Support : Publications : Chronolog Archives : March/April 2005

From the Experts...
Tips for Searching German Patents Fulltext

German Patents Fulltext (File 324) was launched in January 2005. (See the January/February 2005 Chronolog for details about the file.) The following tips will help you get the results you want.

Restrict by language (remember "CATS")

German Patents Fulltext records include both the original German text and, in most cases, the English language translation (machine translation). When doing a keyword search in File 324, restrict the search to only the English-language fields or only the German-language fields. This search technique can be important if the English words mean something different in German.

Use the following English-language field suffixes in any combination. Just remember the acronym CATS: Claims (/CE), Abstracts (/AE), Title (/TE), Specifications (/SE).
Example: ?S DOG/TE,AE,CE,SE

Or, use the German-language field suffixes: Claims (/CG), Abstract (/AG), Title (/TG), Specifications (/SG)
Example: ?S HUND/TG,AG,CG,SG

?s wand
      S1  186494  WAND
?s wand/te,ae,ce,se    
      S2    1686  WAND/TE,AE,CE,SE

Example 2: The big difference occurs because WAND in German means WALL or SIDE in English.

?s wand/tg,ag,cg,sg
      S3  186319  WAND/TG,AG,CG,SG
?s s3 and wall/te,ae,ce,se
      S4  174208  S3 AND WALL/TE,AE,CE,SE

Improve international patent searches with PATTEXT

German Patents Fulltext is part of the PATTEXT OneSearch® category, which also includes European Patents Fulltext (File 348), WIPO/PCT Patents Fulltext (File 349) and U.S. Patents Fulltext (Files 652 and 654).

By searching all fulltext patent files with BEGIN PATTEXT, you have the maximum chance of retrieving all patents where your search terms appear. You can also use the PATTEXT files in combination with Derwent World Patents Index (File 351) and Derwent First View (File 331) to get broad coverage in all Derwent countries. DWPI records include a clearly written abstract in English that may contain terminology not appearing in the original patent. Joining Derwent's extensive indexing with PATTEXT ensures your international patent searches will include all countries covered by Derwent—more than 40—and retrieve the timeliest possible fulltext patents published by the USPTO, EPO, WIPO and, now, the German Patent and Trade Mark Office. Then, run IDPAT to remove any duplicate records.

Use Format 7 for "English Only" parts of records

File 324 includes both German and English-language versions of a patent. You can choose to read the English (machine) translation for general understanding of the patent, and have the original German available as needed for clarification. You can get both languages with Format 9.

If you prefer to have only the English language text, type your records in Format 7, which has English-only text (Title, Abstract, Specifications, Claims) and omits the German-language sections of the record.

Ted Kerin
Knowledge Center

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