Direct online access to full texts of British Patents

New database GBFULL contains full texts of British patent applications including claims and assignee/inventor information / 25 % of the patents are not published elsewhere / Legal status data from INPADOC

Karlsruhe, Germany, March 21, 2005 – A vast amount of technical knowledge is contained in patents and utility models. More than 600,000 new patent applications per year worldwide add to this huge information pool. No other source of information covers almost any technological subject area in this concentrated form. Patent files containing technology information allow searches for the state of the art, for new products and methods, and for potential partners or licensees. They also are a most helpful source of information for systematic patent analysis and statistics.

FIZ Karlsruhe, one of Europe’s leading providers of information services, and European partner of premier science and technology online service STN International, has added the new full-text patent database GBFULL to STN’s comprehensive product portfolio. 25 per cent of the inventions covered in the file were only applied for in Great Britain which means that they are not published anywhere else.

The new GBFULL file covers the full texts of British patent applications from 1979 to the present. The almost 400,000 records contain the searchable text of the complete document, including claims and detailed description; patent applicant/assignees and inventors and patent and priority application data. Most records also contain an abstract. Legal status data from the INPADOC file can be displayed. The database is updated weekly.

All information can be accessed through STN’s powerful search functions. Search terms may be entered individually, or logically concatenated in a combined search. Only results matching all predefined criteria are retrieved. Simultaneous left and right truncation (searches using the root of a word, with prefixes and/or suffixes substituted by question marks) is possible - a most helpful function for conducting comprehensive, precise searches in full-text documents. Weekly or monthly automatic current-awareness-searches (SDIs) are also available. At each database update the system checks if any new answers have been added that match a user’s saved search profile. Where such matches are found, the answers are then forwarded to the user.

STN International is one of the world’s leading providers of patent information. The information network offers professional solutions in the field of patent rights. Powerful search and analysis tools allow comprehensive and efficient information retrieval from more than 30 national and international patent databases covering patent information from more than 70 countries. STN is the only online service offering Chemical Abstracts, INPADOC and Derwent World Patents Index®, three renowned databases with valuable content in the field of patents, on one single platform. Innovative software solutions allow detailed analysis and concise visualization of complex data.

The more than 220 databases hosted on STN International can be accessed by dialing in to STN’s online service using its powerful proprietary client software, “STN Express with Discover!“, or over the Internet using a standard web browser (http://stnweb.fiz-karlsruhe.de). At a later time, GBFULL may also be available in STN Easy, the point-and-click interface for occasional searchers unfamiliar with the STN command language (http://stneasy.fiz-karlsruhe.de)

FIZ Karlsruhe produces and markets scientific and technical information services in print and electronic form worldwide. In co-operation with national and international institutions, FIZ Karlsruhe produces databases in the fields of energy, nuclear research and technology, crystallography, polymer technology, mathematics, computer science and physics, and provides a search service for R&D in corporations and institutions.
FIZ Karlsruhe also operates STN International in Europe. STN International (The Scientific & Technical Information Network) is one of the world’s leading online services offering access to bibliographic, factual and full-text databases in science and technology.
At present, STN’s comprehensive product range encompasses more than 220 databases with approx. 450 million documents from all fields of science and technology, among them the world’s largest and most important patent files.
STN International is jointly operated by FIZ Karlsruhe, Germany; Chemical Abstracts Service (CAS), Columbus, OH, USA; and the Japan Science and Technology Agency (JST), Tokyo.

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Rüdiger Mack

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FIZ Karlsruhe

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