DETECTING CORRESPONDING PATENTS FROM DIFFERENT COUNTRIES B Y E . L. KOHNKE and G. F. LEWENZ Technical Information Division, Esso Research and Engineering Company, Linden, N. J.
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Keeping up with world-wide t e c h n i c a l infor m a t i o n by a b s t r a c t i n g p a t e n t s involves the p r o b l e m of how t o avoid a b s t r a c t i n g i d e n t i c a l p a t e n t s t h a t i s s u e in d i f f e r e n t c o u n t r i e s . It is c o m m o n knowledge t h a t many c o m p a n i e s f i l e patent applications o n the s a m e invention in several countries s o m e t i m e s i n t e n or m o r e . According t o i n t e r n a t i o n a l a g r e e m e n t , t h e s e a p p l i c a t i o n s m u s t be f i l e d i n all c o u n t r i e s within one y e a r f r o m t h e d a t e o n which the f i r s t a p p l i c a t i o n desc:ribing the invention is f i l e d a n y w h e r e ("convention d a t e " ) if the benefit of t h i s e a r l i e s t d a t e is t o be obtained i n all countries, The s p e e d with which p a t e n t s a r e g r a n t e d o r opened to public i n s p e c t i o n v a r i e s widely among c o u n t r i e s . T h e s e c a n be divided roughly into " f a s t - i s s u i n g c o u n t r i e s ,I1 f o r e x a m p l e A u s t r a l i a a n d Belgium, and " s l o w - i s s u i n g c o u n t r i e s , " s u c h as the United S t a t e s and Canada. On t h i s b a s i s , a patent o n the s a m e invention m i g h t be d i s c l o s e d i n a d i f f e r e n t c o u n t r y e v e r y s i x m o n t h s or y e a r f o r s e v e r a l y e a r s . A s s u m i n g t h a t the p a t e n t i s s u e d i n t e n c o u n t r i e s o v e r t h i s p e r i o d , E s s o R e s e a r c h e x p e r i e n c e shows t h a t it would t a k e about 4.0 h o u r s to p r e p a r e or adapt a b s t r a c t s f o r t h e s e t e n i s s u e s . Yet i n r e a l i t y they would d e s c r i b e only one invention. In addition t o w a s t e d a b s t r a c t i n g t i m e , two o t h e r f a c t o r s should not be overlooked: ( 1 ) r e a d e r s of t h e a b s t r a c t s should not be annoyed by r e p e t i t i o n of i n f o r m a t i o n they have r e a d bef o r e ; and ( 2 ) f o r p a t e n t - s e a r c h i n g p u r p o s e s i t is often valuablte t o know all t h e " c o r r e s p o n d i n g " p a t e n t s on a g i v e n invention, s o m e t h i n g t h a t is difficult when a111 p a t e n t s a r e t r e a t e d as "new," a n d s e p a r a t e a b ' s t r a c t s of e a c h a r e p r e p a r e d . It is e v i d e n t , t h e n , t h a t a n efficient s y s t e m f o r d e t e c t i n g c o r r e s p ' o n d i n g p a t e n t s a n d connecting t h e m is highly d e s i r a b l e i n t e r m s of a b s t r a c t i n g t i m e and r e a d e r s a t i s f a c t i o n . We have d e v i s e d s u c h a s y s t e m , one which is e s s e n t i a l l y a "convention-date file." In i t , a s e t of a b s t r a c t c a r d s i s f i l e d by convention c o u n t r y and subfiled by the convention d a t e of e a c h p a t e n t a b s t r a c t e d . In o t h e r w o r d s , a B r i t i s h patent b e a r i n g a United S t a t e s convention d a t e is f i l e d u n d e r "U.S." i n p r o p e r o r d e r by convention date. T h i s f i l e could have been built up d u r i n g the n o r m a l c o u r s e of a b s t r a c t i n g and filing. Howe v e r , s i n c e we e s t i m a t e d ( b a s e d o n the a v e r a g e i n t e r v a l between the f i r s t a p p e a r a n c e of a patent and t h e m a j o r i t y of i t s c o r r e s p o n d i n g c a s e s ) t h a t the a b s t r a c t s of' p a t e n t s i s s u e d d u r i n g t h e l a s t 18 m o n t h s w e r e all t h a t w a s needed t o m a k e the f i l e i m m e d i a t e l y e f f e c t i v e , we photocopied a p p r o x i m a t e l y 4,500 a b s t r a c t c a r d s f r o m e x i s t i n g
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"country" f i l e s of A u s t r a l i a n , Belgian, B r i t i s h , F r e n c h , and P o r t u g u e s e p a t e n t s . T h e s e c o u n t r i e s w e r e c h o s e n as being r e l a t i v e l y " f a s t - i s s u i n g " o n e s , s o t h a t the t i m e i n t e r v a l plus the c o u n t r i e s c h o s e n could be expected t o give u s a usable f i l e . T h e s e 4,500 photocopies , plus about 1,500 o t h e r a b s t r a c t c a r d s ( m a i n l y of U S . p a t e n t s ) accumulated during our normal abstracting o p e r a t i o n s , i n anticipation of t h i s f i l e , w e r e s o r t e d by convention c o u n t r y , and the convention d a t e w r i t t e n i n the upper left-hand c o r n e r of e a c h c a r d . The c a r d s w e r e placed in a 50,000c a r d filing c a b i n e t , d e e m e d a m p l e f o r expansion. A p e r s o n checkitig p a t e n t s f o r c o r r e s p o n d i n g c a s e s thus u s e s a single filing cabinet, and has only t o pull out the d r a w e r containing c a r d s f i l e d under the convention c o u n t r y i n q u e s t i o n , f l i p to the d a t e wanted, and c o n s i d e r a t m o s t 10 c a r d s . When a n a b s t r a c t of a patent b e a r i n g the s a m e convention d a t e is found, the r e s t of t h e r e f e r ence data ( s i m i l a r second o r third inventors, company n a m e ) is c o m p a r e d , plus the t e x t of the a b s t r a c t , to d e t e r m i n e w h e t h e r a connection i s in o r d e r . Since the a b s t r a c t s of all patents s e l e c t e d a s possibly c o r r e s p o n d i n g have t o be c o m p a r e d f o r s u b j e c t content with the patent being c h e c k e d , a t a s k often c o m p l i c a t e d by f o r e i g n languages and by the a p p a r e n t s i m i l a r i t i e s ( s i m i l a r p r o c e s s and conditions but slightly different c a t a l y s t s ) , E s s o R e s e a r c h found t h a t a t e c h n i c a l l y - t r a i n e d p e r s o n w a s needed t o do t h i s checking. When a n a b s t r a c t is positively identified a s c o r r e s p o n d i n g , the r e f e r e n c e d a t a a r e e x changed, a s shown in F i g . 1. The country and patent n u m b e r of the "new" patent a r e w r i t t e n
I
Figure I .
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E . L. Kohnke and G . F. Lewenz
on the a b s t r a c t c a r d in the f i l e . The country and number of the p r e v i o u s l y - a b s t r a c t e d , c o r responding patent a r e e n t e r e d on the copy of t h i s patent, o r in the patent j o u r n a l . The newly-connected patent copy, with the c o r r e s p o n d i n g patent n u m b e r on i t s f a c e , i s t h e n given to a typist to p r e p a r e a s e t of f i l e c a r d s ( F i g . 2 ) . T h e s e c a r d s i n f o r m a s e a r c h e r of the
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Fig. 2 CONNECTlON CARD
Fr. 1,211,774
Fr. 1,211,744, del. 10/12/59, f. U.S. 10/9/57 (Appears to corr. to U.S. 2,908,671) Esso Res. (N.N. Hochgraf, L.C. Kenyon, ]I., and A.W. Langer, Jr.) Process for suppressing fouling in polymerization reactors. Bull. Off. E . 9 8 1 9 (11/12/59)
e x i s t e n c e of a p r e v i o u s , c o r r e s p o n d i n g patent and a r e used in l i e u of a b s t r a c t c a r d s . E a c h c a r d gives the following information: the numb e r , i s s u e d a t e , and convention date of the unabs t r a c t e d , connected patent; t h e n u m b e r of the a b s t r a c t e d patent t o which it c o r r e s p o n d s ; c o m pany and i n v e n t o r ( s ) ; complete title of the patent; and, if a p p l i c a b l e , the r e f e r e n c e to the patent j o u r n a l in which the new patent a p p e a r e d . T h e s e "connection c a r d s " a r e f i l e d under the n u m b e r of the u n a b s t r a c t e d patent, company, and inventor( s ) . All c o r r e s p o n d i n g patent n u m b e r s a r e now conveniently available on one c a r d t h e convention-date c a r d . T h i s is a g r e a t benefit to a patent s e a r c h e r seeking a l l c o r r e s p o n d i n g p a t e n t s pertaining to a c e r t a i n invention. Until s e v e r a l months ago, patents on t h e s a m e invention w e r e "connected" a t Esso R e s e a r c h by checking t h e m a g a i n s t p r e v i o u s l y p r e p a r e d a b s t r a c t c a r d s i n the "author f i l e " in our Technical L i b r a r y . T h i s author f i l e contains upwards of 1,000,000 a b s t r a c t c a r d s , of which a p p r o x i m a t e l y 27 5,000 d e a l with patents; the r e s t a r e for l i t e r a t u r e a b s t r a c t s . C a r d s a r e filed alphabetically by company and inventor; s u b filing p l a c e s the c a r d s in o r d e r by country i n which the patent h a s i s s u e d and then by i s s u e date. In checking a patent a g a i n s t t h e s e f i l e s , all p a t e n t - a b s t r a c t c a r d s u n d e r t h e name of the f i r s t inventor w e r e scanned t o find (if p o s s i b l e ) a n a b s t r a c t of a previous patent t h a t had the s a m e convention date a s the patent being checked. In checking a patent f o r which no a s s i g n o r s w e r e
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given, the c a r d s under t h e c o m p a n y ' s name w e r e scanned. T h i s s y s t e m , although w o r k a b l e , posed s e v e r a l p r o b l e m s . One p r o b l e m , i n h e r e n t i n a n author f i l e , was t h a t of locating the one c a r d wanted i n all t h o s e f i l e d under the n a m e of a n individual or company. Some c o m p a n i e s a r e so prolific t h a t we have s e v e r a l f i l e d r a w e r s f i l l e d with c a r d s on t h e i r p a t e n t s . The c a r d s under a given name a l l had t o be checked until a c o r r e sponding patent w a s l o c a t e d ( o r not). As w a s s o m e t i m e s the c a s e , a whole d r a w e r w a s s e a r c h e d without any connection being m a d e . T h i s w a s not usually the f a u l t of the c h e c k e r ; t h e r e often j u s t w a s no c o r r e s p o n d i n g c a s e . When checking p'atent-office bulletins, s u c h a s t h o s e of Canada or G e r m a n y , the inability t o alphabetize the patents t o be checked f o r c e d t h e the c h e c k e r t o u s e the f i l e i n r a n d o m o r d e r o r d e r of the i n v e n t o r s in t h e s e bulletins. On the o t h e r hand, working with alphabetized s e t s of B r i t i s h p a t e n t s , G e r m a n s e r i a l c o p i e s , Dutch a p p l i c a t i o n s , %. , m a d e t h i s author -file checking s y s t e m somewhat m o r e b e a r a b l e ; the f i l e could be checked in alphabetical o r d e r , m i n i m i z i n g the amount of walking back and f o r t h r e q u i r e d by the p e r s o n doing the checking. A m i n o r p r o b l e m a l s o w a s p r e s e n t e d by t h e f o r m a t of our patent r e f e r e n c e on the f i l e c a r d . often s p l i t The convention country and date between two l i n e s is l o c a t e d a m o n g s e v e r a l o t h e r d a t e s and is r e l a t i v e l y difficult t o spot (Fig. 3)
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Fig. 3 PATENT REFERENCE FORMAT
E s s o Res.
b)Fines are removed from g a s e s by passing the solids-laden g a s e s through several cyclone separators in series, and increasing the inlet velocity of the last cyclone separator at least 50%over that of the first cyclone separator. This may be achieved by making the last stage separator smaller, resulting in increased recovery of fines in the last separator. The method is particularly applicable to fluidized hydrocarbon conversion processes. Belg. 569,961, g. 8/15/58, open 2nd half Jan. 1959, f. U.S. 8/15/57 a s Ser. 678,346 Esso Res. Derwent Rep. 50A:C28 (2/28/59)
Over a p e r i o d of t i m e , we e s t a b l i s h e d t h a t e l e v e n s e p a r a t e p a t e n t s could be checked and a n a v e r a g e of 3 . 4 connections m a d e p e r hour by t h e author -file method (when connecting t h e p a t e n t s of B r i t a i n , Canada, F r a n c e , G e r m a n y , and slow-enough i s s u i n g c o u n t r i e s t o e n Holland s u r e a s i z a b l e p e r c e n t a g e of connections). R e f e r r i n g to the a b s t r a c t i n g - e d i t i n g t i m e s a s s u m e d p r e v i o u s l y (4.0 h o u r s to p r e p a r e t e n a b s t r a c t s
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DETECTING CORRESPONDING PATENTS F R O M D I F F E R E N T COUNTRIES
a n d , t h e r e f o r e ] about 3.6 h o u r s t o p r e p a r e nine d u p l i c a t e s of a n a b s t r a c t ) ] t h i s checking p r o c e d u r e h a d s o m e s l i g h t e c o n o m i c advantage as r e g a r d s a b s t r a c t i n g and editing t i m e a l o n e . In addition, advantages of r e d u c e d typing, p r i n t i n g ] proof r e a d i n g , and t e c h n i c a l r e a d i n g - t i m e w e r e r e a l i z e d , j u s t a s they a r e f o r t h e p r e s e n t m e t h o d . R e c e n t s t a t i s t i c s a c c u m u l a t e d by f o u r t e c h n i c a l people while checking a t o t a l of 2,200 pate n t s i n the convention-date f i l e showed t h a t 45 p a t e n t s camnow be checked p e r hour and t h a t a n a v e r a g e of 15 patents p e r h o u r a r e being s u c c e s s f u l l y connected ( F i g . 4). A s c o m p a r e d t o t h e author-file m e t h o d , t h e r e f o r e , t h i s new s y s t e m allows b e t t e r t h a n f o u r t i m e s a s m a n y p a t e n t s t o be checked p e r h o u r , with a similar i n c r e a s e i n t h e n u m b e r s u c c e s s f u l l y connected.
Fig. 4 CHECKING AND CONNECTING RATES FOR VARIOUS COUNTRIES
Number checked
Number connected
Time to check (hr.)
439 684 734 341 62
210 158 270 67 7 734
7.3 14.9 17.7 8.8 1.1 47.6
Country Britain Canada France Germany Holland Totals
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Number checked per hour
60 46 42 39
56 45
Number connected per hour 29 11 16 8 8 15
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The c o s t s involved in s e t t i n g u p t h i s f i l e w e r e r e l a t i v e l y s m a l l . The e x i s t i n g 4 , 5 0 0 a b s t r a c t c a r d s w e r e m i c r o f i l m e d and Copyflowr e p r i n t e d f o r $225. The 1,500 duplicate c a r d s w e r e s o r t e d , t h e n all c a r d s w e r e m a r k e d and f i l e d i n l e s s than 1 0 0 c l e r i c a l m a n - h o u r s . An additional e x p e n d i t u r e of 1-2 c l e r i c a l m a n h o u r s p e r week i s needed t o m a i n t a i n the f i l e , i . e . , p a s t e - u p , s o r t , m a r k , and f i l e t h e c u r r e n t c a r d s d e s t i n e d f o r t h e f i l e e a c h week. One of the a u t h o r s of t h i s p a p e r developed t h e i d e a f o r t h i s convention-date s y s t e m , and p r o p o s e d i t s application, without knowing t h a t C h e m i c a l A b s t r a c t s w a s using a s i m i l a r method; no d e s c r i p t i o n of i t a p p a r e n t l y h a s been publ i s h e d . E x i s t e n c e of t h i s p r a c t i c e , when brought t o h i s a t t e n t i o n , t o a l a r g e extent validated t h e approach, since Chemical Abstracts reports “catching a r o u n d 10% duplication during t h e c o u r s e of a c a l e n d a r y e a r . ” The E s s o R e s e a r c h s y s t e m s e e m s t o have c e r t a i n a d v a n t a g e s , h o w e v e r , s i n c e i t s checking f i l e contains a b s t r a c t - b e a r i n g c a r d s which m a k e i t u n n e c e s s a r y t o r e f e r t o t h e o r i g i n a l s f o r subj e c t c o n t e n t , the technique p r e s e n t l y u s e d by C h e m i c a l A b s t r a c t s , C h e m i c a l A b s t r a c t s could develop a similar method if i t chose t o put a s e t of i t s patent a b s t r a c t s on c a r d s , something which i t h a s no doubt c o n s i d e r e d . A s y s t e m of “convention-date“ f i l e s thus h a s been evolved which e l i m i n a t e s w a s t e of t e c h n i c a l m a n p o w e r i n a b s t r a c t i n g , e d i t i n g , and s e a r c h i n g , l e s s e n s c l e r i c a l and printing e x p e n s e s , g i v e s r e a d e r s s h o r t e r a b s t r a c t b u l l e t i n s which codtain only new m a t e r i a l , and c r e a t e s a f i l e which i s a valuable t o o l f o r quick patent s e a r c h e s .
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R E F ERE NC E ‘Letter of June 20, 1358, from Dr. E.
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1. Crane, Chemical Abstracts Service, to MI. B. H. Weil, Esso Research and Engineering Company.
’
