On the Web edited by
Chemical Information Instructor
Andrea Twiss-Brooks
Teaching Chemistry Students How To Use Patent Databases and Glean Patent Information
John Crerar Library University of Chicago Chicago, IL 60637
Margy MacMillan Library, Mount Royal College, Calgary, AB, T3E 6K6, Canada Lawton Shaw* Centre for Science, Athabasca University, Athabasca, AB, T9S 3A3, Canada; *
[email protected] This Journal has a long history of advocating both the use of patent literature in chemical research and the need to teach patent searching to chemistry students (1–9). Patents contain unique information, and provide a critical link between classroom theory and “real-world” application. With many national patent databases freely available and searchable via the Internet, introducing students to the world of patents is now easier than ever, and can be part of the information literacy curriculum even at high schools or smaller institutions that cannot afford access through Chemical Abstracts Service (CAS). At Mount Royal College, chemistry faculty and the chemistry librarian have developed a suite of information literacy workshops designed to expose students to various types and sources of information—databases of scholarly articles, government scientific and regulatory databases, key reference sources, and so on. These workshops are integrated with several courses and provide instruction on progressively more complex research tools as students progress through the program. We added an introduction to patent searching to the upper-level chemistry courses in response to prompting from colleagues in industry and a growing recognition of the rich resource patents provide. While this exercise was developed for second-year students, it could be adapted to any level of chemistry, most easily by judicious pre-searching in the database to find patents appropriate in level of complexity or content to a particular class. Why Teach with Patents? Historical Views The importance of patents to chemistry as a discipline and their place in both library and laboratory research were recurring themes through the early years of this Journal. In 1946, E. R. Weidlein was quoted as saying (2): Issued patents constitute an important, if not the most important, source of information regarding modern technological advances. It is unfortunate that so little attention is directed in our colleges and universities to the body of technical information contained in issued patents. Far better than the average reference texts and published scientific papers, the patent literature mirrors the thinking and day-to-day progress in technological fields.
Thirty years later, J. H. Schwartz wrote (3): There is a reluctance especially among academicians to read, scan and search the patent literature. The situation is worsened by the disinclination of many science educators and librarians to instruct students on the use of patents and patent alerting services other than Chemical Abstracts.
Benefits of Patent Searching In the past, patent literature has been seen as a rich, yet neglected resource, in part because of the difficulties inherent in searching for and obtaining patent documents (10). The use of patents in a literature review is viewed as a critical professional skill, saving time and money by not repeating the previous work of others. The unique nature of patent information is often bolstered by statements such as “80% of patent information is never disclosed elsewhere” (11). This can be traced back to a 1977 study by the United States Patent and Trademark Office (12). The World Intellectual Property Organization gives a more conservative estimate that two-thirds of the information in patents is not available elsewhere (13). Even at two-thirds, the patent literature is too large a resource to ignore and we must endeavor to make students and scientists more familiar with its use. Chemistry as a field appears to have recognized the value of patents more than the other sciences, with a recent study of 20 years of patent citation in Science Citation Index showing that almost 70% of articles citing patents came from chemistry and its subdisciplines (14). A recent study by Bregonje (15) showed that in chemistry, patents are frequently the first publication. Further, this same study demonstrated that the proportion of first publications that are patents is increasing with time and that if a patent is the first publication on a compound, it is unlikely that further information will be published. Pedagogically, patents can provide that elusive link between theory and application for students. The emphasis on “real-world relevance” has been felt throughout the college curriculum in recent years, and patents offer an engaging way of linking consumer products students may be familiar with to the processes they are learning in the lab. By using patents for materials that students encounter everyday, instructors can engage students in new ways at any level of chemistry. For instance, a search on “milkshakes” turns up a number of interesting patents related to making thicker, more stable drinks. In the course described below, patents provided information on production processes that students needed to complete their group projects; students were therefore rewarded for venturing into patent literature, and learned concretely how it could inform research and industry. A third compelling reason to include patent searching in information literacy sessions for chemists is that it has never been easier. While it is possible to search patents through CAS and SciFinder Scholar, it has become even easier to find and retrieve the full text of patents from their source—national databases held by patenting agencies, particularly the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) (16). From unwieldy collec-
© Division of Chemical Education • www.JCE.DivCHED.org • Vol. 85 No. 7 July 2008 • Journal of Chemical Education
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tions of dusty documents held in select locations and accessed by experts in the appropriate arcana, patents have become accessible to anyone with an Internet connection. Given the unique nature of patent information and its link between practice and theory, the pertinent question is not so much “Why teach with patents?”—rather it is “Why not?” While there are many ways of accessing patents—notably through CAS and SciFinder Scholar, we chose to introduce students to patents through the USPTO for several reasons. First, as a small college teaching relatively few chemistry courses, the library budget cannot afford an institutional subscription to CAS. (We suspect this may be true of many other institutions, and certainly of most high schools.) Second, searching for patents through the USPTO makes it very clear to students that they are accessing a different kind of information from journal articles, books, or Web pages. One effect of the transition to electronic searching from print resources like old CAS indexes is that all the information can look the same to students. Using a patent database, it is easier to teach students that different strategies and keywords may be required to search for these very different resources. Finally, the USPTO search interface provides the option of restricting a search to the abstract field, which is an optimal starting point as title searching often retrieves too few hits, and full text searching almost always retrieves too many. Introducing Patent Searching in the Curriculum Example from an Industrial Organic Chemistry Course In Mount Royal College’s one-semester course in industrial organic chemistry, students are assigned a group project in which they assess the economic and environmental feasibility of building a chemical plant to produce a given industrial chemical. In the third week of classes, tutorial sessions (held in the library) focus on developing students’ skills in information retrieval and library research, a primary learning objective of the project. In these sessions, groups are created and assigned an industrial chemical to research, such as caffeine, glyphosate, and polyethylene. Once this task is completed, an academic librarian leads the class through a lesson in searching through various information databases and library reference materials. These include: databases on occupational health and safety, chemical and physical data, business news, and government statistics; hard copies of academic journals; chemical technology encyclopedias; and patents. While students may have received instruction in most of the other sources in previous classes, patents are only introduced at this level. Rather than making students expert patent users, our aim in this class is to introduce them to the value of patents, some basic search techniques, the language of patents, and to foster an appreciation of where patents fit in their information environment and how information contained in them can lead to other sources. We accomplish this by leading students through a basic search and one or two patent documents, then encouraging them to use what they have found to fill a real information need. Using the library classroom, students sit with their group (each at their own computer) and work from a Web-based worksheet, following along with the librarian as each resource is reviewed (17). Throughout the session, the instructor and the librarian engage in a dialogue, reinforcing key points about various information sources; students are encouraged to ask questions throughout the tutorial session. 998
To introduce patents, the librarian begins with an explanation of what patents are, and how the patent information can help students with their projects. While many students recognize that patents describe inventions, few understand that they can also describe processes. Students are expected to use patent information in the section of their reports that describes how their substance will be produced. In the introduction, students are also cautioned that the language of patents may not always be clear. This is a long-recognized challenge to using the patent literature (5, 18–21). We defuse anxiety somewhat during the demonstration by indicating the relative usefulness of various parts of the patent and concentrating on those that provide clearer information, and links to other sources. The librarian demonstrates a search, asking students to follow using their own topics. Students are led to the quick search page and then encouraged to limit their searches to the abstract field. We instruct them to use their chemical as one search term and the word “process” as the second search term, combining them with “and”. This usually produces a manageable set of results with the students’ topics fairly central to each patent retrieved. The librarian then either selects one of the patents for closer inspection, or retrieves a patent already loaded onto the computer to save time. To aid students’ patent searching, some of the key points we elaborate include these strategies:
• Abstracts may be a source for other key words.
• Class numbers are a way to check for related patents.
• References cited, including previous patents, can be used to track the process back to other similar patents or patents describing other parts of the production process.
• The Claims section often provides a relatively clear description of the process, including substances required or generated by the process.
• The Description section also includes information about the process.
• Images may help in understanding the description section. We urge students to open images in a new window to have them visible while reading through the description.
We let students explore the patent information—trying searches on the Class number, using synonyms for “process” like “production”, “manufacture”, and so on, with the librarian and instructor assisting to develop search strategies and interpret results. We also indicate that students may encounter references to patents in some of their other sources, such as Ullmann’s Encyclopedia of Industrial Chemistry (22) and the Kirk-Othmer Encyclopedia of Chemical Technology (23), and demonstrate how to search by patent number. Students are also encouraged to seek further assistance from the librarian as they work on their projects; many of them take advantage of the opportunity to consult with a more experienced patent searcher. In general, students are intrigued by this new resource, and even those who have had several previous library instruction sessions re-engage with the literature search process because of the novelty of patents. Incorporating Patent Results in Students’ Written Work One of our objectives was that by the end of the library instruction session, each student was able to search and obtain patent information. Therefore, we ensured that each student had a meaningful opportunity to search for patents.
Journal of Chemical Education • Vol. 85 No. 7 July 2008 • www.JCE.DivCHED.org • © Division of Chemical Education
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Students were assigned industrial chemicals that had several patents associated with them. Students have always been able to locate several patents related to their chemical. Also, we are fortunate to have small class sizes. The library sessions had a maximum of 15 students present, divided into three to four groups. This allows the chemistry instructor and the librarian to spend considerable time with individual students to make sure that they know how to effectively search patents before the end of the session. The actual use of patent literature in students’ written reports has been highly dependent on the nature of the industrial chemical they were assigned. Students assigned high value or specialty chemicals have been more likely to cite patents in their report. For example, students assigned chemicals such as glyphosate and caffeine have all cited patents in their reports. In contrast, if the assigned chemical were a plastic, polymer, or a bulk commodity chemical, students generally have not cited patents, except for patents of polymerization catalysts, which is an area of technology that is continually being improved upon. In this assignment, students obviously made choices about the usefulness of the various sources of chemical information available to them. If students were assigned a commodity chemical (e.g., ethanolamines) or a plastic (e.g., polyethylene), they quickly learned that the product is manufactured using a mature technology. This usually means that the dominant chemical technology used to produce it is old and established, any patents associated with it have expired, and it is well described by other, more accessible information sources like the Kirk-Othmer Encyclopedia of Chemical Technology (23). If they were assigned a specialty chemical or a pharmaceutical, students quickly discovered that current patents existed and were the source of a competitive advantage to some manufacturer. Observing how students use patents suggests that librarybased instruction into patent searching would be of special use in upper-level chemistry courses that may address newer, lucrative chemical applications. For example, senior organic chemistry courses would be very suited to this type of instruction because students are learning about new synthetic approaches that can be used in pharmaceutical manufacture. Inorganic, organometallic, and materials chemistry courses would also be suitable because of applications in catalysis and new materials. Tips for Teaching Students How To Use Patents The three tips provided here are basic yet should not be overlooked. First, search the chemicals in the patent database before assigning them to students—make sure that at least four or five useful patents exist for each chemical. Second, download a patent document and its images onto the demonstration computer before the class starts—occasionally patent Web pages can be slow to load, so having one quickly available can keep the class moving. Finally, provide information and examples on how to cite patents—most student citation guides do not include this. Conclusions Students benefit from early exposure to the patent literature by developing an appreciation for the value of the unique information patents contain and an awareness of strategies for getting the most out of patent searching. This knowledge serves them well throughout their chemistry studies and in their professional careers. Instructors can use patents in many ways to link theory
and application; however, by integrating and rewarding the use of patents in an assignment, they provide great incentives for students to explore the literature and a contextual framework for how to use it effectively. Chemistry, as a field, benefits from having more chemists aware of patent literature to reduce costly repetitions of work already done and to advance chemistry further and faster by using patent literature as a springboard for research and development. With patent literature becoming more accessible than it has ever been, there is now no excuse for not incorporating it into the information literacy of chemistry students. And besides.... it is fun! Students are not the only ones who enjoy the novelty of patent searching and information. Incorporating patents into instruction can re-engage the librarians as well, and provide the chemistry instructor with interesting new material to incorporate across a range of classes. Literature Cited
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Smith, J. F. J. Chem. Educ. 1927, 4, 1522–1528. Ooms, C. W. J. Chem. Educ. 1946, 23, 478–481. Schwartz, J. H. J. Chem. Educ. 1976, 53, 57. Emling. B. L. J. Chem. Educ. 1951, 28, 133. Cole, B. J. J. Chem. Educ. 1944, 21, 319–321. Hollabaugh, C. B. J. Chem. Educ. 1944, 21, 321–325. Smith, W. W. J. Chem. Educ. 1943, 20, 602–604. Egloff, G.; Alexander, M.; Van Arsdell, P. J. Chem. Educ. 1943, 20, 587–592. Hill, W. S. J. Chem. Educ. 1944, 21, 225–227. Kaback, S. M. J. Chem Inf. Comput. Sci. 2002, 42, 137–142. Patex Web Page About Patents and Patent Searching. http://www. patex.ca/html/ip_information/about_patents.html (accessed Mar 2008). Hertel. K. Patents and Trademarks @ Your Northwest PTDL. PNLA Quarterly 2004, 68 (3), 5–7. http://www.pnla.org/quarterly/Spring2004/PNLA_Spr04.pdf (accessed Mar 2008). Using Patent Information for the Benefit of Your SME. http:// www.wipo.int/sme/en/ip_business/patents/patent_information.htm (accessed Mar 2008). Glänzel, W.; Meyer, M. Scientometrics 2003, 58, 415–428. Bergonje, M. World Patent Information 2005, 27, 309–315. United States Patent and Trademark Office. http://www.uspto.gov (accessed Mar 2008). MacMillan, M. Chemistry 3357: Finding Research Solutions. http://library.mtroyal.ca/instruction/04-05/chem3357.htm (accessed Mar 2008). Hancock, J. E. H. J. Chem. Educ. 1968, 45, 260–266. Siner, T. E. R.; Smith, J. F. J. Chem. Educ. 1967, 44, 111–112. Weil, B. H. J. Chem. Educ. 1951, 28, 572–575. Maynard, J. T.; Peters, H. M. Understanding Chemical Patents: A Guide for the Inventor, 2nd ed.; American Chemical Society: Washington, DC, 1991. Ullmann’s Encyclopedia of Chemical Technology, 6th ed., Bohnet, M., et al. Eds.; Wiley-VCH: Weinheim, Germany, 2003. Kirk-Othmer Encyclopedia of Chemical Technology, 5th ed., Kroschwitz, J., Ed.; Wiley and Sons: Hoboken, NJ, 2004.
Supporting JCE Online Material
http://www.jce.divched.org/Journal/Issues/2008/Jul/abs997.html Abstract and keywords Full text (PDF) Links to cited URLs and JCE articles
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