FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS What is IP MENU? Who produces IP MENU? What information is covered on IP MENU? How often is IP MENU updated? How do I get my firm's listing on IP MENU updated? Why isn't my intellectual property website listed on IP MENU? How will I know if a website or database best suits my needs? What does the ($) mean? Can I contribute to IP MENU? Will IP MENU continue to grow? What are the best settings for viewing IP MENU? What is IP MENU? IP MENU is a worldwide Internet directory system aimed at users and researchers working in the intellectual property field. The system is designed in a hierarchical fashion with indexes by country or property type (eg patent, trade mark etc). Who produces IP MENU? IP Organisers Pty Ltd produces IP MENU. IP Organisers is an Australian company specialising in the provision of intellectual property support services to Australian and international companies, organisations and professional services firms. IP Organisers is an independent service company of Phillips Ormonde & Fitzpatrick, a well-known Australian firm of patent and trade mark attorneys. Rodney Cruise Rodney Cruise IP Organiser’s Manager is Rodney Cruise. He is also a Partner of the firm, Phillips Ormonde & Fitzpatrick. Rodney's background is in intellectual property information research, where he has more than 17 years experience. He is an Australian and New Zealand Patent and Trade Mark Attorney and has a Bachelor of Science degree in Applied Chemistry from the Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology. What information is covered on IP MENU? Virtually any important website that deals with intellectual property is catalogued on IP MENU. IP MENU is designed to be used by novices as well as experienced intellectual property researchers The system is indexed hierarchically and divided into countries and intellectual property interests. Each section has access to online websites containing patent, trade mark, design, domain name, legislation, company and business information. IP MENU also links to government and library websites, and lists unique features, such as, information and intellectual property conferences. Other resources that contain intellectual property information, but are not exclusively IP related, have been included. For example, “Chemical Abstracts” is a database that has been indexed on IP MENU as it contains useful patent information, even though it was not chiefly designed as a patent website. What does the ($) mean? There is a vast amount of free intellectual property information available on the Internet.  However, most serious intellectual property researcher will regularly use one or more of the many commercial suppliers of intellectual property information.  Why?  Because the value adding that commercial supplier often provide with their services allow for better and (in the long run) more cost effective research. In order to make it easier for IP MENU users to know which services are free and which incur a cost, we have mark the records with a   “($)” sign.  This indicates that the resource or website has (at least for some of its information) a fee charging structure for information. Often these sites provide an excellent range of free information as well. Why isn’t my intellectual property website listed in IP MENU? IP MENU tries to cover all relevant intellectual property websites. If your website does not appear on IP MENU and you think it should, submit your website details through our submit form and we will see if we can find a home for it!. Please note, IP MENU does not generally contain links to patent attorney websites as there are many search engines that already perform this task.   However, if your firm has a useful intellectual property resource (eg text of legislation) on your website that could be included on IP MENU, please let us know.   IP MENU does, however, include listings of registered attorneys in many countries. If you have recently submitted your site to IP MENU and your listing has not yet appeared, please keep in mind it can take up to a fortnight for new listings to appear. How do I get my firm's listing on IP MENU updated? Help keep IP MENU up-to-date! Simply submit the name and location of your firm and the new details though our submit form. Can I contribute to IP MENU? IP MENU welcomes suggestions and contributions from users. Feedback can be sent to our email address at webmaster[at]ipmenu.com. (Please change "[at]" to "@" when emailing) Will IP MENU continue to grow? IP MENU will continue to grow and improve. That is why input from IP MENU users is so important. If there is a feature you think is missing or you have suggestions for improvements, such as websites we should consider for inclusion, please contact IP MENU at webmaster[at]ipmenu.com. (Please change "[at]" to "@" when emailing) What is the best settings for viewing IP MENU? IP MENU is best viewed using Microsoft Internet Explorer 6 (or above) or Firefox 1.0 (or above).  Minimum screen resolution is 800X600, although higher is recommended.  This website is created using Microsoft Frontpage 98 and uses ASP and Javascript.   How will I know if a website or database best suits my research needs? IP MENU has endeavoured to visit and use all the websites listed in IP MENU. Indeed we use IP MENU as the basis for our own day-to-day research requests. To help decide if a database or website is suitable for your requirements we have included brief descriptions on IP MENU. Alternatively, IP MENU can direct you to a website where you can conduct your own “roadtest” and decide if that resource best suits your needs. The beauty of IP MENU is that all the hard work associated with compiling intellectual property websites has been done for you. Information and links are no more than a mouse-click or two away.