IFI CLAIMS Update and Probable Patent Assignees

IFI CLAIMS® Patent Services has updated the IFI CLAIMS®/U.S. Patents, Uniterm and CDB files, with new assignee name changes, probable assignees, class code revision, and indexing terms. Not familiar with IFI CLAIMS or need a refresher that takes these updates into account? Read on as we look at the benefits of using IFI CLAIMS, including the “probable assignee” field–there’s a hidden gem of patent information you might be missing!

Blog Action Day 2010

Today we’re dedicating a post to Blog Action Day 2010. This event takes place every October 15th, uniting bloggers around the world to dedicate a post to the same topic, and trigger discussion about an important issue. This year’s topic is the importance of access to clean, safe drinking water.

Recently, Intellogist highlighted the industry trend of spotlighting green technology with our posts about Green technology in the Derwent World Patents Index and WIPO’s IPC Green Inventory.   Patents are an important source of technical information and patent databases are crucial to supporting research and development efforts, including those focused on green technology.  To find technologies related to the treatment of waste water, I explored both of these classifications.  By the way, my favorite way to find good classifications for a particular subject is to do a keyword search that uncovers highly relevant patents, and then check out the codes listed there.  But this time, I’m exploring the range of topics available to me, so I’ll start with the classification manuals.

Green Patents in Derwent World Patents Index

Last week, we touched on green patent classification listings in our post about WIPO’s IPC Green Inventory. This week, we’ll look at a similar green patent classification listing: Derwent World Patents Index’s Green Technology Manual Codes. Come find out how these codes can help you find examples of green technology in your prior art search that keywords just aren’t turning up.

IPC Green Inventory

On September 16, 2010 WIPO launched the “IPC Green Inventory,” a new reference page dedicated to highlighting environmentally sound technologies within the IPC Classification. WIPO had this to say:

The tool, “IPC Green Inventory”, contains some 200 topics that are directly relevant to ESTs. Each topic is linked with the most relevant IPC symbols, chosen by experts from around the world.

Join us as we have a look at the site and explore its uses.