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New
Ownership Benefits IFI Customers
In our last issue, we reported on IFI's recent purchase by Aspen Publishers,
Inc., a division of Wolters Kluwer. Now, we thought you might also want
to know who Aspen Publishers is, and how the new ownership impacts IFI
and our valued customers.
Aspen Publishers, Inc. is a leading publisher of reference information
for business and legal professionals. Among its more than 500 current
and continuously updated books, periodicals and electronic information
services, Aspen offers an extensive selection of resources for patent
searchers including Jerome Rosenstock's The Law of Chemical and Pharmaceutical
Invention: Patent and Nonpatent Protection, Gregory Stobbs' Software
Patents, and Michael Lennon's Drafting Technology Patent License Agreements.
With its new ownership, IFI leverages its expertise in the patent field
with Aspen's extensive editorial, financial, manufacturing and distribution
resources. The synergy created by the new partnership will enable IFI
to continue to meet the information needs of the patent search community,
and bring quality products and services to the marketplace sooner. For
more information about Aspen Publishers, visit www.aspenpublishers.com.
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New
Sales Rep Joins IFI
Recently, Diane Wian, a seasoned legal information professional with
nearly 15 years of industry experience, joined IFI as Sales Representative.
Diane comes to us from Questel·Orbit where she spent two years as a
Sales Rep. Prior to that, Diane spent 12 years at LEXIS®-NEXIS®
in its New York and Washington, D.C. offices. She also worked on next
generation products in LEXIS®-NEXIS®'s
Dayton, Ohio headquarters.
As your Sales Rep., Diane's focus is to help you get the most out of
the IFI's extensive family of patent services, including the CLAIMS®
U.S. Patents and CLAIMS®
Current Patent Legal Status databases, and to keep you up to date on
all of IFI's latest product offerings and service enhancements. She
will also provide customer support and troubleshooting. And she'll keep
an 'ear to the ground,' surveying customers for ways to make patent
searching faster, easier, and more efficient. You can contact Diane
at: 1-800-331-4955 or 703-323-0030 or dwian@aspenpubl.com.
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IFI
at PIUG 2000: New Product Information, Training, and Fun
The 2000 annual meeting of the Patent Information Users Group (PIUG)
will be held on Sunday, April 30th to Wednesday, May 3rd at the Hilton
Crystal City in Arlington, VA. IFI will offer training opportunities
for patent searchers, as well as time to relax and network with fellow
industry members. Be sure not to miss these IFI events:
Monday, May 1
7:30 a.m. - 8:30
Breakfast, sponsored by IFI CLAIMS®
Patent Services.
8:30 a.m. - 10:00 a.m.
"IFI CLAIMS®
Patent Services Presentation" by Harry M. Allcock, Vice President
of IFI CLAIMS®
Patent Services and other staff members.
Having headed up IFI for the past 38 years, Harry Allcock will bring
PIUG attendees up-to-date with the latest company developments, product
enhancements and industry trends for 2000 and beyond. Highlights to
include: IFI's new corporate ownership; expansion of the Patent Intelligence
And Technology Report to include a PC-based monthly version as well
as a ten year retrospective file using the current U.S. classification
codes and Standard Industry Codes; enhancements to IFI indexing procedures
and structure coded input to the IFI databases; and IFI concordance
of IPC to U.S. classification. Harry will also familiarize attendees
with the new IFI Internet site, which, he points out, "will offer
access to information which is not available elsewhere."
10:45 a.m. - 11:30 a.m.
"Patent Assignee Presentations" by IFI, Derwent and IBM
Much of the PIUG meeting this year focuses on the U.S. patent system.
IFI will emphasize the importance of assignee standardization in making
its U.S. patent information readily accessible. Monica Rieder, Senior
Editor for IFI CLAIMS®
Patent Services, will take part in an innovative presentation designed
to illustrate alternate approaches for searching patent assignees. The
process, as you may know, is complicated by two issues: first, companies
can file patents under a variety of names (e.g., different subsidiaries)
and second, company names can undergo changes over time. Offering one
example of this two-fold problem, a representative from Aventis (formerly
Hoechst Marion Roussel, formerly Marion Merrell Dow, etc.) will present
a chronology of the company's history and name changes. Then, Monica
(as well as representatives from Derwent and IBM) will describe how
her/his company's databases have indexed assignees such as Aventis and
its predecessors. Attendees will have the opportunity to see how each
company's databases standardize company names and/or assign company
codes, and compare the pros and cons of each. A panel discussion with
audience participation will follow.
Tuesday, May 2
7:30 p.m. - 10:00 p.m.
Now in its 20th year, the IFFY Players will present
"The Man Who Came to Dinner," an amateur theater production
directed by Nancy Lambert. Contact Nancy at nela@chevron.com if you
would like to take part in this innovative interpretation of a classic
play. No memorization is needed; each thespian reads his or her part
from a script. It's great fun!
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How
Does Your Company Compare? Find Out in PITR 2000
Just released for 2000, the Patent Intelligence and Technology
Report 2000 gives you a complete picture of all significant
U.S. patent activity for the previous year. Here you'll find detailed
statistics, company profiles and analysis of the patenting activity
of every assignee who received 10 or more U.S. utility patents or statutory
registrations — over 1,600 companies from 31 countries.
Designed as a desktop tool for corporate managers, research directors,
patent licensing managers, marketing directors, patent attorneys and
financial analysts, the Report provides easy access to comprehensive
statistical and analytical data that would normally require a costly,
on-going research program to compile. All this practical information
is organized into five handy sections that help you find the facts you
need quickly and easily. You get: Alphabetical listing of companies;
Company listing by rank; Company rank within U.S. Patent Office subject
classification; Patenting activity profiles covering a 6-year period,
and Concordance of U.S. and International Patent Classifications.
To further enhance the value of the Patent Intelligence and
Technology Report 2000, IFI offers cumulative monthly updates
in electronic form. The electronic updates will keep you abreast of
the latest patenting activity for the current year.
If you are not currently receiving the Report, send
for your 30-Day Risk-Free Trial copy. To order, call 1-800-638-8437.
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Subscribe
to the free PIUG List-serv
To subscribe to the free PIUG list-serv, go to www.piug.org. PIUG membership
is $20.00 per year.
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QUICK
TIP
Are you interested in interference activity that might affect the status
of a U.S. patent?
In addition to the actions recorded in the CLAIMS®
Current Legal Status database, the IFI web site gives you a list of
patents for which the owners have been notified of an attempt to provoke
an interference. These patents can be viewed in patent number, assignee,
or U.S. class code order, and are updated quarterly. Just go to the
IFI web site at
www.ificlaims.com, then click
on the hyperlink for USPTO Interference Notices. For information on
adverse decisions in interference actions, check your patent number
or assignee in the CLAIMS®
Current Legal Status database.
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Assignee
Alert!
The following assignment changes were recorded at the USPTO in 1999:
British Technology Group Ltd is now BTG International Ltd
Minnesota Mining & Manufacturing Co is now 3M Innovative Properties
Co
Northern Telecom Ltd is now Nortel Networks Corp
Sun Co Inc is now Sunoco
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Copyright
© Aspen Publishers, Inc.
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