Memo to all colleagues, STN in particular please copy.
As STN continues to add backlog data to the Europatfull database, searches
limited to one or more update codes retrieve not only new references but
also old items just added in the backlog--sometimes loads of them I was
counseled by STN staff some time ago that I could remove such items by
selecting a raw set of hits, then NOTting out B/STA.
That works, all right, but it has a pitfall, as we found recently when a
hard core item was missed in one of our surveys. A new B1 patent was
indeed included in the specified update, but was rejected from my final set
because the A-document was included in that backlog update.
Having identified that pitfall, I tested the situation on the very latest
Europatfull update, and once again a B1 patent which was a hard core hit
would have been rejected because it was in the backlog set.
Conclusion: to eliminate old references just added in the backlog, search
positively on the publication date(s) associated with your update code(s).
That works perfectly, so far as I can tell.
Stu Kaback
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