Highlights of the Patent Information Users Group 2004 Annual Conference

An International Conference for Patent Information

Worldwide Patent Information: Back to Basics

by Glen Kotapish

INFORMATION FOR INNOVATION

In 1899, the Wright Brothers asked the Smithsonian Institution for all the information they had on flight. After a quick search on a Friday afternoon, according to conference speaker Steven Adams, the Smithsonian provided them with the technical papers and patents of just over half a dozen aviation pioneers. Today, there are reams of information to sift through for anyone working on an invention in any field.

FIND THE RIGHT NEEDLE IN A “HAYSTACK” OF NEEDLES

Conference speaker Willem-Geert Lagemaat, CEO of patent information company Univentio, compared the challenge of finding pertinent patent information using today’s patent databases and other resources to “finding the right needle in a stack of needles.” Fortunately, the Patent Information Users Group (PIUG) is dedicated to making this task easier. PIUG’s goal is to foster education and innovation in the field of patent research and analysis.

AN EXCHANGE OF IDEAS & INFORMATION

PIUG met for their annual conference in May, 2004 in Baltimore, Maryland. Corporate and independent patent research professionals, patent office officials, and patent information vendors gave seminars on current trends and innovations in intellectual property and patent research. The conference also included workshops by many commercial patent information vendors and value-added patent services companies.  Ask the Experts sessions facilitated the trading of ideas between patent information vendors and end-users. A networking event at Baltimore’s Camden Yards baseball stadium featured the Baltimore Oriole’s mascot as a host along with great food.

 

STAY AHEAD OF THE GAME

Attending a PIUG conference is a must for those who want to stay on top of the patent strategy and patent information game. The theme for the next PIUG conference in 2005 is “The Future of Patent Information.” Visit the www.piug.org website for more information on future conferences and archived resources.

TOPICS AND THEMES OF THE PIUG 2004 ANNUAL CONFERENCE

The following topics and themes were covered at the conference.

  • Analyzing patent data
  • Emerging patent search technologies
  • Esp@cenet and Open Patent Services resources
  • Fee-based patent information resources
  • Free patent information resources
  • Gaps in patent information resources
  • INPADOC recent changes
  • Internet patent resources and cost-saving techniques
  • Japanese patent classification systems and databases
  • Korean Institute of Patent Information resources
  • Quality and consistency of patent family information
  • Recommending the most appropriate type of patent search to a client
  • Russian & former countries of the Soviet Union patent information resources
  • Strategies for getting the most from patent data
  • Trends in the Central and South American intellectual property world
  • Trends in the Japanese intellectual property world
  • Understanding a client’s patent search needs
  • United States Patent & Trademark Office (USPTO) web-based free resources
  • USPTO’s 21st Century Plan and harmonization plans
  • USPTO’s planned outsourcing of patent searches

 

EXHIBITORS AT THE PIUG 2004 ANNUAL CONFERENCE

The following companies had exhibits at the PIUG 2004 Annual Conference.

Anacubis Micropatent
BizInt Minesoft
Chemical Abstract Service Patolis and Patolis-e
Dialog Questel-Orbit
European Patent Office Rusch Consulting Group
FIZ Karlsruhe Technology & Patent Research International
Gene-IT Thomson Scientific
IFI Claims Univentio
Intralogics/Patent Vision VantagePoint
Korea Institute of Patent Information World Intellectual Property Services

Glen Kotapish is a professional patent searcher.  He specializes in electronic, mechanical, and aerospace searches and is founder of www.PlanetPatent.com.  He is also a consultant for companies developing patent search engines and software.  Glen can be reached at searchpatents@aol.com.

Copyright © 2004 Glen Kotapish