Intellectual property information: A comparative analysis of main information providers

After modeling expert user needs with regard to intellectual property information, we analyze and compare the main providers in this specific information area (Thomson DIALOG, Esp@cenet by the European Patent Office, Questel-Orbit, and STN International) in terms of system content and system functionality. The key question is whether the main providers are able to satisfy these expert user needs. For patent information, some special retrieval features such as chemical structure search (including Markush search), patent family references and citations search, biosequence search, and basic informetric functionality such as ranking, mapping , and visualization of information flows are realized. Considering the results of information science research, the practice of patent information shows unexhausted improvement opportunities (e.g., the application of bibliographic patent coupling and co-patent-citation for mapping patents, patent assignees, and technology specialties). For trademark search, users need multiple truncated search (realized) as well as phonetic search and image retrieval (not realized yet). The area of intellectual property information, in which legal, scientific-technical, and economic aspects meet, comprises technical (e.g., patents and utility models) as well as nontechnical intellectual property rights (e.g., trademarks and designs). When exactly does one need intellectual property research with regard to legal, technical, and economic practice? In the following three cases, it is indispensable to deal with this matter: • before doing research and developing (R&D) or before creating a trademark or industrial design to make sure that the idea is really new, • after a successful application for a patent, a utility model, an industrial design, or a trademark to secure the protection (i.e., to make sure that no third party uses the protected idea), • every time one does scanning and monitoring to gain knowledge about other companies: What kind of new patents do the known competitors hold? What new trademarks did they de-velop? Do new and still unknown competitors invade your market? There are several providers in the field of intellectual property information. We will analyze and compare products How do these specialized information companies secure their success? Is it appropriate at all to run a commercial online supplier in view of the World Wide Web and various free offers provided by the patent offices (Georgy, 2002; Lambert, 1999)? Even some years ago, Schoch-Gruebler (1998) asked, " Patent information: Are the traditional suppliers as doomed as the dinosaurs? " (p. 2). Some studies have compared the different patent information suppliers. Nancy Lambert (2004) compared …