Dr. Markus Seitz, German Patent and Trade Mark Office
Patent documents are drafted by patent attorneys on behalf of their clients. In a bid to ensure that patent documents fulfill the requirements of scientific and technical precision, and are of legal certainty, patent documents are written according to international standards in a special format and language which we may call “Patentese”. This inevitably results in the use of patent jargon which is difficult to comprehend.
This session provides an overview and explanation of the different bibliographical elements in European, US and Chinese patent specifications. This session also discusses a selection of frequently used patent terms and provides an explanation on how to read and interpret the contents of the patent documents.
Dr. Markus Seitz was born in 1966 in Würzburg, Germany. After finishing his high school education in 1985 and an obligatory military service, he studied Chemistry at Johannes-Gutenberg University in Mainz, Germany, where he received his Diploma (equivalent of M.S.) in 1992. He went on to work on his dissertation in the field of Synthesis and Characterization of Functional Polymers, for which he received his PhD in Summer 1996, also at the University of Mainz. After a following postdoctoral visit at the Department of Chemical Engineering at the University of California at Santa Barbara, USA, he became an Assistant Lecturer at the Physics Department of Ludwig-Maximilians-University, Munich, Germany.
In 2003, he joined the German Patent and Trademark Office (DPMA), where he works as a Patent Examiner in the Field of Biotechnology and Bioanalytics. Since early 2005, he is also a member of the IPC revision working group at DPMA, where he serves as a delegate of the German Office at WIPO, engaged in the current development of the International Patent Classification. Dr. Markus Seitz is married and father to one son.
Mr. Keri Rowles, European Patent Office
This session explores some essential basics that are needed for searching patent databases and discusses basic rules for searching, meanings of terms in patent documents, the use of Boolean operators and truncations and the construction of logical expressions as search terms.
Mr. Keri Rowles has been a project manager in the patent information branch of the European Patent Office and is responsible for various electronic patent information publications since 1994. He regularly speaks on the subject of Patent Information at seminars and conferences, and has experience in areas of collaboration with higher education institutes to support awareness of patent information and intellectual property.
Mr Rowles has also co-authored the Engineer's reference book chapter “Patents, and the information that they contain” included graduate reference text- Information sources in Engineering 4th ed. Bowker-Saur and “Intellectual Property Management” module material prepared for an MSc Chemical Engineering course.
He is a member of Trilateral- World Intellectual Property Organisation (WIPO) standards working group, and regularly participates in the technical standards working group of WIPO. Mr Rowles also holds a Masters degree in "Management of Intellectual Property", the UK professional qualification "Certificate in Intellectual Property Law" from the University of London, as well as a Bsc (Hons) in Physics.
Dr. Markus Seitz, German Patent and Trade Mark Office
This session introduces the International Patent Classification (IPC) system and the European Classification System of the EPO (ECLA). The session also discusses the layout and basic classification rules of the IPC and the ECLA, with an emphasis on the differences between the two classification systems. Finally, the development of the IPC in the light of recent efforts in the harmonization of international (i.e. European, US and Japanese) classification systems will be addressed.
Please refer to speaker bio under “Patent Terminology”
Mr. Nguyen-Truong Le, Fraunhofer Technology Development Group TEG
Ms Bodil Hasling, Danish Patent and Trademark Office
Dr Sze Tiam Lin, Exploit Technologies Pte Ltd
This session provides an overview of patent information products from the public and private sectors. In addition, commercial sources of patent information, available product and services and their ensuing results will be discussed as well. The session will also present examples of patent information products from Europe and the Industry.
Mr. Nguyen-Truong Le, Fraunhofer Technology Development Group TEG
The Fraunhofer Gesellschaft is one of the leading organizations for applied research in Europe with 58 institutes at 40 different locations and an annual research budget over 1 billion Euros. The Fraunhofer Technologie-Entwicklungsgruppe (Technology Development Group) acts as the developing expert within the Fraunhofer Gesellschaft.
Mr. Le is working as project leader in industrial and scientific projects at the Fraunhofer Technologie-Entwicklungsgruppe since 2005. His working fields concern analysis and optimization of IP and innovation management structures, development of analysis and forecasting tools for strategic decisions in innovation management, and generating and planning new product concepts in cooperation with German and international companies.
Ms Bodil Hasling, Danish Patent and Trademark Office
Ms. Bodil Hasling is a principal technical examiner in the Department of Biotechnology and Phamaceuticals, in the Danish Patent and Trademark Office (DKPTO). She is responsible for procurement and use of technical databases in patent and non-patent literature. During her 6 years of employment in DKPTO, Ms Hasling specialised in searches and the use of technical databases for commercial services. Prior to that, she worked with patents in the private industry and has many years of experience in training search specialists internally as well as externally. Ms. Hasling also holds a degree in food sciences from the Agricultural and Veterinary University, 1985.
Dr Sze Tiam Lin, Exploit Technologies Pte Ltd
Dr Sze Tiam Lin, Vice President, Exploit Technologies heads the Technology Intelligence and Competitive Intelligence Division of Exploit Technologies. Exploit Technologies is the strategic and marketing arm of the Agency for Science, Technology and Research (A*STAR). He leads a team of business and technical professionals from diverse industry backgrounds in support of commercializing A*STAR technologies, that ranges from interactive digital media, IT, wireless communications, semiconductors, digital storage, chemicals, materials to manufacturing. His team also provides regular and competitive insights into new and emerging technologies and its applications in the marketplace. Dr Sze has extensive experience in technology licensing and was involved in numerous successful technology transfers to the industry at Exploit Technologies. He is a member of the Licensing Executive Society (LES) International and with the Society for Competitive Intelligence Professionals (SCIP). Dr. Sze holds a Ph.D (Artificial Intelligence) and B.Eng in Automatic Control & Systems Engineering from the University of Sheffield, UK. He holds a Diploma in Mechanical Engineering from Singapore Polytechnic.
Mr. Nguyen-Truong Le, Fraunhofer Technology Development Group TEG
Patents are well structured documents that entail detailed discriptions to solve technical problems. However, patents on technical solutions in one field could also be of great interest in other application fields as well. By using sophisticated analysis methods New Product Development (NPD) teams can identify outstanding technical solutions or first-class experts beyond their industry boundary. The use of patent information represents one of the so called "Cross industry innovation approaches".
Case studies will be presented in order to highlight the disadvantages and advantages of using cross industry innovations. Some critical factors that ensure a smooth flow of patent information from patent professionals into NPD teams and projects will also be mentioned.
Please refer to speaker bio under “Overview of Patent Information in the Public and Private Sectors.”
Ms. Lone Hartung Nielsen, Danish Patent and Trademark Office
This session will provide an overview on compilation and use of patent statistics. The use of statistical analyses of bibliographic data in helping to assess competitors' filing activities and emerging technological trends will also be illustrated. Case studies of companies in Europe will also be discussed.
Ms. Lone Hartung Nielsen is the Director of Sales and Marketing in the Danish Patent and Trademark Office. In this position she is responsible for the Office’s information and awareness activities, including IP Score. DKPTO is a European example of good practice in awareness and information dissemination. Ms. Nielsen holds a MSc degree in Chemical Engineering from the Danish University of Technology and has been at the DKPTO for 15 years.
Professor Casey Chan, WizPatent
This session will discuss pitfalls in interpreting statistics and show how patent information can influence the decision making process. In addition, case studies of companies in Asia and the United States of America will be discussed.
After completing his Masters Degree in Aerospace Engineering, Prof. Chan went on to do his medical degree at the University of Toronto. He is currently Adjunct Professor at the Department of Orthopedic Surgery and the Division of Bioengineering, National University of Singapore. In addition to teaching at the Faculty of Medicine, he also teaches a course in Bioengineering Design.
Prof. Chan is also a Professorial Fellow at the IP Academy, Singapore and conducts many workshops on patent claim analysis. He has 37 US patents in the area of medical devices and 7 other patents pending. He participates in angel investing and advises a number of biotech start-up companies in the United States. He was co-founder and director of a successful e-learning company called WizLearn, a NUS spin-off company. He is currently the founding Chairman and CEO of two technology start up companies in Singapore. WizPatent, a software company that specializes in patent document management and Humanyx is an antibody engineering company.
Mr Keri Rowles, European Patent Office
With the rapid evolution of desk-top data processing applications in recent years, we have seen a range of client side patent information processing options open up as a compliment to direct access to on-line databases. These client side options are increasingly supported by a range of freely available on-line patent information data sources. This workshop will provide an introduction to both free on-line sources of patent information data and free searchable on-line patent information databases
Please refer to speaker bio under “Search Basics”.
Mr Geert Pauwels, European Patent Office
Commercial databases were among the first widely available sources of patent information. Since then, enormous amounts of patent data are accessible for free on the internet. Commercial hosts, who charge for information they provide, nevertheless did not disappear and thus seem to respond to some needs. Why pay for something that is available for free? This workshop will provide some information on the largest commercial hosts and the databases and the services they are offering. A hands-on introduction to patent searching.
Mr. Geert Pauwels graduated from the University of Ghent (Belgium) in 1968 with a degree in Organic Chemistry. In 1970, Mr Pauwels joined the former Institut International des Brevets, which was integrated with the European Patent Office in 1978. He was a search examiner in the field of Pure and Applied Organic Chemistry, and started combining search and substantive examining in 1992. Mr Pauwels joined the Directorate Applied Research and Development in the Documentation Department in 2002 for coordinating chemistry related software applications. He is now a chemistry specialist in the EPOQUE-team, where he is working on a new search engine and coordinates international cooperation.