Abstracts for the 2000 PIUG Annual Meeting
Contact Terri A Dockter (TADOCKT@ppco.com) for additions and/or
corrections to the following abstracts.
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Chemical Abstracts Class - Sunday, April 30, 9 - 12 noon
"Searching for a Class of Chemical Substances in the Patent Literature"
Kerry G. Stanley, Chemical Abstracts Service
This session will look at a multi-faceted approach to retrieving
patents describing a class of chemical substances. Approaches to be
described include searching by structure for specific compounds or for
those described generically in a Markush structure. Additionally searching
by nomenclature and searching using alphanumeric fragment code systems
will be described, as well as techniques for consolidating the
multifile results. STN files such as REGISTRY, CAplus, MARPAT, USPATFULL,
IFI Claims and WPI will be highlighted using STN Express search software.
To Register, contact the CAS Training Assistant at:
Phone: 800-848-6538, ext. 3549
E-mail: wksp@cas.org
Web: http://www.cas.org/supp.html
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IFI Claims Patent Services presentation
Harry M. Allcock has been employed with IFI Claims Patent Services for the
past 38 years.
Harry Allcock, Vice President, IFI Claims Patent Services
Title: New Ownership - Enhancements and Expansions
IFI was purchased by Aspen Publishers, Inc. on September 1, 1999, and is
currently operating as a division of Aspen Law and Business, which is also
a Wolters Kluwer company. During the last six months we have expanded the
PATENT INTELLIGENCE AND TECHNOLOGY REPORT to include a PC-based monthly
version as well as a ten year retrospective file using the CURRENT US
classification codes and Standard Industry Codes. All company names
appearing in this Report are standardized. The IFI indexing procedures
have been enhanced to include several forms of automatic and systematic
indexing, and these changes will be reviewed. Other topics such as
structure coded input to the IFI databases will be discussed, along with
the IFI concordance of IPC to US classification.
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Patent Assignee Session
Edlyn Simmons
Monica Reider (IFI Claims Patent Services)
Mark Bauer (Derwent)
Steve Boyer (IBM)
Kerry Stanley (CAS)
Judy Hickey (Micropatent)
Thuy Ledinh or David Dickens (Questel-Orbit)
Searching patent assignees is complicated by two issues: First, companies
can file patents under a variety of names (e.g., different subsidiaries);
and second, company names can undergo changes over time, sometimes because
of mergers and acquisitions. An excellent example is Aventis, formerly
Hoechst Marion Roussel, formerly Marion Merrell Dow, etc. Edlyn Simmons
will present a chronology of this company's history of name changes. Monica
Reider of IFI Claims Patent Services, Mark Bauer of Derwent information,
and Steve Boyer of IBM will describe how their databases standardize
company names and/or assign company codes. Each will trace through how
their databases have indexed Aventis and its predecessors. They will then
take part in a panel discussion with Kerry Stanley of CAS, Judy Hickey of
Micropatent, and Thuy Ledinh or David Dickens of Questel-Orbit, with
audience participation, on issues raised and plans for the future.
Panel Participants and biographies:
Harry M. Allcock is Vice President of IFI CLAIMS Patent Services at their
Wilmington, North Carolina, office. He has headed up IFI for the past 38
years.
Harry M. Allcock
102 Eastwood Road
Wilmington, NC 28403
910-392-0068
910-392-0240 Fax
800-368-3093
allcock@ificlaims.com
Edlyn S. Simmons is currently Section Head of Business Intelligence
Services at the Procter & Gamble Company in Cincinnati, Ohio. Previously
she was for many years the Manager of the Patent Information Group in the
Patent Department of Hoechst Marion Roussel, Inc. In addition, she has
been a registered U.S. patent agent since 1977, and has lectured and
published extensively in the field of chemical and patent information.
Edlyn S. Simmons
Procter & Gamble Company
5299 Spring Grove Ave.
Cincinnati, Ohio 45217
(513) 627-5664
(513) 627-6854 (fax)
simmons.es@pg.com
Monica Rieder works for IFI CLAIMS Patent Services, now a subsidiary of
Aspen Publishers, as Senior Indexer/Editor at their Wilmington, Delaware,
office. Monica has worked as indexer and editor for IFI for 24 years and
is responsible for tracing assignee histories and creating and assignee
IFI's assignee codes.
Monica Rieder
IFI CLAIMS Patent Services
3202 Kirkwood Highway, Suite 203
Wilmington, DE 19808
302-998-0478
Mark Bauer is Online Account Executive for Derwent Information in their
Alexandria, Virginia. office. He worked as a discovery chemist at DuPont
Agricultural Products before getting into information as a literature
scientist at Merck & Co.
Mark Bauer
Derwent Information Inc.
1725 Duke St Suite 250
Alexandria, VA 22314
703-838-5919
703-519-5838 (Fax)
mbauer@derwentus.com
Steve Boyer is “Idea Guy” at the IBM Almaden Research Center in San Jose,
California. He is the creator and “father” of the IBM Patent Server, now
the IBM Intellectual Property Network.
Steve Boyer
IBM Almaden Research Center
650 Harry Rd
San Jose, CA 95120
408-927-1655
Boyer@Almaden.ibm.com
Kerry G. Stanley is an Application Specialist with Chemical Abstracts
Service in Columbus, Ohio. He is responsible for developing training
materials that support online searching on STN, with a focus on patent
literature retrieval, and conducts numerous workshops and
presentations. Prior to joining CAS in 1994, Kerry worked in the
pharmaceutical industry for 22 years.
Kerry G. Stanley
Application Specialist
Chemical Abstracts Service
215-362-7280
kstanley@cas.org
Judy Hickey is Patent Development Director for MicroPatent in East Haven,
Connecticut. She has been with MicroPatent for nine years.
Judy Hickey
MicroPatent
250 Dodge Ave.
East Haven, CT 06512
203-466-5055
203-466-5054 (fax)
jhickey@micropat.com
David Dickens is Director of Patent Services and Vice President of U.S.
Operations of Questel-Orbit in their U.S. office in McLean, Virginia. He
has been with Orbit since 1989 and spearheaded the merger of Orbit with
Questel.
David Dickens
Questel-Orbit
8000 Westpark Drive
McLean, VA 22102
703-556-7446
703-893-4632
ddickens@questel.orbit.com
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Lou Falasco is the Project Leader for Chemical Industries at the U.S.
Patent and Trademark Office (PTO) and Past President of the Patent
Documentation Society of America. He holds a BS and MS in Chemical
Engineering from Manhattan College (NYC) and Cornell University, attended
George Washington University Law School & the Maxwell School for Advanced
Public Policy, and has an MBA from Western State Uiversity. Before becoming
Project Leader, Lou was Primary Patent Examiner for Chemical Engineering at
the PTO. He's been instructor at PTO's Patent Academy, and the author of
patent classifications for Semiconductor Manufacturing; Inorganic
Chemistry; Liquid Crystallography; Inorganic Chemistry and
Electro-photography.
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Martha Crockett Sneed has worked with patent and trademark information
service delivery to public users for over 24 years. Currently, she serves
as Manager of the Patent and Trademark Depository Library Program at the
U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, a position she has held since January
1992. In this capacity she administers the nationwide network of 86 PTDLs,
directing all support functions designed to provide a wide portfolio of
products and services to assist the PTDL's efforts in disseminating patent
and trademark information to their customers across the country. She
worked as a staff librarian in the PTDL Program from 1985 - 1991. Prior to
coming to the PTO, she worked for 11 years at the Detroit Public Library (a
PTDL!), seven of them in the Technology and Science Department where she
served as the PTDL Representative for the library.
Martha Crockett Sneed, Manager
Patent and Trademark Depository Library Program
Title: PTDLs: What they are, and what they are not!
The presenter will debunk pervasive myths about PTDLs and reveal the
secrets behind their success. Do you need one in your neighborhood? You
bet, and find out why!
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Chemical Abstracts Service presentation
Kerry Stanley is an Application Specialist with Chemical Abstracts
Service. In this position Kerry is responsible for developing training
materials supporting online searching on STN, with a focus on patent
literature retrieval, and conducts numerous workshops and
presentations. Kerry joined CAS in 1994.
Prior to joining CAS, Kerry worked in the pharmaceutical industry for 22
years. Initially, he conducted research towards developing new therapeutic
products in the cardiovascular and immunology areas. After 11 years of
laboratory research, he made the transition to information sciences. In
this role Kerry has provided information retrieval services to scientists
and patent attorneys, as well as managed the corporate information center
and developed in-house database management systems supporting product
literature and clinical records.
Kerry spent the majority of his corporate career with McNeil
Pharmaceutical, Wyeth Ayerst Research and most recently with Sterling
Winthrop Pharmaceutical. He is a graduate of Juniata College and received
a M.S. in Organic Chemistry at Iowa State University.
Kerry G. Stanley, Application Specialist, Chemical Abstracts Service
Title: Making Patent Information More Accessible
The value of online patent information is inherently tied to its
retrieval. And patent record retrieval is dependent on timely availability
and search access points. Where can you retrieve US patents the same day
they are published, or Japanese chemical patent publications within two
days of publication? Can we retrieve a record for a German 1939 patent
number? How were US Provisional application numbers incorporated into the
online files? What biosequences are described in US5952213? Are they
claimed sequences? Recent file enhancements will be described that address
these and other important questions encountered by the patent searcher.
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Gérard Giroud is presently the Principal Director at The European Patent
Office (The Hague) in charge of the Documentation Department. This
Department is responsible for the documentation and databases as well as
for the search tools available to the EPO examiners.
Gérard Giroud graduated in Chemistry in Lyon (France). At the EPO, he was
first a search examiner in The Hague (Holland), and then a Substantive
Examiner in Munich (Germany). He was later placed in charge of the
Technical Cooperation Directorate in International Affairs
(Munich). During the last 8 years, he was the Head of the EPO Agency
(Vienna, Austria) in charge the EPO patent Information activities. In
1999, Gérard moved back to The Hague to take care of the EPO Documentation
activities.
Gérard Giroud, Principal Director at the European Patent Office (The Hague)
in charge of the Documentation Department.
Title: Developments at the European Patent Office
After a short introduction on the main recent developments at the European
Patent Office, the EPO Documentation Policy will be presented: extension of
the documentation coverage, quality of the databases maintained, future
search tools for the examiners. The importance of the projects commonly
developed in the Trilateral Cooperation among the European Patent Office,
the Japanese Patent Office and the US Patent and trademark Office will be
underlined. The Documentation is at the heart of a strategy to allow the
Patent Offices to face their growing workloads and to assure the Quality of
the Patent System. The importance of the EPO documentation for external
users will also be considered as well as its availability through esp@cenet
(the Internet access to the EPO documentation) and commercial providers.
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Rouget "Ric" Henschel is a registered U.S. patent agent at the Washington,
D.C. offices of Lyon & Lyon LLP. Ric has a doctorate in organic chemistry
and obtained a J.D. in January 2000. He is sitting for the Virginia bar in
February. Ric's experience with patent preparation and prosecution began in
1995, when he joined the firm of Oblon, Spivak, et al, as a patent
agent. Prior to that, Ric worked in the online information industry, first
with the Central Abstracting & Information Service of the American
Petroleum Institute, then with Dialog Information Services.
Rouget "Ric" Henschel
Title: U.S. Patent Law for Patent Searchers
Ric will discuss relevant issues in the recently passed American Inventor's
Protection Act of 1999, including the publication of U.S. applications
before grant and time limits for PTO actions. Ric will also discuss topics
including recent trends in theories of invalidity in litigation, using
foreign search reports as sources of relevant documents, and document
requests that are not strictly for establishing anticipation or obviousness.
Ric would like to hear from PIUG members who have specific questions about
US patent law. He will address these questions in his talk.
You may contact Ric directly at: [RFHenschel@LYONLYON.com]
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Noel J. Akers is a British and European Patent Attorney and principal of
the firm Akers & Co., with offices in Houston, Texas and Cheshire, England.
His practice embraces all aspects of British and European patent law,
focussing in particular on prosecution and opposition proceedings before
the European Patent Office. Noel has a Master of Engineering Degree in
Chemical Engineering.
Noel J. Akers
Title: Comparison of EP and US Patent Practice
This paper will provide an introduction to a comparison between US and
European patent law and practice, concentrating on various aspects of
patent practice likely to be encountered by information
specialists. Subjects covered will include the rules of novelty, duty of
candour, file wrapper estoppel, divisional and continuation application
practice, and functional language.
You may contact Noel at: njakers@pdq.net
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Stephen Boyer (of IBM) is credited with being the "father of the IBM Patent
Server" now called the Intellectual Property (IP) Network,
http://www.patents.ibm.com . This effort to try to aggregate the entire
intellectual property of the world into a single database and to make it
available to the world on the Internet has resulted in one of the largest
and most successful Internet sites on the web today.
Dr. Boyer was the primary catalyst in IBM's joint digital library
initiative with Thomson Publishing. He initiated the collaboration between
IBM and Thomson, which resulted in a successful venture for making more
than 2,300 scientific and technical journals available via the Internet
(now called The "Web of Science" TM by Thomson's ISI Corp).
Dr. Boyer has worked in numerous management positions at IBM, including
overseas assignments to direct IBM's scientific and technical computing
initiatives. He has evaluated IBM's investments with numerous software
startups in the area of scientific and technical computing.
Dr. Boyer has several patents for his contributions in the development (and
commercialization) of two pharmaceutical drugs, which are currently on the
market, and two patents in the area of applying computer technology to
developing tools for building scientific databases. Most recently he has
led collaborations to developing Internet meta-crawling and searching
technologies to promote better ways to access information. He holds a BA
degree from Temple University and a Ph.D. from Tufts University.
Dr. Stephen Boyer
Title: - IBM's web-based IP-Network including new databases, visualization
tools, Derwent World Patent Index on IBM, other new features and facilities.
The IBM Intellectual Property (IP) Network currently offers the public the
ability to perform global searches across multiple IP databases for US,
European and Japanese Patents, as well as PCT and European patent
applications. Additionally, users can view all of the document images for
free. We currently offer US patents, (Full -Text and images from 1971- to
present); PCT data (abstracts and full document images), European patents
and patent applications, and Japanese patent abstracts and images (from
1979). We are currently preparing to offer access to the InPoDoc database
including legal status as well as several other country collections. Later
this year, we will be including partner databases such as the Derwent DWPI
data, which will be available for a fee. We strongly felt that by
placing patent data, on the Internet we would:
1. Provide a public service to other researchers with a need to access
this information.
2. Increase general awareness of the capabilities of the Internet
3. Increase public awareness and access to this important corpus of IP
information.
Having aggregated the IP databases we are now exploring ways to improve the
quality of the data as well as provide users ability to benefit from the
information contained in the databases. For example, we currently publish
US patent classes as they were originally issued as well as their current
(reissued) classifications. We are providing new ways to "browse" patents
by their classifications and we are currently working to improve how people
can search for patents associated with different assignees. My talk will
focus on several examples of our efforts to provide improved assignee
searching as well as examples of our "newest" database mining tools, which
we hope to have general availability by the time of this meeting.
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Mark Hower is a senior vice president with MicroPatent where he has
directed sales and account management in North America and Asia since
1998. He has 10 years experience in patent information. His prior
positions include Sales Director for SmartPatents, now Aurigin Systems,
Account Manager and Regional Sales Manager for Derwent Information, and was
a management consultant with Booz Allen & Hamilton. He has a BA from
Bucknell University and an MBA from the Darden School of the University of
Virginia.
Title: Case Studies in Developing Patent Analysis Solutions
Mark Hower
Join Mark Hower as he presents insightful case studies that illustrate how
MicroPatent customers have created inhouse systems for effective patent
management, research and analysis that join with MicroPatent's PatentWeb.
Featured case studies include solo development, as well as custom solutions
engineered with the assistance of MicroPatent.
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Elena Sereix, European Patent Office
Elena Sereix is the official product manager of the Register of European
Patents. She has also taken over some aspects of the marketing for epoline
(the online communications between EPO and Applicants). Elena joined the
European Patent Office in 1984, in Munich. As head of the information
desks for the legal department, she gained a very deep knowledge on the
patent granting procedure and formalities. She later moved to the Vienna
office of the EPO and took over the Register, including the helpdesk,
technical developments, marketing, publicity, and training seminars for
patent attorneys all over Europe. In 1999 she moved to The Hague and
retained responsibility for the Register. Elena has a Baccalaureate in
science and is fluent in German, French and English.
Title: Register of European Patents via the Internet
The Register of European patents is now available via the Internet. This
first release provides the same scope of information as the X.25 and
dial-up version. The result screen presents data divided into different
chapters and in the same order as the present Register: bibliographic data,
search, examination, opposition and appeal.
Advantages of the Internet Register:
Besides the present search criteria (application/publication numbers,
applicant, priority number and IPC) the Internet Register will provide six
additional search fields:
-Publication date
-Priority date
-Filing date
-Inventor
-Opponent
-Representative
If the search result contains more than one document, a list of up to 500
documents will be displayed, sorted by the publication date: with the most
recent documents displayed at the top of the list.
Truncation: Although truncation cannot be provided in this first version,
the system allows Boolean operators in the name fields (applicant,
inventor, representative, opponent)
Download: Data can be downloaded in HTML format, for local treatment.
Future developments:
Phase II - June-July 2000
The internet Register will provide the possibility of downloading legal
status results for large lists of files that have been sent to the host in
one search command.
Phase III - January 2001
A link to the public file inspection module will be implemented: Register
users will be able see the content of the file on the screen. Links to EPC
Articles & Rules and IPC will be also provided.
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Dialog presentation
Based in Dialog's New York office, Mr. Ellis has been with the company
since 1991 and currently leads a nationwide team of specialists whose
primary responsibility is working with the country's largest Law Firm and
Corporate intellectual property accounts. Mr. Ellis is also responsible
for initiatives designed to maintain Dialog as the world's leading provider
of Intellectual Property content. He has addressed a number of
professional organizations on the subject of on-line searching for
intellectual property information. Mr. Ellis holds a Ph.D. from The Johns
Hopkins University.
Larry M. Ellis, Intellectual Property Market Director, Dialog
Title: New Content & Features on Dialog, US & Worldwide
Dialog remains a premier source of intellectual property information. This
presentation will focus on recent system additions such as WIPO/PCT Patents
Fulltext, enhanced US & international patent delivery and the addition of
specific US legal content. We will also discuss what recent changes in US
patent law such as 18 month publication will mean for Dialog searchers and
the forthcoming addition of tools that will allow the searcher to analyze
patent and chemical information.
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STN Presentation
Kerry G. Stanley, Application Specialist, Chemical Abstracts Service
Title: STN - Providing the Search Tools and Files
Some changes in patent search capabilities have been dramatic and some more
subtle, but all important in maximizing retrieval. This session will focus
on recent file enhancements, including nucleic acid homology searching in
DGENE, US provisional applications, enhancements to the full text files
USPATFULL and EUROPATFULL, and others. Also new search features and
enhancements to STN on the Web will be highlighted.
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Questel-Orbit presentation
David T. Dickens, General Manager, Questel-Orbit
David Dickens has more than 10 years experience in the online information
industry. During this time he has become an expert in the various areas of
Intellectual Property Information. Recently he managed the merger of the
Questel and Orbit online services, forming the new QuestelOrbit online
service. In July 1999 he was named Director, Patent Business, responsible
for developing QuestelOrbit's international patent business. Most
recently, he was promoted to General Manager of QuestelOrbit's US operation
in McLean, Virginia.
Dickens' career began with Questel-Orbit in the customer support area in
1988, and he was subsequently promoted to positions of increasing
responsibility, including sales executive, manager of customer services,
and product manager.
Mr. Dickens has a BS degree in Business Administration from the University
of Florida, with a minor in marketing, economics, finance and computer
science. He published an article, "The EPO ELCA Classification System," in
the March 1994 edition of World Patent Information.
Title: Competing with Internet based Intellectual Property Services - The
Questel-Orbit 2000 Strategy
The emergence of intellectual property services on the Internet has changed
the face of patent searching. More and more users, professional and
end-users alike, have come to accept, and even welcome, point-and-click,
and easy-to-use professional services. In 2000, Questel-Orbit will
continue to enhance our Internet products, Qweb and QPAT, to take advantage
of web-based technologies.
We will also continue to become a more full-service information provider,
by enhancing our already comprehensive collection of IP databases, and by
offering patent delivery, flexible output delivery, including XML and Notes
formats.
Substantial enhancements are also planned for QPAT, including the
additional databases and more patent-specific automated features.
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Derwent presentation
Donald Walter, Ph.D., Manager, Online Services, Derwent
Donald Walter has been with Derwent since 1992, specializing in supporting
users of Derwent’s polymer, chemical, and Markush indexing. He supports
users in person by training and remotely, including on helpdesk. He also
practices his craft by searching for patents in the Derwent Search
Service. He learned patent searching in his 12 years at Exxon Research and
Engineering Co. His Ph.D. is in chemistry from Yale.
Title: Update on WPI and Other Derwent Patent Files
In an era when raw un-enhanced patent data is becoming more and more
available, Derwent’s patent data is becoming more refined with more
value. Last year we started rolling out a totally redesigned abstract with
this new value. This year we will be updating progress in the
reengineering of the Derwent abstract.
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Aurigin Systems Presentation
Dr. Paul Germeraad joined Aurigin Systems in September 1998 and is focused
on the development of the company's intellectual asset management products
for the Licensing and R&D communities. Prior to joining Aurigin, Paul
served as Vice President, Corporate Research for Avery Dennison where he
directed its Corporate Research Center. Before joining Avery Dennison, Paul
held a variety of R&D and management positions at Raychem Corporation and
was director of James River Corporation's Flexible Packaging Technical
Center. Paul is a graduate of the University of California, San Diego, with
a B.A. in Chemistry. In addition, Paul holds a Ph.D. in Chemistry from the
University of California, Irvine and an LL.B degree from La Salle
University in Chicago. Paul is currently Vice President of the Industrial
Research Institute.
Dr. Paul B. Germeraad, CKO, Aurigin Systems, Inc.
Title: Conveying Information from US Patents
In addition to quick retrieval, the value of US patent information is
increased when appropriately organized, analyzed, and shared. Applying
these value-added elements to business planning, circumventing competition,
decreasing costs, and capturing high value ground gives rise to the true
value of patent information. Ways to apply patent information to
accomplish these business objectives will be discussed.
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Stephen Adams, Magister Ltd.
Stephen Adams is the managing director of Magister Ltd., an information and
training consultancy specializing in patent documentation. He trained as a
chemist at the University of Bristol, then completed a Masters degree in
Information Science at City University London. He has worked in technical
information for over 19 years, latterly with Zeneca Agrochemicals as their
principal patent searcher. He also spent periods as the editor of
"International Packaging Abstracts" at Pira International and as a searcher
in the UK government's Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries & Food.
Title: Comparison of US and IPC Classification Systems
This session will use a sample of US and EP/WO documents in order to
compare the classification practices at several offices. The correlation
between USCl. and IPC marks will be examined, to draw some conclusions on
the relative strengths and weaknesses of each system, and the need to use
both systems when searching.
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Dr. Paul B. Germeraad is currently Vice President of the Industrial
Research Institute (IRI). Paul joined Aurigin Systems in September 1998
and is focused on the development of the company's intellectual asset
management products for the Licensing and R&D communities. Prior to joining
Aurigin, Paul served as Vice President, Corporate Research for Avery
Dennison where he directed its Corporate Research Center. Before joining
Avery Dennison, Paul held a variety of R&D and management positions at
Raychem Corporation and was director of James River Corporation's Flexible
Packaging Technical Center. Paul is a graduate of the University of
California, San Diego, with a B.A. in Chemistry. In addition, Paul holds a
Ph.D. in Chemistry from the University of California, Irvine and an LL.B
degree from La Salle University in Chicago.
Dr. Paul B. Germeraad, Vice President, Industrial Research Institute
Title: The Need for Information Science Professionals in Today's R&D
Organizations
Abstract:
With the advent of new, "easy to use" search engines and software, the
trend has been to deliver more information services to everyone's
desktop. In some companies this trend has resulted in a perception that
the need for the Information Scientist has diminished, and professional
search staff has been subsequently reduced. The view today in leading
companies' senior R&D staff is that excellent decision support and change
management requires more, not less, information science support.
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JAMES W. DAVIE, The Unofficial Historian of the US Patent Office
James has been a Primary Examiner in the United States Patent and Trademark
Office from 1972 to the present. He is responsible for examining patent
applications in Class 372, Coherent Light Generators (lasers). James has a
Bachelor of Science Electrical Engineering, University of Florida, 1972
Email: daviejd@home.com
Title: Insights from the Unofficial Historian of the US Patent Office
Abstract: As a patent examiner I have developed a great interest in the
history of the Patent and Trademark Office. I have been actively involved
in historical research since about 1980. The patent system has a very rich
history, and I would like to be able to ensure that others who follow can
share in my appreciation of this history. I freely share the results of my
research with all interested parties. I am an amateur photographer and I
have used this interest extensively in my efforts to share photographic
reproductions of historically relevant images.
There are so many worthwhile projects, but so little time! For those
projects that we can make a difference on we do our best, for those that
are beyond our capabilities we must leave to others. My wife Diane and
daughter Judy are very enthusiastic and supportive. There is no government
funding or time for this project.
In 1993 I met with Commissioner Bruce Lehman and we discussed the history
of the Patent and Trademark Office. At the conclusion of our discussion,
Commissioner Lehman said that he would make my dream a reality by
establishing a museum within the PTO. On July 25,1995 we opened The Patent
and Trademark Museum in the Office of Public Affairs. There is still much
work to do. There is no time for historical research.
While there has been no apparent official recognition of the need for an
official historian, I have certainly benefited by serving in this capacity
on an unofficial basis. Sharing information with others, whether they be
students or accomplished historians is always a pleasure. In May of 1997 I
was handed a stack of old documents by an official who was cleaning out her
office and a closet in preparation for leaving the office. She wasn’t
certain what the documents were but recognized that they may be of
historical interest. As she handed the documents to me she said, “I know
that you will do the right thing with these.” They were generally about
150 years old and interesting. However, except for one document I knew
exactly what they were. The original Letters Patent with drawings signed
by Samuel F. B. Morse properly belonged in the National Archives. The
drawing that I initially assumed must be a very old reproduction of
President Abraham Lincoln’s patent drawing, which was submitted with his
patent application, soon proved to be the original! The original signature
corner had been torn off, perhaps a hundred years ago. The document is now
safely secured at National Archives. How much more personal satisfaction
could a historian possibly ever expect to have?
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Derwent Product Showcase
Derwent will hold its annual Product Showcase, Thursday, May 4th & Friday,
May 5th at the Crystal City Hilton following the PIUG Annual Meeting. This
year's showcase has been extended an extra day to include user group sessions.
Larry Grant
Derwent Client Services Manager
703-838-5244 Phone
703-838-0450 Fax
lgrant@derwentus.com
Derwent Showcase 2000 Schedule
Thursday, May 4, 2000 - Plenary
8:00 am to 4:00 pm - Product Showcase (P&D Managers)
8:00 am to 9:00 am - Registration (Breakfast Buffet)
8:45 am to 9:00 am - Opening (Todd Moorman, Shirley Bailey-Woods, Peter
McKay (?))
9.15 am to 9:45 am - Engineering (Rob Adams, Mike Tibble)
10:00 am to 10:45 am - Intergrated Services (Breda Corish, Mark Houghton)
10:45 am to 11:15am - Break
11:00 am to 11:45am - Biotech (Sue Wright, Rachel Buckley)
11:45am to 12:30 pm - Open
12:30 pm - 2:00 pm - Buffet Lunch
2:00 pm to 2:45pm - Chemistry (Don Walters, Paul Sayer)
3:00 pm to 3:45 pm - Pharmaceutical (John Myers, Rob Austin)
4:00 pm to 4:45 pm - General Session (Mike Tansey, Peter McKay, Shirley
Bailey -Wood)
5:00 pm to 7:00 pm - Cocktail Reception
Friday, May 5, 2000 - Training
8:30 am until 12:00 noon User Group Sessions Training (Exception Polymers
training until 4:00pm)
8:30 am to 11:45 am - Polymers (Don Walters)
9:00 am to 11:45 am - DGene/Geneseq (John Myers)
9:00 am to 11:45 am - Chemistry w/o Codes (Geeth Rao)
9:00 am to 11:45 am - Online (Jonathan Grant)
9:00 am to 11:45 am - Comp. Intelligence (Mark Bauer)
9:00 am to 11:45 am - DCR (Rob Adams)
12:00 noon to 2:00 pm - Buffet Lunch
12:00 noon to 4:00 pm Polymers (Don Walters)
4:00 pm - Close
v {To be determined DNABUG Meeting - Rachel Buckley}
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