests for obtaining a patent to international standards, implementing a grace period to protect a patent application against invalidation by inadvertent or ill-timed public disclosure, and amending the Trade Marks Act 1995 to remove the impediment to the parallel importation of legitimately trade marked goods". A copy of the Government response to the IPCR Report can be found here, a copy of the Government response to the ACIP Report can be found here, and the joint Media Release of Senator Minchin, the Attorney-General and Senator Alston can also be found here.
    Posted by Rodney Cruise.

Tuesday, August 28 2001

  • Pioneer, INCOM & the British Library
    Thomas Eckert from INCOM has sent me a little snippet of information regarding a new patent information archive on DVD-R at the British Library.  The British Library recently chose DVD-R as their new archiving format and apparently the first DVD-R jukebox was installed in July this year.  The next time I get to the UK (hopefully later this year!) I will certainly popping into the British Library to check this out.  The hardware is from Pioneer and the software (PATWARE) is from INCOM in Germany.
    Posted by Rodney Cruise
  • STN EXPRESS WITH DISCOVER!, V. 6.0 - NOW AVAILABLE FOR MACINTOSH
    STN Express with Discover!, Version 6.0 is now available for Macintosh. Some of the new features and enhancements include: Powerful, user-friendly, post-processing tools for preparing reports and tables, such as: The Table Tool that helps users create tables of data graphics and chemical structures from STN answer sets for simple analysis; The Report Tool that helps users create customized, easy to read reports from STN search results; The Predefined Reports Feature that allows users to create patent reports with a professional, customized look and feel; RTF files with hyperlinks that allow users to follow links in their transcripts to the associated full-text documents on the Web. Information regarding STN Express with Discover!, Version 6.0, including pricing, online ordering, and order forms, can be found here.
    Posted by Rodney Cruise.
  • Remember This? - "Man Gets Patent for the Wheel"
    Back in early July, IP Menu told you about an article appearing in a local newspaper which announced that a Melbourne man has successfully obtained an Innovation Patent for the 'wheel'.  The innovation patent has now published and you can download a copy (in TIFF form) from IP Menu by clicking here.
    Posted by Rodney Cruise.

Monday, August 27 2001

  • End of IPR-Helpdesk Pilot Project
    As many readers of IP Menu would know, the IPR-Helpdesk website is one of the best IP related website and services the IP community has seen.   The Legal Helpline has assisted many, many people, and their IP-News & IP-Wire services have provided IP users (such as me!) with a wonderful source of current information.  The site provided a huge amount of useful information for all users of IP, whether experienced or novice.  Sadly, the current IPR-Helpdesk pilot project will come to an end this Friday, 31st of August 2001. All services will be suspended. The website is likely to go off the air for a short period, but is expected to be back online thereafter. Alexander Weir has advised that all other services, including the Legal Helpline (info@ipr-helpdesk.org) and newsletter services (IP-News & IP-Wire), will be suspended for a few months due to contractual negotiations which are currently underway for the continuation of the IPR-Helpdesk service.  If you have never visited IPR-Helpdesk, do it now before the 31st of August!!!!  For further information please contact Alexander Weir  (IPR-Helpdesk Communications and Public Relations Manager) before Friday, 31st of August 2001.
    Posted by Rodney Cruise.

Friday, August 24 2001

  • PatField - New Patent Field Extract Software from Gim Jean
    Gim Jean, the developer of the excellent PatMate patent downloading software has released a new piece of software called "PatField".  PatField is a USPTO patent field extractor that enables you to extract fields such as Patent number, Title, Abstract, Assignee, Inventor, US Class, International Class, Claim etc from USPTO.  The extracted fields are converted to MS Excel file, which you can import into most database programs.  Not only has Gim been busy with developing PatField, but he has also found time to redesign his PatMate site.  You can visit PatMate here and download trial versions of both PatMate and PatField. Like PatMate, the full version of PatField sells for USD$100.00.
    Posted by Rodney Cruise.
  • ADISNEWS - New Pharma File Added to STN
    STN has released a new pharmaceutical file, ADIS Newsletter (ADISNEWS). The file is produced by Adis International Limited and provides information about important developments in drugs and drug therapy form the world's biomedical literature, major meetings, and symposia, from 1983 to the present. All aspects of drugs and drug therapy are covered, including: pharmacology, therapeutics, disease management, adverse drug reactions, pharmacoeconomics and outcomes, pharmacoepidemiology, and pharmaceutical research and development. The ADISNEWS records contain bibliographic information, cited references, indexing terms, chemical names, and CAS Registry Numbers®, as well as the full-text of the reports. ADISNEWS contains over 59,500 records and is updated daily. Current-awareness alerts (SDIs) can be run daily, weekly (default), or monthly. Want to find out more? Check out the ADISNEWS Database Summary Sheet here.
    Posted by Rodney Cruise.

Thursday, August 23 2001

  • Fair.com? - An Examination of Systemic Unfairness in the ICANN UDRP
    Alexander Weir's IPR-Helpdesk News has alerted me to a new academic paper entitled "Fair.com? An examination of systemic unfairness in the ICANN UDRP" by Professor Michael Geist from the University of Ottawa. The paper, according to Kieren McCarthy of "The Register" , is "as damning a report as any other investigation into domain resolution". So what is all the fuss about?  If you are interested in trade marks, domain names and the UDRP, then this is worth a read. You can download a full copy of Geist's paper from his website (click here) or you can read Kieren McCarthy's aritcle here.
    Posted by Rodney Cruise.

Wednesday, August 22 2001

  • PATWWW Patent Documents Delivery Update
    The German organisation INCOM has updated the PATWWW patent document delivery service with two new features.  The first feature is a handy patent equivalent feature, which will display equivalent documents to the patent number you enter, allowing you to select which family member to download.  The second new feature is one that allows you to import a list of patent numbers into PATWWW to save retyping.  The website is predominantly in German, although there is significant English language information and login screens available as well.  To find out more please visit PATWWW or email PATWWW project manager, Thomas Eckert for more information.
    Posted by Rodney Cruise.
  • Symposium on Enforcement of Intellectual Property Rights and Patent Litigation
    From the EPO comes a new symposium on Enforcement of Intellectual Property Rights and Patent Litigation, being held at EPO Munich from 10 to 14 September 2001.  To quote from their website "in recent years, with projects funded by the European Commission and with its own resources dedicated to international technical cooperation, the EPO has contributed to the strengthening of intellectual property (IP) rights all over the world. .... an effective enforcement of IP rights however can only be achieved if judges dealing with IP litigation are given adequate access to information and training....this conference has been designed for judges, prosecutors, solicitors, attorneys and lawyers dealing with IP litigation". So if you are interested in finding out further information, please visit the EPO website.
    Posted by Rodney Cruise.

Tuesday, August 21 2001

  • SurfIP - Patent Number Search Facility
    SurfIP has a great facility to search mulitiple patent database at once and integrate the results in to a single search window, but one feature I am increasing beginning to use is the "Patent Number Search".  This service allows you to enter the "patent" number for 9 jurisdictions, including Singapore, WIPO, EP, UK, USA, Canada, Japan, Australia and Taiwan.  To have a look at this service for yourself, visit SurfIP and select patent number search.
    Posted by Rodney Cruise

Monday, August 20 2001

  • New Standards Being Developed for Filing Patent Applications
    As reported on the USPTO site, the "USPTO, the European Patent Office (EPO), the Japan Patent Office (JPO), and the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO), are jointly developing document-type definitions (DTDs) for use with the electronic filing of Patent Cooperation Treaty (PCT) applications. When finalized in 2001 December, these DTDs will enable applicants to create extensible-markup language (XML) international patent applications that can be processed by machine. In 2001 April, the USPTO, EPO, and JPO agreed that they will accept national applications filed electronically using the same international patent application formats. This will enable applicants to create an application once and submit it to EPO, JPO, USPTO, and PCT (WIPO) with only minor modifications. The USPTO plans to accept national electronic applications using the PCT DTDs through its electronic filing system (EFS) starting in 2002 October. The USPTO plans to publish patent applications and grants using new publishing DTDs based on the PCT filing DTDs starting 2003 January". The current draft of the PCT DTDs can be found at here with further information about their use at here.
    Posted by Rodney Cruise 

Friday, August 17 2001

  • IP and the Human Body - DNA Copyright
    A new service recently reported in the news is the "DNA Copyright Institute" or (DNACI) This organization provides "services for high-profile individuals such as actors, models, athletes, musicians, scientists, and others seeking to show ownership of their Personal DNA Pattern in order to protect it against future actions such as DNA theft and misappropriation, cloning, and other unauthorized activities".  If you want to copyright your own DNA or find out more, visit DNACI.
    Posted by Rodney Cruise
  • FICPI/AIPLA Colloquium on Pendency Reduction in Rome 18-19 November 2001
    Malcolm Royal, the president of FICPI, has advised IP MENU of an important meeting coming up in November. It is the FICPI/AIPLA Colloquium on Pendency Reduction in Rome from 18-19 November 2001 (Following the FICPI Open Forum).   This is an important issue for IP practicioners...."There are strict time limits for issuing International Preliminary Examination Reports in respect of PCT applications. Hence, Offices acting as an International Preliminary Examining Authority must give precedence to the examination of PCT applications. The backlog of unexamined applications filed nationally (outside the PCT system) is growing to alarming proportions. The problem requires an urgent remedy. Initiatives for the reform of the PCT and Substantive Patent Law Harmonization are to be encouraged and may well assist. However, agreement and implementation will take many years. It is believed that the problem and possible short-term solutions should be discussed internationally as a matter of urgency. Discussions have taken place between major Patent Offices and WIPO. However, FICPI and AIPLA believe wider consultation is required to ensure that any short-term measures adopted meet the requirements of applicants, countries outside the trilateral arena and the public at large".  If you would like to find out more about this important meeting, please email Malcolm Royal direct.
    Posted by Rodney Cruise
  • MicroPatent - Phonetic Search Now Available on TRADEMARK.COM
    News from Trademark.com announcing their new phonetic search feature which allows users to search for simillar sounding marks and incorrect spellings.  The services is part of the tradmark.com US Federal and US State databases, with plans to introduce this feature to Common Law and International files in the new future. To find our more, visit trademark.com.
    Posted by Rodney Cruise

Thursday, August 16 2001

  • Delphion Announce New 24 Hour Pass
    Delphion have announced a new "One-Day Pass" for US$29 that gives you access for 24 hours from registration to the following features:
    • Full-Text Searching of: US, EP A&B and PCT
    • Biblio Searching for PAJ
    • INPADOC Searching
    • Derwent Searching on a pay-per-use basis
    • Powerful Search Options: Quick, Patent Number,
      Boolean and Advanced
    • U.S. and IPC Class Browsing
    • Prior Art Searching of IP.com and TDBs
    • Full Access to Delphion's Exclusive Integrated View
    • IP Listing Search and Inquiry Service
    • PDF Downloads, Text Clustering and PatentLab II on a
      pay-per-use basis
      Posted by Rodney Cruise
  • CAS Launches New Website - CAS Science Spotlight
    A new web service from Chemical Abstracts Service (CAS) has been announced (14 August 2001). "..the most highly cited and requested chemistry-related research publications as reflected by the citations included in the CAS databases and the full-text documents requested by scientists through the ChemPort Connection. CAS Science Spotlight will provide not only lists of highly cited and requested documents, but also the bibliographic and abstract information along with the full text, where available, all free of charge".  To read more about this new service, click here.  To visit the CAS Science Spotlight website, click here.
    Posted by Rodney Cruise.
  • Interruption to Canadian Patent Office Services
    "Employees of the Canadian Intellectual Property Office (CIPO) belonging to the Program and Administrative Services group of the Public Service Alliance of Canada are on strike (15 August 2001). CIPO remains open for business and will endeavour to ensure that essential service to our clients continues with the least possible disruption or delay. Clients are reminded that they can minimize the risk of affecting their intellectual property rights by addressing important deadlines ahead of time. Information and search systems will continue to be available on our Web site." For more information, click here.
    Posted by Rodney Cruise.

Tuesday, August 14 2001

  • Improvements to Methods of Forcasting Patent Filings
    The European Patent Office website has announced a new research programme in order to help the process of making capacity planning decisions at the European Patent Office (EPO). Researchers or teams of researchers, from Europe or elsewhere, are invited to submit proposals.  If this is an area that your interested in, I recommend you visit the EPO website to find out more information.
    Posted by Rodney Cruise

Monday, August 13 2001

Friday, August 10 2001

  • The Thomson Corporation Acquires More Information
    A press release from Dialog heralds another info-acquisition by The Thomson Corporation. "The Thomson Corporation, a leading e-information and solutions company in the business and professional marketplace, and NewsEdge Corporation, announced that they have signed a definitive agreement under which Thomson will acquire NewsEdge".  To read the full press release, click here.
    Posted by Rodney Cruise.

Thursday, August 9 2001

  • IP @ The National Acadamies
    Craig Schultz has told me of a new IP website - The National Academies' Intellectual Property website. "From Internet content protection to human gene patenting, IP rights in many forms have emerged from legal obscurity to public debate. This website serves as a guide to the Academies' extensive work on Intellectual Property and a forum to discuss ongoing work".  To visit this site, click here.
    Posted by Rodney Cruise.

Wednesday, August 8 2001

  • PatSee 2.11 Beta 8 Released
    I see Steve at Image Applications has been hard at work again, releasing PatSee 2.11 Beta 8. The PRO version has support for the fast German Depatis server and an 'auto-hunt' feature which will find a patent on Depatis, even if you use the wrong 'kind code'.   If you already have PatSee keys, simply download from here and install using your existing keys.If you are a Lattice 2 user, you can get a free key upgrade to PatSee by filling in the form here.
    Posted by Rodney Cruise

Tuesday, August 7 2001

Monday, August 6 2001

  • New Home For PatMate
    PatMate have a new home on the web at www.patmate.com.  For those who don't already know, PatMate is a great piece of patent downloading software.  If you haven't tried it, visit Gim at PatMate and check it out.
    Posted by Rodney Cruise

Friday, August 3 2001

  • PATOLIS - Following a thread...
    I have been following a recent thread on the PIUG list relating to PATOLIS and recent changes.  I thought I'd post some information about what PATOLIS is. "PATOLIS Corporation launched its business on April 1, 2001, taking over the patent information service business from the Japan Patent Information Organization (Japio), which had provided continuous high-quality patent information for 30 years.“PATOLIS,” which is the name of our company, is also the name for the world’s largest online database used exclusively for patent information. Japio used to operate this database and now it will be the mainstay of our services. PATOLIS has more than 90 millions of patent information and data, and has responded to the diverse needs of more than 8,000 user companies." If you would like to find out more information about this service, visit their website.
    Posted by Rodney Cruise

Thursday, August 2 2001

Wednesday, August 1 2001

  • Derwent & STN - History
    For those researchers interested in the history of all things IP, Derwent have placed a brief history of their relationship with STN on their website.   Click here to read the article by Rob Austin, Regional Sales Manager USA.
    Posted by Rodney Cruise
  • List of Exhibitors at PATINNOVA / EPIDOS 2001 Conference
    A full list of exhibitors at the 2001 PATINNOVA & EPIDOS Conference is now available here.  The conference will be held from 15 to 17 October 2001 at the Cardiff International Arena in South Wales, "it will probably be the largest gathering of Intellectual Property Rights experts ever held in Europe".
    Posted by Rodney Cruise
  • First US Patent Issued This Day in 1790
    From the USPTO - "On July 31, 1790 Samuel Hopkins was issued the first patent for a process of making potash, an ingredient used in fertilizer. The patent was signed by President George Washington. Hopkins was born in Vermont, but was living in Philadelphia, PA when the patent was granted".
    Posted by Rodney Cruise

Tuesday, July 31 2001

  • SurfIP Launches the "SurfIP Marketplace"
    Our good friends at SurfIP have been working hard again!  On 5 July 2001, the Intellectual Property Office of Singapore unveiled an Intellectual Property Marketplace- the SurfIP Marketplace. This service is an extension of the SurfIP portal, which now enables IP users to conduct aggregated searches of multiple sources and commercialise their IP. SurfIP Marketplace provides a platform where "IP owners can list their IP. MNCs and venture capitalists can take advantage of this platform to search for technologies needed to fill their technology gaps or to help them make their next quantum leap in technology and business".  The SurfIP Marketplace will go on "live" as of 1 August 2001.  To check out this new venture from SurfIP, please visit them here, read their press release or visit them at SurfIP.
    Posted by Rodney Cruise
  • Subject Searching for Chemical Patents e-Seminar
    CAS will be hosting a webcast on August 16 called "Subject Searching for Chemical Patents e-Seminar". This seminar is aimed at beginner/intermediate level STN patent searchers and will teach: (a) Identify relevant patent databases; (b) Optimize subject search queries in CAplus using CA Lexicon and time period strategies; (c) Extend a patent search into other databases using multifile searching; and (d) Use FSORT to group related answers by the same invention.  The webcast takes place on Thursday, August 16, 2001 from (i) 11:00 AM - 12:00 PM U.S. Eastern Daylight Savings Time; (ii) 16:00 United Kingdom; 17:00 Germany. To register for the webcast please visit the registration site.
    Posted by Rodney Cruise

Monday, July 30 2001

  • EPIDOS News Online - July 2001
    The new edition of EPIDOS News  is now available online.  It contains the second part of the article on "Patent Families" together with a report on "Supplementary Protection Certificates in INPADOC".   Other news includes a new version of "Mimosa", information on the online European Patent Register - "epoline", and a report on PATLIB 2001 which was held in Dublin on 23-25 May.  Click here to go to the Adobe Acrobat version of EPIDOS News on the EPO website.
    Posted by Rodney Cruise

Friday, July 27 2001

  • Korea - New English Language Abstract Search System
    News from the Korean Intellectual Property Office of their new English abstract search service.  This search allows a user to search the database of KPAs(Korean Patent Abstracts), which were previously published in CD-ROM. It alos provides up-to-date information concerning the legal status of each application. KIPO advise that the legal status information is updated on a weekly basis. For more information, click here.
    Posted by     Rodney Cruise
  • Korean IP Gazettes
    KIPO launched the Korean gazette search service at the KIPO site in July 2. 2001. The gazette covers examined Patent/Design and unexamined Patent/Utility model/Trade make/Design and is offered free of charge. The new Gazette CD-ROM has been issued on the basis of the published gazette on the KIPO site. For more information click here.
    Posted by     Rodney Cruise

Thursday, July 26 2001

  • Derwent Launch New Intellectual Property Site
    Derwent has launched a new Intellectual Property Services website.   The site aims to address the "information needs of patent attorneys, financial consultants, patent and trademark offices, patent libraries and government organisations". In addition to the this, Derwent also have an new intellectual property forum called IPMatters. "Derwent's independent intellectual property forum. This is regularly updated with intellectual property news and articles covering a range of IP issues, and you can sign up online to be notified of major site updates".
    Posted by Rodney Cruise
  • UK Trade Mark Users - New Classes 43, 44 & 45
    A notice from the UK Patent Office relating to classification of trade marks com 31 December 2001."Applications filed in Class 42 up to and including 31 December 2001 will be classified under the list of services set out in 7th edition of the WIPO International Classification. Applications filed after that date will be classified under the 8th edition, which includes the new classes 43, 44, and 45. The changes will not be applied retrospectively to pending applications but the subsequent reclassification of registrations will be allowed". To read the complete UK Patent Office notice, click here.
    Posted by Rodney Cruise

Wednesday, July 25 2001

  • WIPO Logo Competition Ends With No First Place Winner!
    We know that this news is a little old (27 June 2001), but we at IP MENU were surprised to read that there was no winner of the WIPO logo competition.   WIPO did award 3 third prizes of 10,000 Swiss Francs to people from Switzerland, Denmark and Australia.  To read the WIPO press release, click here.
    Posted by Simon Ware

Tuesday, July 24 2001

  • Canada - Patents Act and Trips
    On September 18, 2000, the WTO ruled that Canada's term of protection for certain patents based on applications filed before October 1, 1989, was inconsistent with TRIPS. As of July 12, 2001, non-expired patents with terms of less than 20 years, counted from the date of filing in Canada, are automatically extended to the minimum 20-year standard as required by the TRIPS Agreement. To read the full press release from the Canadian Patent Office, click here.
    Posted by Rodney Cruise
  • New Record Number of Filings at European Patent Office
    The EPO has reported that they have reached a new filngs record."In 2000, the Office received a total of 142 940 patent applications, 16% more than in the previous year. This means that annual filing figures have more than doubled in the last ten years, with an almost five-fold increase over the total anticipated when the Office was first set up. The accession of Turkey to the European Patent Convention (EPC) in November 2000 brought the number of member states of the European Patent Organisation up to 20".  To read the complete press release, click here.
    Posted by Rodney Cruise

Monday, July 23 2001

Saturday, July 21 2001

  • Danish Patent Office - IPScore®
    A new discovery for IP MENU from the Danish Patent Office - IPscore®. "IPscore® is a new practical management tool that can be used by all companies to manage and evaluate their patents and tra-demarks. The IPscore® model is a qualitative tool that can give a picture of the strategic value for companies of a patent or a trademark. IPscore® forms a basis for evaluating to which extend companies must act in order to increase the value of their rights".   To find out more, click here.
    Posted by Rodney Cruise

Friday, July 20 2001

  • Patent Citation Analysis - Report
    A press release from the EPO details a report entitled: "Patent citation analysis - A closer look at the basic input data from patent search reports", written by Jacques MICHEL and Bernd BETTELS, EPO DG 1, jointly published by Kluwer Academic Publishers, Dordrecht and Akadémiai Kiadó, Budapest in Scientometrics, Vol. 51, No. 1 (2001) 185–201. An excerpt from the report "The present paper focuses on some important requirements for understanding patent search reports in view of their use for statistical analysis. It is pointed out and illustrated that the comprehensiveness and the quality of a given search report may vary significantly as a function of the patent office drawing up the report. These differences imply consequences with respect to the safe use and interpretation of the data. The authors stress that a sound analysis based on patent citation data can only be performed in a meaningful way if the analyst has a minimum knowledge of the underlying search reports.". For those interested in reading the report a copy is available from the EPO in Adobe Acrobat™ format. Click here to download a copy.
    Posted by Rodney Cruise.
  • Maori Made - New Zealand Trademark
    Reporter Glen Crofskey of the New Zealand website "NewsRoom" has reported on a new trade mark in New Zealand designed to identify authentic indigenous Maori artworks. The trade mark comprises the words "maori made" and "toi iho" together with a graphic device.  To check out the trade mark (which has been accepted) visit the IPONZ site and enter the trade mark number 629853.   Note that there is a series of marks covering all classifications, to search for them key in "maori made".
    Posted by Rodney Cruise
  • PATINNOVA / EPIDOS Annual Conference Update
    Daniel Shalloe of the EPO in Vienna has advised that the PATINNOVA/EPIDOS Annual Conference website has been updated. The main changes are the addition of comprehensive information on the special day decidated to epoline, the EPO's system for Online Patent Filing, the Online European Patent Register and Online File Inspection, and a complete list of all exhibitors registered so far, with links to their websites. To find out more visit the Conference Website.
    Posted by Rodney Cruise

Thursday, July 19 2001

  • Cambia - CambiaIP
    I have recently discovered a little gem of a patent database - CambiaIP - and it is free. You can search the CambiaIP databases which is a subset of published patents and applications relevant to agricultural biotechnology.  The website states "Our data comes from the European Patent Office (EP) and the World Intellectual Property Organisation (WO) - bibliographic "front page" data, and full text of documents. The full text for WO appplications and for historical EP granted patents has been extracted using Optical Character Recognition techniques (OCR)".   Click here if you are interested in visiting Cambia or here to visit their free database CambiaIP.
    Posted by Rodney Cruise
  • FICPI - 6th Open Forum - Rome 2001
    The FICPI 6th Open Forum is being held in Rome from 14 to 17 November,2001.  This year I have the honour and pleasure of being the moderator for the business session, "Use of Trademarks on the Internet and Vetting for Availability".  If there are any IP Menu readers attending the FICPI Forum, I would love to hear from you.  You can find out more on the 6th Open FICPI Forum from the FICPI website.
    Posted by Rodney Cruise

Wednesday, July 18 2001

Tuesday, July 17 2001

  • Aurigin Releases New Product - "Aureka Silver"
    Aurgin Systems Inc., have announced a new product - "Aureka Silver".  Aureka Silver is a "web-based tool that offers customers the basic search, data management, and analysis features found in the Aureka platform, without the advanced analytical capabilities of Aurigin's flagship product, Aureka® (renamed Aureka® Gold). This provides a new option for customers with users in need of powerful search and reporting functions, but who do not need the complete functionality and power of Aureka Gold. Innovation Asset Management is the practice of analyzing a company's portfolio of valuable ideas, products and processes within its business context, together with its competitor's portfolios". For more information please visit Aurigin or read their press release.
    Posted by Rodney Cruise
  • Patent Re*Search Toolbox Update
    Kirill Sereda, a patent translator of Japanese and Chinese to English has provided the following information about the Patent Re*Search Toolbox previously reported here on 9 July 2001. Many thanks to Kirill!

    "DIP-J" A tool for downloading publications found via text search of (Japanese) Patent Office Electronic Library (IPDL) publications.
    "DIP-J Pro" A downloader for the following services provided by the Patent Office Electronic Library: Publication texts earch; IPC search; FI-F term search; Trademark application, registration info; Trademark name search; Japanese Design Classification, D term search.
    "AfterDJ" A tool providing for a morev ersatile and efficient use of the publication HTML data downloaded using DIP-J series software.
    "GTViewer" A piece of software for viewing and printing publication images downloaded using DIP-J series software.
    "G-Suite" A software package containing various programs for handling publication images, including GTViewer Plus, which is a GTViewer with a PDF conversion function, TIFFView, which permits viewing TIFF files in the same manner as with GTViewer regardless of the folder structure, and TIF2PDF, which is a non-GUI TIFF-to-PDF program supporting batch processing and user applications.
    "DIP-J for USP" Downloads publication data from the Full-text Patent DB from theU SPTO-Web.
    "DIP-J E' Storage" A downloader for the esp@cenet Worldwide database.
    "DIP-J Classic" A tool for downloading publications by number from the "Patent and Utility Model Publication DB," as well as from the "Design Publication DB," "Trademark Publication DB," "Foreign Publication DB," Court Decision Publication DB," etc. of the Patent Office Electronic Library.
    "FLIPPs" A piece of software for searching patent publication PDF files using a combination of several search terms, making lists of search results and title handling.
    "PickPack" A tool for bundling several PDF files in a single PDF file.
    "TIF2PDF" A console program for converting a publication image TIFF file into a PDF file.
    "AZMA" A console program for converting a patent or utility model SGML file into a PDF file.
    "JPGaz" A patent CD-ROM viewer for displaying and printing files from patent publication CD-ROMs and patent publication SGML files conforming to Japanese Patent Office specifications. Can perform full-text searches, too.
    "D-COOL" A Design Publication CD-ROM viewer.
    "J.Marks" A trademark CD-ROM viewer.
    "Claymore" A stand-alone "claim browser" supporting interpretation of complex claims.
    "POO4Viewer" A PATOLIS log browser for displaying output logs (P003, 4, 5, 8) from the patent dababase PATOLIS one case per page.
    "TAPILOS" A tool for converting PATOLIS output logs (P003-5, 8-10 for patents, utility models) to CVS and tab-delimited files.
    "PatGrep" A tool for Grep search of PATOLIS communication log file(s).
    "ClassEye" A patent classification database based on a new concept and providing a different look and feel that corresponds to IPC, FI, F term and U.S. Patent Classification.
    "MC7" A tool for writing trademark application text in HTML.

Friday, July 13 2001

  • DEPATISnet Now in English
    The German Patent and Trademark Office (Deutschen Patent- und Markenamtes (DPMA)) DEPATISnet website provides access to a worldwide patent collection (presumeably espacenet). DEPATISnet provides free searching, including family searches and document delivery. Assisted searches are also available - queries can be sent direct to the German Patent Information Centre. The site is current in English and German. To visit, click here.
    Posted by Rodney Cruise

Wednesday, July 11 2001

  • Employment Opportunity at Phillips Ormonde & Fitzpatrick
    Intellectual Property Opportunities - Patent Attorney (Melbourne Office) and Trainee Patent Attorneys (Melbourne & Sydney Office).   Phillips Ormonde & Fitzpatrick is one of Australia's largest and most progressive firms of Patent & Trade Mark Attorneys. Phillips Ormonde are the firm behind IP MENU.   They have positions available in their Melbourne and Sydney Offices for Biotechnology and Biochemistry professionals.  For more information click here. To view other employment opportunities please click here.
    Posted by Rodney Cruise
  • All Australian Patent Specifications Available Electronically
    This is a bit of a first for Phillips Ormonde & Fitzpatrick & IP MENU - We are actually offering a service via the IP MENU site.  We now can provide copies of virtually any Australian Patent or Patent Application in electronic form.  You can of course download Australian specifications from the IP Australia web site, but this is limited to specifications from approximately 1998/9 onwards.  The "older" collection is entirely in microfiche and paper form.  Phillips Ormonde however are now in a position to provide the 'older' collection in an electronic form.  If you would like to find out more information or order an electronic specification, please contact us here.
    Posted by Rodney Cruise
  • Take the WIPO Virtual Tour
    As reported by our friends at the IPR-Helpdesk, WIPO have created a virtual IP tour. "Intellectual property surrounds us in nearly everything we do. At home, at school, at work. At rest and at play. No matter what we do, we are surrounded by the fruits of human creativity and invention. WIPO has taken this concept and created a virtual tour of IP in everyday life. Based on an exhibition called At Home With Invention that was held at the WIPO Information Center in Geneva, the tour provides a broad, interactive excursion into the various areas of intellectual property in a familiar setting".  Click here for more information.
    Posted by Rodney Cruise

Tuesday, July 10 2001

Monday, July 9 2001

  • More Patent Downloading Software - Patent Re*Search Toolbox
    IP MENU has reported on both PatSee™ (formerly Lattice) and more recently PatMate™, now we have discovered more software designed to assist the patent professional in downloading and searching patent literature. Patent Re*Search ToolBox has some interesting options for downloading and searching JP, US and ESPACENET patent documents. The website is in Japanese so even with the aid of the Babel Fish translation program I am unable to provide much information about these products. I have only used the DIP-J for USPTO which worked well in downloading and producing a multipage TIFF file of a USPTO patent. The trial version is limited to 5 pages. If someone fluent in Japanese could translate the information, I would happily include updated information here. Below is a list of just some of the software programs available. You will need a unzip program that can handle LZH compression, but they are easily found on sites like www.tucows.com or www.shareware.com. Some of the programs are free, whilst others have a trial period of 30 days before you need to register them. Below is my brief description of a selection of the software available.

    - DIP-J for USPTO - (Software in English, download multipage US TIFF patents)

    - DIP-J PRO - (Software in Japanese, download and search JP documents (patents and trademarks?)

    - DIP-J Classic - (Software in Japanese, unclear what patent documents it downloads)

    - DIP-J - (Software in Japanese, appears to be for Japanese Patents)

    - DIP-J E'Storage - (Software in Japanese, appears to access the European Patent Office database)

    Posted by Rodney Cruise
  • NetsPat Ltd - Management Information System for Patent Portfolios
    Paul Richter, the Director of NetsPat Ltd has provided us with some information of their online Management Information System for patent portfolios. It operates online, over Internet protocols. "NetsPat provides the Client with features which are essential in the decision making process : clear picture of the patent situation, simulation of future costs, establishment of budgets." To visit NetsPat, click here.
    Posted by Rodney Cruise

Friday, July 6 2001

  • Chinese Patent Services from TekGene
    Following some recent discussion on the PIUG list I have been advised about a Chinese Patent Search/Translation/Filing Service from Tekegene.  Tekegene provide: " 1) Full documents of published Chinese patents and patent applications in Adobe PDF format. 2) Chinese patent search, patent alert, etc. 3) Translation service: English – Chinese. 4) Chinese patent filing services and other related services". For more information on Tekegene, click here.
    Posted by Rodney Cruise

Wednesday, July 4 2001

  • Aurigin Systems and Vivisimo Combine
    Aurigin Systems and Vivisimo (see 28 June News) have partnered to provided advanced text clustering capabilities to Aurigin's Aureka Online Services for searching, analysis and mapping of patent information.  Read their press release here.
    Posted by Rodney Cruise

Tuesday, July 3 2001

Monday, July 2 2001

  • Automated Patent Valuation Report used in Court
    Patent Value Predictor have announced in a press release that an Automated Patent Valuation report has been submitted as evidence of patent value in Bruce Kruger v. Azotic Coating Technology, Inc.  "The Automated Patent Valuation service allows a user to select patents and then obtain valuation reports on the patents".  To read the press release, click here.
    Posted by Rodney Cruise
  • Victorian (Australia) Patent Project (1854-1904)
    The State Library of Victoria, in collaboration with the Australian Science and Technology Heritage Centre (AUSTEHC), is creating a digital database of 21,500 patent applications lodged in Victoria from 1854 to 1904. Subsequently, the original copies of all these patent applications will be digitised, providing over 100,000 images over the Web.  To visit Patents Victoria, click here.
    Posted by Rodney Cruise
  • Man Gets Patent for the Wheel - No I am not joking!
    An article appearing in my local newspaper this morning announced that a Melbourne man (he happens to be a patent attorney) has successfully obtained an Innovation Patent for the 'wheel'.  This event clearly illustrates the weakness of the new Australian Innovation Patent system, although some would argue that it illustrates its strengths. You be the judge. To read the article click here, to visit IP Australia and find out more about the Innovation Patent, click here.
    Posted by Rodney Cruise
  • Dialog New Pricing Initiatives
    Dialog has announced the first in a series of new pricing initiatives to be rolled out during the next two years in which Dialog will develop and implement new pricing programs and options across all three product lines — Dialog®, Profound® and DataStar™. Click here to read the Dialog Press Release.
    Posted by Rodney Cruise

 
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