Information from patents — an overview of recent activities Available to Purchase

Published patent documents continue to pour out unabated. This overview looks at recent developments, including the continuing progress of the EPO, JPO and USPTO in working towards automated search systems and document management, the efforts of WIPO in the area of standardisation within patent offices, the formation of OLPI, and the continuing growth of patent databases, e.g. ICI marques, Inpadoc, Japio and Patstat. The author also looks at the situation of information services in developing countries.