When we launched orbit.com (Qpat) more than fifteen years ago, it was the Internet's first and only patent searching tool that was designed for end-users.  Back then patent management work lay in the hands of professional searchers, who used database command languages, and legal professionals, who understood the patenting process.  Today, patent-related work is spreading to departments and teams with little or no prior exposure to the intricacies of retrieving, analyzing and distributing patent information.  Moreover, the emerging emphasis on I.P. rights and the growing complexity of the environment in which those rights exist have made the work even more complicated.