• Periodicals.

Periodicals are primarily journals, magazines, newsletters, newspapers, web pages, databases, law reviews and fax notices. Any of these publications may render an invention non patentable. Currently, there are about one hundred Intellectual Property (IP) periodicals in the United States and they appear in print, online, Internet, CD-ROM, and fax formats. Sometimes they appear in titles that are primarily dedicated to IP or they may appear as general topics with selective treatment of IP issues. According to Jon Cavicchi, a Patent and Trademark Research Tools at Franklin Pierce Law Center, some of the IP articles are pure news while others are scholarly driven.

• Why are the periodicals important. The United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) requires an invention to be "novel" in order to survive a prescribed novelty test as required by 35 USC. sec. 102. For an invention to pass this test, an inventor should consider the following points:

1. no single prior art reference may contain all the features you are claiming in the invention. Additionally prior art includes knowledge available to a person of ordinary skill at a given time. Moreover, prior art does include not only the physical materials that may constitute an invention but also anything published or generally available or known. An inventor is assumed to have a total knowledge of the existing prior art by the USPTO.



3. the invention must not be known or used by others in the U.S. or patented or described in a printed publication anywhere in the world prior to your client’s invention.



3. the invention must not be in public use or on sale in the U.S. more than one year prior to the filing of a patent application at the USPTO. There is no one year grace period outside the U.S. The Civil law countries prohibit any form of publications prior to the filing of application.



1. the USPTO usually takes into account the date an inventor conceives and reduces the invention to practice when there is an interference. Practitioners should not let his or her client sit on his or her invention. Sitting on invention may constitute lack of diligence and a lack of diligence may doom the invention in an interference proceeding. Additionally sitting on an invention and using the invention as a trade secret may be tantamount to abandonment.

• Some notable periodicals.

1. Newsletters. A large number of newsletters are periodically published by the Bar Association. Many professional organizations, trade organizations, commercial publishers and large law firms also release newsletters. Good examples are American Intellectual Property Law Association Quarterly Journal, Andrews Intellectual Property Litigation Reporter, IP-Law Review news, IP News, and BNA Patent Trademark and Copyright Law Daily.

2. Law reviews. Insightful, and resourceful articles may come from law reviews such as Franklin Pierce Law Center, John Marshall, UC Berkeley, and Cornell University’s law review articles. Check Westlaw and Lexis IP databases for relevant articles in these law reviews. Inventors and practitioners may tremendously benefit from them.



1. Periodical Indexes. Westlaw and Lexis have periodical indexes that may be very helpful to an inventor. Legal Resource Index database on Westlaw is a good example. Current information check HOTTOP on Lexis or WTHIP on Westlaw. There are clipping services such as ECLIPSE on Lexis and WESTCLIP on Westlaw. Legal Trac CD-ROM is another valuable resource.



2. IP Magazines. Some of the IP magazines provide recent developments in Patent, Trademark and Copyright. Examples are Villanova Information Law Chronicle, Texas Intellectual Law Journal, and API Express that provide news on US and foreign patents on petroleum and petrochemical industries, and Rand Journal of Economics that issue reports on research and development.



3. On Line Via DIALOG. There are several databases available online by Dialog. Examples are databases on dissertations and professional society’s annual meetings. An inventor or a practitioner should contact DIALOG for a relevant database.



4. World Wide Web. Internet is a very good place to start in regard to obtaining current information. The web has several search engines that are extremely useful in locating publications and professional patent search firms such as the Identity Research Corporation at 1-800-689-6333 or visit their web page at http://www.idresearch.com. For corporate research and developments and current news that may implicate patentibility, these web sites may be helpful to practitioners and inventors.

1. http://www.corporateinfomation.com for current developments
2. http://www.inquisit.com for current news from the news wire and
3. IBM patent Server.

1. For printed materials they are available at:

1. Public Libraries.
2. Private Libraries such as IP Law firms and Corporate libraries are good depositories of periodicals.
3. Attorney Richard Wise of Hamilton, Brook, Smith & Reynolds, P.C., indicated that the first place to start is the Inventors’ Libraries. Additionally, the libraries of the Inventors’ colleagues should not be overlooked. They may be a good source of valuable information.

2. For electronic materials visit:

1. Online services such as DIALOG
2. Online Computer Library Center (OCLC) at http://www.oclc.org. OCLC is a non profit, membership, library computer service and research organization that provides access to the World’s Information on varieties of science subjects at a lower cost.
3. Internet search engines such as YAOO and HOTBOT, and
3. Develop a bookmark file for valuable cites.
4. Micropatent access over Internet. Patent could be ordered, downloaded, and printed. U.S. and European patents are availabe.
5. Corporate Intelligence has enormous storage of the U.S. patent.
6. IBM patent Web Site.

3. Occasionally, patent case laws cite patent references by publications. A practitioner might be able to follow-up on these references through a research of relevant cases.

According to a professional searcher from the Boston Law firm of Fish & Richardson P.C., Terry Grzybinski, there are several suppliers of prior art documents. Notable vendors are:

Telephone Number / Fax

1. Cisti:  1-800-668 -1222
2. Uncover:   1-800-787-7979
3. British Library:   071-323-7990 (Fax)
4. KR-Source One
5. Ask IEEE:   1-800-949-4333
6. Japan Info. Technological Center:   202-872-6371
7. University of California, San Diego
8. University of Minesota:   1-800-477-6689
9. Linda Hall Library:   1-800-662-1546
10. Los Angeles Public Library:   1-213-228-7249
11. University of California, Berkeley:   1-510-643-6151

Print publications are very significant to a practitioner and an inventor in several ways. These range from saving enormous amount of money and energy on an inventor that may be susceptible to a prior art, to the time that could be spent on another invention.