Background
The patent domain is a crucial source of
technical information - it has been claimed
that 80% of the world's technical information can
be found here. Patents also provide links to
other relevant published information.
Patents are often the
first publication of technical innovation - most
companies would not risk disclosure until a
patent application has been granted or is well underway.
Patents therefore provide a valuable indicator of
competitive activity.
The granting of a patent
gives the Applicant/Inventor important monopoly
rights and the preparation of a patent
requires detailed knowledge of the prior art.
It is important when introducing new
products to avoid unexpected patent infringements.
Several thousand patents are published each week,
and for retrospective searching the EPO (European
Patent Office) alone provides links to 30 million
patents. Searching for patent information can be a
daunting task particularly for a general search
where the outcome can never be guaranteed as
complete. It is necessary
to set the investment of time and resources in searching against
the risks of failing to identify prior art.
Course Description
The purpose of this short course is to provide a
guide to the main public databases emphasising
both similarities and differences. It shows how an
understanding of 'Patent Classification Systems' can greatly enhance
searching. It is also necessary to be aware of the
contents of different databases and the defaults
that may operate on first entering the site. Patent
searching is supported by many specialised
commercial databases and fee based services for
advanced searching. However, the user's own
technical knowledge can provide shortcuts to
information using text retrieval techniques.
Course participants will be provided with a
workbook and quick links to useful web pages. In
addition to some set examples, participants will be
able to carry out searches on their chosen topics.
The one day course will be equally divided
between lectures and parctical searching. A brief
overview of other knowledge sources, including PRA's
WSCA database will also be given.
Who should attend
Although the course is illustrated with examples
from the coatings domain, it would be equally
applicable to similar chemical industries such as
adhesives, printing inks etc.
Tutor
Mr Jon Graystone - Principal Research
Scientist PRA
Venue
PRA, Hampton, Middlesex, UK
Dates and Times
Scheduled according to demand - if you are interested, please use
our contact form to
let us know.
Course Prices
to be announced
More Information
For further details contact Elisabeth Brown
