Intellectual property, patents - Luc Quoniam

Patents: most efficient source in several technical fields
Accessibility: universal format for the bibliographic data.
More than 50 different bibliographic fields (technical or strategic information).
Content: to be valid, should enable a person skilled in that particular area to
Patents are classified according to internationally agreed systems (IPC), divides
reproduce the invention.
technical domains into more than 100,000 subdivisions.
Concentration:
This strict requirement
Full patent
explains
collections
why 70%
are often
of the
present
information
in national
contained
Patent
in
Office
Patents
archives.
is not available elsewhere. When a catalogue or an article describes a product in
From
a few lines, the corresponding Patent often consists of 20 pages. About 350
Up million to a
of date: relevant
A4 A list
pages company of patent documents you will need one or two hours in a
patent library to collect
containing is not
all the data.
very inclined relevant to make
When you
technical its inventions
need several
information. public.
To get a legal protection for the invention, the company generally weeks files to the order Patent and
receive Application the references at the earliest quoted possible in a thesis. stage, normally published 18 months after
their first filing date and therefore very often represent the first published
information available. Newly published Patents are the most up-to-date
information available in a specific field.
8 Luc Quoniam
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