Benchmarking National - PRO INNO Europe

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BENCHMARKING NATIONAL AND REGIONAL SUPPORT SERVICES FOR SMES IN THE FIELD OF INTELLECTUAL AND INDUSTRIAL PROPERTY
days together with patent attorneys (where interested parties have the possibility
to ask questions); sometimes, trainings are offered on how to use patent
information (see German Patent Information Centre Stuttgart; see annex I, case
study nr. 2). These services can be characterised by the fact that access to search
facilities are offered, while the actual search is mostly conducted by the customer.
An interesting example of how patent information centres can be further
enhanced by combining national and EU-wide programmes can be found in
Italy with the INFOBREVETTI service (see text box below).
Infobrevetti – The Italian network of patent information points
and patent libraries as an example of an attempt to enrich the
PATLIB system on a national level
INFOBREVETTI is a network – managed by Unioncamere, the Association of
the Italian Chamber of Commerce–which links together all outlets and
departments of the Italian Chamber of Commerce dealing with IPR, as well
as the Italian PATLIB Centres and the similar PIPs (Patent Information Points).
The network is basically centred around a website (http://www.infobrevetti.
camcom.it) which has the overall goal to promote the development of IP
knowledge in Italy. More specifically and with respect to SMEs (the most likely
main target group given the background of the Chamber of Commerce
running the service), it is sought to help SMEs in utilising patent information
and referring them to the services of the individual Patent Information
Centres. Infobrevetti encourages SMEs to use the patent databases themselves
and tries not to act beforehand as an intermediary conducting searches on
behalf of its customers.
The network provides different types of information services. Some of them,
basically general information services, are free of charge. More detailed and
sophisticated services are, however, sold. One of the main instruments
employed besides the webpage is a newsletter informing about trends
regarding patent information and patenting activities. The key strength of the
service is seen in the national and network character, while the Chamber of
Commerce can run, using its local offices, PATLIB Centres and PIPs in almost
any relevant region of Italy. It has been observed that patent application activities
have increased more in regions where PATLIB Centres and PIPs have been
promoted through Infobrevetti than in regions where such centres and
information points are absent.
� The information technology now enables many patent information
databases to be searched online. National patent offices are often in the
process of redesigning their web pages to include such search possibilities (e.
g., the Danish patent office, see annex I, case study nr. 14) – this is done also
in response to the demand expressed by SMEs and many IPR experts that
cheap, simple and accessible ways of conducting patent searches are needed.
The EPO also allows for online searches in a variety of its databases.
� One can distinguish between low-level patent information services and
high-value information services (value added information services)
(Lagemaat & Frackenpohl, 2005). Low level search services can be defined as
rather “crude” search services, where the results of the search are not
interpreted, filtered and/or ranked. By contrast, in value added high-level
services, the service provider also undertakes to qualitatively interpret the
results of the scan and gauge the relevance of the documents. While patent
information centres are more concerned with low level services, it seems that
the national patent offices are moving with their service offerings in the
direction of value added services. A case in point is the express search services
of the serv.ip partial legal entity in Austria (see text box below).