This is to keep you informed on the plans being made for the Patent
Information Users Group (PIUG) 1999 annual meeting.
1) The Derwent Product Showcase will be held on Monday, April 26th,
in cooperation with the PIUG Annual Meeting. Derwent made the
following announcment:
Derwent Information will be hosting a full-day Product Showcase on
Monday, April 26, in Crystal City, VA, preceding the 1999 PIUG
Meeting. Product enhancements and updates will be presented in
addition to the interactive demonstration stations. Further details
will be issued in the coming weeks. Please contact Trish Maglio,
Derwent North America's External Events Specialist, at 703-706-4220
with questions. We look forward to seeing you in April. Thank you.
2) Dialog, STN and Questel/Orbit classes will be offered on the Monday
preceding the PIUG meeting and on the Friday following the PIUG meeting.
Monday, am: Dialog Patent Training
Friday, am: STN Patent Trainig
Friday, pm:Questel Orbit Patent Training
These classes are free of charge but registration is recommended. Contact
the corresponding representative to register for this free training. The contacts
are listed at the end of this note.
3) The European Patent Office has decided to send one trainer. The
designated trainer has not yet been identified. Therefore either
the INPADOC or the European Patent Register training will occur, but
probably not both. I have requested the training on the European Patent
Register in the strongest possible terms. Information will be posted to
the email list as soon as it is available.
4) Registration for the 1999 PIUG annual meeting:
Registration materials will be available in the next issue of the PIUG
newsletter. This will give PIUG members a first opportunity to register
for the meeting. On March 1st, the registration materials will be posted
on the email list and made available to non-members of the PIUG. The
registration fee for the three day PIUG conference is:
$145 for PIUG Members
$175 for Non-Members of the PIUG
After April 1st, the fee will be $175 for everyone, if space is available. This
registration fee includes breakfast and lunch for April 27 through April 29.
The registration fee does not include an evening meal. Evening meals
may be purchased separately in the Hotel or any of the fine
Washington D.C restaurants.
5) Registration for the hands-on training sessions:
Only one trainer will be available from the EPO, therefore only one type of
hands-on training will be offered. All the details will be announced on the
PIUG email list as soon as possible. There are only 24 seats in the
hands-on training, 12 on Monday, April 26 and 12 on Friday, April 30.
The registration will be in two steps:
1) fill out the Class Registration request form (in the Newsletter)
2) all requests will be tossed in a bucket
3) winners will be picked "lottery" style on March 1
4) the winners will be notified on March 1 or shortly there after
5) the winners can pay the $75 fee for the class to lock in the seat
This is the fairest method we could devise for allocating this scarce
resource.
If and only if there are any unfilled seats after the "lottery", then
the hands-on registration materials will be posted on the email list
and opened to non-members of the PIUG.
6) Several meetings and training opportunities are consolidating into this one
meeting. This offers patent searchers the maximum benefit with a minimum of
travel expense.
7) A demonstration room will be open Tuesday through Thursday. The
demonstration room will highlight the new Internet Patent databases.
The demonstration room will be described in more detail in a separate
note.
I hope all these plans meet with your approval. We are really trying hard
to make this meeting a wonderful opportunity for patent searchers.
Sandra Unger
Chair, PIUG
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Location
- Hyatt Regency Crystal City
2799 Jefferson Davis Highway
Arlington, VA 22202
Toll Free Reservations phone: 800-233-1234
Please specify that you are attending the PIUG meeting.
The hotel provides meeting room space based on the number of guests
attending the meeting.
The special PIUG conference rate is $142 per night.
The preliminary schedule is as follows (all times are approximate):
Sunday, April 25, 1999
- PIUG Business meeting (3pm to 5pm)
Monday, April 26, 1999
- Derwent Product Showcase (all day, contact Derwent to register)
- European Register or INPADOC hands on training (sponsored by Dialog)
- Dialog training ( 3 hrs, free, contact Dialog to register)
Tuesday, April 27, 1999
- breakfast (sponsored by IFI Claims)
- IFI Claims meeting (3 hrs)
(see details below, the IFI Claims session is open to all)
---- formal PIUG meeting begins ----
- lunch (sponsored by Derwent)
- Derwent presentation (2 hrs)
- Chemical Abstracts presentation (1 hr)
- American Petroleum Institute (API Encompass) presentation (1 hr)
---- evening ----
- Wine and cheese reception (sponsored by MicroPatent)
- Poster Sessions (contact Lucy Virden Itvirde@erenj.com)
- Demonstration Room - Highlighting Internet Patent databases
Wednesday, April 28, 1999
- breakfast (sponsored by Questel/Orbit)
- INPADOC lecture (EPO speaker to be determined)
- lunch
- European Patent Law for Patent Searchers (Noel Akers)
---- evening ----
- IFFY players - amateur theater - Nancy Lambert (nela@chevron.com)
Thursday, April 29, 1998
- breakfast
- European Register lecture (EPO speaker to be determined)
- lunch (sponsored by Chemical Abstracts Service)
- Vendor Forum (organized by Richard Kurt and Ford Korsandian)
---- formal PIUG meeting ends ----
Friday, April 30, 1999
- European Register or INPADOC hands-on training (sponsored by Dialog)
- STN training (3 hrs, free, contact STN to register)
- Questel-Orbit training (3 hrs, free, contact Questel/Orbit to register)
Further details of the 1999 PIUG annual meeting will be published on the PIUG
email list and registration materials will be available in the next issue of
the PIUG newsletter.
Sandra Unger
PIUG Chair
Phone: (908) 7302662
Fax: (908) 7303230
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Abstracts for the 1999 PIUG Annual Meeting
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Noel J. Akers is a Chartered British Patent Agent and European Patent
Attorney. Before joining his current firm, The Frohwitter Law Firm, in
Houston, Noel worked as a Patent Attorney with Shell International in
its offices in London and The Hague. His current practice includes
preparing and filing patent applications in Europe and around the world,
together with representing clients in opposition and appeal proceedings
before the European Patent Office.
Title: European Patent Law for Patent Searchers
This paper addresses key aspects of European patent law and practice,
especially as they relate to patentability, opposition and
freedom-to-operate searches. The paper deals in particular with the
approaches taken to the fundamental issue of novelty and the manner in
which prior art documents and disclosures are considered relevant,
concentrating on the absolute rule of novelty as applied in Europe. The
paper goes on to cover the prior art effect of earlier filed, later
published patent applications and how such documents can affect the
validity of European patents. In addition, the paper considers the
"problem-solution" approach as applied by the European Patent Office
when considering the issue of obviousness. The paper also addresses the
terminology as used in European patent claims and the format of such
claims and its relevance on the scope of such claims. Throughout the
paper, while the focus is on issues of European law and practice, the
opportunity is taken to draw a comparison with the relevant US
provisions.
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IFI CLAIMS SESSION, APRIL 27, 9-12 NOON
The IFI CLAIMS session is open to all. You do not need
to be an IFI subscriber to attend this session.
AGENDA
9-9:30 1. Explain who IFI really is. (IFI STAFF)
a. When did we start
b. What do we cover in patents
c. Where did the back data come from
d. Contents of the total database as of now
9:30-10 2. Enhancements of the IFI files (IFI STAFF)
a. Explain when and what is enhanced
b. Why are the enhancements important
c. How are the enhancements used by searchers
Jeff Forman - (IBM CORP)
d. Year-end updates - what do we change and why -
what are the benefits to the users
e. Summary of the IFI enhancements verus the PTO
raw data
10-10:30 Coffee Break
10:30-11 3. Contents of the various IFI databases (IFI STAFF)
a. US patent files
b. Uniterm file
c. R & R file - what is in the file - where does
it come from - how and when do we update the
file
d. IFI Reference file - why should you use it
e. Citation files - file content
11-11:30 4. Explanation of other IFI databases (IFI STAFF)
a. Patent Intelligence & Technology Report
1. Printed product
2. Electronic format
3. Custom reports available 1975 forward
b. PC Reference file
c. IPLEX CD
d. IPC Class CD
e. Thesaurus & term lists - how they are used
f. Q & A session and what is available from the
IFI help desk
11:30-12 5. Patent bills before Congress -
Joe Ebersole, (COALITION COUNSEL)
Information Futures -
Dick Kaser - (EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR NFAIS)
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Contacts for the free training offered before and after the PIUG meeting.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Derwent Product Showcase - Monday, April 26, all day
Derwent Information will be hosting a full-day Product Showcase on
Monday, April 26, in Crystal City, VA, preceding the 1999 PIUG
Meeting. Product enhancements and updates will be presented in
addition to the interactive demonstration stations. Further details
will be issued in the coming weeks. Please contact Trish Maglio,
Derwent North America's External Events Specialist, at 703-706-4220
with questions. We look forward to seeing you in April. Thank you.
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STN Patents Training - Friday, April 30, 8:30 to 11:30
Registration for this session will be free, but encouraged due to limited
space. Walk-ins will be accepted subject to available space.
The registration information is as follows:
Training Assistant
CAS
PO Box 3012
Columbus OH 43210-0012
PHONE: 800-848-6538, Ext. 3549
FAX: 614-447-3694
E-Mail: wksp@cas.org
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Dialog Patents Training - Monday, April 26, 8:30 to 11:30
Claudia Marshall
415-288-5019
claudia_marshall@dialog.com
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Questel/Orbit Patents Training - Friday, April 30, 12:30 to 3:30
Questel.Orbit Patent Training signups for the PIUG meeting
should go to:
Lisa Gunther
Manager Customer Service
Questel.Orbit
8000 Westpark Drive
McLean, VA 22102
Phone: 703-556-7493
Fax: 703-893-4632
lgunther@questel.orbit.com
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