New Orbit.com Portal Announced with a Streamlined Interface for Faster Patent Searching

Earlier in November, a new Intellogist Report was released on the major Orbit.com patent search system.  The Orbit.com platform, created by Questel-Orbit, allows users to access the unique FamPat family records and additional indexing, but the wide variety of search and viewing options available through the portal can occasionally cause the interface to have a cluttered appearance. In October 2012, Questel announced the upcoming release of a new version of the Orbit.com portal that can be tested by users in a beta format. The new portal will notably include a number of interface cleanup features to make the user’s patent search and viewing experiences more streamlined and intuitive. Although the beta portal is accessible through a link on the Orbit.com homepage, many of the new features do not yet appear to be available.

Continue reading to view a full list of updated features and screenshots from a presentation on the new Orbit.com portal, including a new toolbar in the Xpert and Workfiles modules, enhancements to highlighting and search functions, and interface cleanup tools!

New Patent Analysis Tools Coming to Orbit.com

In a previous post, I listed the new features for Questel’s Orbit.com platform, which were released on April 8, 2012 for Orbit version 1.5.  New tools include legal status searching and filter, a search wizard to search in multiple languages and identify relevant concepts, multiple detachable windows, a “More Like This” option, a “My Lists” tab, new import options, and Workfile updates.  At the Patent Information User Group (PIUG) 2012 Annual Conference, Kristin Whitman attended a workshop hosted by Questel that described further updates coming to the Orbit.com platform.  The most interesting new feature described at the workshop is an IP Business Intelligence Module for the Orbit.com system, which will include patent mapping and analysis tools to be used on selected patent family data sets.  According to a Questel representative, this  statistical analysis module will be released in a beta-test version in June 2012, and a full release of the module will most likely occur in September 2012.

Read on as we explore the patent analysis tools that will be available on the new IP Business Intelligence Module for Orbit.com!

How to Manage Patent Research Projects: Tracking

There are many aspects to patent searching that are important, yet non-obvious (pardon the pun). As I discussed in the “Top 5 Worst Mistakes in a Patent Search” post, two of the foundations to a good patent search are effective communication and management. Patent search projects can be complex and unwieldy if they are not properly and concisely organized.

To this end, it’s important that you and your team come up with a system to organize and track workflow during a patent search project. One of the easiest ways to do this is to utilize the project tracking features that your patent search system of choice employs. In many cases, sub accounts or project IDs are available to help monitor what (and how much) is getting done on that important job of yours.

Read along as I discuss how these tracking features can help you on your next project!

The Access to Specialized Patent Information Program

Boy, the WIPO news keeps coming! This time, WIPO in partnership with LexisNexis, Minesoft, ProQuest, Questel-Orbit, Thomson Reuters and WIPS (a veritable patent search system all-star lineup) has announced the Access to Specialized Patent Information (ASPI) program. What is this patent acronym program backed by more than a half dozen groups you may ask?

ASPI is an initiative to provide free or low cost access to patent search systems and tools to IP offices, universities and research institutes in developing countries. The patent search systems chosen for this program are:

• TotalPatent
• Patbase
• ProQuest Dialog
• Orbit.com
• Thomson Innovation
• WIPS Global

For more info on the program, including eligibility requirements and why this makes sense for the global IP community, read on!