Dear Colleague
Issue 3 of the Patents e-newsletter is packed with news about Dialog, including updates to International Patent Codes and Manual Code revisions. Links to several stories will provide even more details about these new codes. To make searching patents even easier, read the article about "patent shortcuts" using DialogLink 5. Of course, search techniques are always an important part of our newsletters.

As a result of your suggestions, in 2006 we will focus on all intellectual property topics, including patents, trademarks and copyrights in a newsletter entitled Intellectual Property News. Thank you for sending your ideas for topics and changes to our newsletters and please continue to forward them to us.

Ron Kaminecki, Director
Intellectual Property Applications

IPC Reform Brings Changes to Dialog
Patent Files

The latest revision of the International Patent Classification, IPC Version 8—planned for introduction on January 1, 2006—is the most radical change since the inception of the IPC. It is more appropriate to refer to it as a reform rather than just a revision. As a result, searchers will be able to use the latest version of an IPC code, and this will more closely reflect the latest developments in technology and terminology. New patents published after January 1, 2006 will be assigned the new IPC codes. All IPCs will continue to be searchable in Dialog patent files using the IC= prefix. View the fulltext of this article for the syntax change for IPC 8 codes.

Read the article by Bob Stembridge of Thomson Scientific entitled "Getting to Grips with IPC8 — Thomson Tackles the Changes" to learn about IPC changes in general and some of the proposed modifications to DWPI; how users will be able to search these to take maximum benefit from the reformed IPC; the impact of these changes; and the implementation of reformed IPCs after DWPI is reloaded on Dialog.

Other documents of interest on this topic include:

• "Impact of IPC Reform on Patent Information Users and Providers" by Bob Stembridge, illustrating the changes and the reasons for them
• WIPO IPC 8 GUIDE and other IPC reform documents
• The new IPC 8 Classification on the WIPO Web site

In order to keep you abreast of IPC-8 implementation on Dialog, a Web page has been set up to make it easy for you to check the current status of changes in all affected databases. Look for more articles on this topic in future Dialog e-newsletters.

Manual Code Revision 2006 — Final Lists
Now Available
In January 2005 Thomson Scientific introduced over 1,500 new Manual Codes to Derwent World Patents Index® (DWPI®) as part of their annual revision project aimed at ensuring that DWPI reflects the latest technological developments.

The 2006 Manual Code revisions, based on customer feedback, will be implemented in the first DWPI update of 2006. These are now available to browse on the Web. Please ensure that you review the lists as the changes may affect your search strings and SDI alerts, once the changes go live in file next year.

Take Advantage of Patent Shortcuts
with DialogLink 5
With DialogLink 5 links, patent searching has become even easier. For example, you can link to the Thomson Patent Store to order fulltext patents with their images, collect an entire U.S. or international patent family, see all changes in legal status for a patent—all with a few mouse clicks.

DialogLink 5 "record links" let you link between databases, such as from CLAIMS to U.S. Patents Fulltext, order the fulltext of that patent, and obtain additional information about the patent.

"Set links" help you quickly link to Dialog commands like MAP and RANK, and set up or edit a Dialog Alert.

If you haven't downloaded DialogLink 5 for your patent searching, do it now; then sign up for a free class covering all of the patent shortcuts.

Searching for Japanese Patents
Do you search for Japanese patents? If your patent searches don't cover Japan, you could be missing out on 50 percent or more of the patent information available for your technology. Read the article "Big in Japan — Tactics for Monitoring Japanese Patents" to look at the scale of Japanese patenting, and examine options for breaking through the language barrier to find business-critical information. Japan has a predominance of patents in three industry sectors: Chemicals & Materials, Electrical & Electronics and Engineering.

Getting the fulltext of Japanese patents, often needed for infringement or technology research, can be obtained from the Thomson Patent Store.

Call for Contributors

Participate in knowledge sharing with your colleagues interested in patents-related topics. Share your story suggestions with us at support.dialog.com/enewsletters/contribute/.