Derwent Innovations Index^(SM)

The Institute for Scientific Information^� (ISI^�) publishes the Derwent Innovations Index, a new Web-based resource that allows searching of patent literature from 40 patent-issuing authorities. Coverage for many source patents begins in 1963.

The Derwent Innovations Index provides a comprehensive overview of an invention in a global marketplace including its novelty, the legal owner of the intellectual property and the degree of protection of each patent. The database assists users to identify technological advances, reduce duplication of R&D, track the global activities of competitors, follow the novelty of your company's inventions, and track patent infringement. The Derwent Innovations Index also helps users to identify potential gaps in the marketplace and licensing opportunities, aid in the development of new ideas and new research inspiration.

Drawing on the expertise and data of its sister company, Derwent Information, ISI has coupled key patent data with a powerful search interface. The Web of Science^� search interface gives users easy access to the Derwent data, while the hypertext links make it easy to navigate the citations - forward in time to citing patents and backward in time to cited references.

Links between the Derwent Innovations Index and the Web of Science:

• Cited Patents - Links from the Cited Patents in the Web of Science to the Full Bibliographic Patent Record in the Derwent Innovations Index
• Citing Patents - Direct link to all patents that have cited the invention
• Cited Articles - All Cited Article (non-patent) references are linked to the Web of Science dependent upon the user's subscription range. ISI will show an abbreviated page if the reference is outside of the user's subscription range.

Initially offered as an Internet solution, the Derwent Innovations Index contains source patents in three broad technical groupings: chemical, electronic & electrical engineering, and mechanical engineering. It will be updated on a weekly basis.

Currently, citations are processed from the following six authorities:

• European Patent Office
• Germany
• Japan
• PCT (World Patents)
• United Kingdom
• United States

Features/benefits:

• Value Added Indexing - Derwent Information identifies a unique invention (basic patent) as one that is totally new in scope. There are over 9 million basic inventions in the database, and more than 18 million patents reported in all. As the same invention is applied for patentability in other countries, Derwent links these together in a patent family structure to the basic patent. Derwent tracks the development of patents as well by indexing all statuses received from the authority.
• Descriptive Titles - Original patent titles are ambiguous by design. Often the title is uninformative. Derwent indexers read the patent specification and write a concise descriptive title that includes a description of the invention and the reason for its novelty. These descriptive titles are searchable as part of the Topic Search.
• Abstract - Derwent subject experts read the entire patent specification and write a concise abstract (250-500 words) that describes the claims and disclosure of the invention. The abstract is searchable as part of the Topic Search.
• Derwent Class Codes - Derwent subject experts assign class codes in three broad categories (chemical, electronic and electrical engineering, and mechanical engineering). The Class Codes will have their own query field in the General Search.
• Patent Inventors - All Patent Inventors are processed and are searchable.
• Patent Assignee - Patent Assignee (owner of the patent) is searchable by full name or code. Derwent assigns a standard 4-character code to the majority of inventions. This enables users to search for multinational companies where company titles vary.
• Priority and Application Data - This data is the application data for the basic invention and indicates when the application was first received by the patent authority.
• Citations - Each examining authority does an exhaustive search of patent and non-patent databases to prove the invention's novelty. Citations for the six major authorities are processed. Each citation is also given a category code, which indicates the importance of the citation to the novelty of the invention. Searching by cited patent can be done by Inventor, Assignee, or Patent Number.

Users of patent information, which includes professionals in academic, corporate and legal environments, find that patent information can be of enormous commercial value, whether for identifying technological advances and trends, developing new ideas or tracking global competition or patent infringement. Studies have shown that between 70-90% of all information contained in patents has never been published anywhere else.

The Derwent Innovations Index includes source patents received from the 40 patent-issuing authorities. Unless otherwise indicated, coverage begins in 1963 through the present.

• Australia 1963-1969, 1983-present
  
• Austria 1975-present
  
• Belgium
  
• Brazil 1976-present
  
• Canada
  
• Czechoslovakia 1975-present
  
• Denmark 1974-present
  
• European Patent Office 1978-present
  
• Finland 1974-present
  
• Germany
  
• Hungary 1975-presen

• Italy 1966-1969, 1978-present
  
• Japan (chemical only)
  
• Republic of Korea (South) 1986-present
  
• Luxembourg 1984-present
  
• Netherlands
  
• Norway 1974-present
  
• New Zealand 1993-present
  
• Patent Cooperation Treaty - World Patent Office 1978-present
  
• Portugal 1974-present
  
• Romania 1975-present
  
• South Africa
  
• Soviet Union
  
• Spain 1983-present
  
• Sweden
  
• Switzerland
  
• Taiwan 1993-present
  
• United Kingdom
  
• United States