Search options available in STN databases - FIZ Karlsruhe

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Guide to STN Patent Databases
23 Crossover between databases
23.1 Crossover using L numbers or E numbers, TRANSFER
The familiar crossover options using L or E numbers can also be used between patent databases. In addition to
possibly varying field designations and field contents, these points should be considered:
Varying languages,
Varying options for free-text searching,
Varying index forms, particularly in the name fields.
When searching patent databases a search result often has to be transferred between databases, for example in
order to compare two search results or to find additional information. For this transfer, a unique identification for a
patent document is necessary. This may be a patent number, application number, or, in some cases, the accession
number. The transfer can be made using SELECT (creating an E# list) or TRANSFER (creating an L number). For
example, to obtain the full text of European publications in EUROPATFULL for a search result from DWPI, this
strategy could be employed:
=> FIL WPINDEX
=> S SONOPRESS/PA
L1 27 SONOPRESS/PA
=> FIL EPFULL
=> TRANSFER L1 1- PN
L2 TRANSFER L1 1- PN : 111 TERMS
L3 19 L2
=> D 1- ALL
Before using SELECT or TRANSFER, the search costs should be taken into account:
SELECT (E#): varying costs per processed document, depending on the type of the selected data
TRANSFER (L#): fixed price per use
When crossing over from DPCI to WPINDEX (WPINDEX, WPIDS, WPIX), SELECT or TRANSFER are not necessary. A
simple search command is sufficient:
=> FIL DPCI
=> S JENOPTIK/PA.D
L5 1999 JENOPTIK/PA.D
=> FIL WPIND
=> S L5
L6 1999 L5
Note on Chemical Abstracts. When using SELECT or TRANSFER the databases without SEARCH term charges
should be used (HCA, HCAPLUS).
23.2 Simultaneous search in multiple databases (Multi-file SEARCH)
As the contents and search options in the databases vary considerably one will choose a suitable database to obtain
a good result once the search criteria have been clarified (see Overview of search options and Using STN
databases to conduct a patent search ). After the first search it may be helpful to consult a second or third database
in order to complete the search results.
In some cases it may be useful to perform a multi-file search in a number of databases.
There are a number of search types where a multi-file SEARCH can be particularly useful:
Search by number (publication number, reference number)
Search by the International Patent Classification