1.0 INTRODUCTION

Patent protection is the right to exclude others from making, using, and selling an invention for a statutory period, now equal to 20 years. Obtaining a patent is a long and expensive process involving filing of an application by the inventor and examination of that application by the Patent and Trademark Office (PTO). Among other considerations, the PTO determines whether or not the invention is protectible (allowable subject matter) and new (novel and non-obvious). Newness requires finding out what comparable inventions are already in the public domain, i.e., what is the relevant prior art.

Because the computer software industry is young and developing very rapidly the sources of relevant prior art are far flung and disparate, meaning that there are relatively few standards of comparison and no centralized body of information to serve as a reference. This lack of an adequate infrastructure to support newness determinations has had some disastrous results in that patents have issued for computer software inventions that were clearly invalid. The primary reason for the failure of the PTO to reject the patent application was that the appropriate prior art was not before the examiner, for whatever reason.

The PTO has, by fits and starts, begun to address the problem of providing its examiners with access to more complete collections of software prior art. However, because of the nature of the software industry and its rapid growth this will be an iterative process that will be slow to converge. Unlike other disciplines where patents represent the most reliable prior art, the computer industry prior art resides in printed publications and products and even knowledgeable others. A daunting task to cover completely when doing a search.

This paper discusses how to go about finding non-patent, relevant, software prior art. The focus is on non-patent prior art because that is where 90%+ of software prior art resides. It is just a starting point and the sources mentioned are only the most obvious ones. There are many more to be mined.

2.0 A BRIEF HISTORY OF SOFTWARE PATENTING

The software industry became commercially viable somewhere in the 1950s and only with regard to mainframe computers. Protection of software was not a problem in these early years due to the high cost of entry into the field. IBM controlled most of the market for a very long time and hardware was king. Software took a back seat while the major players in the field battled it out by building faster CPUs, adding more and more main and peripheral memory, and exploring esoteric architectures. This competition reached a zenith in the 1970s when, for example, Burroughs built an Algol-machine and GE built Multics. Patents were the preferred choice for protection of hardware during this period. Software patents were not granted.

Meanwhile, software chugged along in low gear with free flow of information among developers and trade secret as the primary means of protection. Until 1970, when an attempt to patent a mathematical algorithm for BCD to binary conversion was rejected. The Supreme Court found that this was not patentable subject matter under 35 USC §101, saying it was like a law of nature, and patenting it would amount to granting exclusive use of the algorithm itself. And so began a protracted period of refusal by the PTO to patent software inventions. Wherein lies the first problem with software prior art: it's outside the patent system.

Meanwhile software overtook hardware in importance, market share, etc., becoming a fungible commodity, almost. The cost of entry was driven down by the advent of the PC. IBM was no longer the preeminent source of hardware and software. Software became a hot-bed of creativity with newly created Computer Science Departments appearing on almost every university and college campus, right down to the community college level. Virtually everybody was doing it, wherein lies the second problem with software prior art: it's everywhere in every shape and format (and nowhere as a result).

With this spread and legitimization of software technology at all levels, it was only natural that more valuable resources were being created and more exclusive protection was being sought for them, i.e., patent protection. Although the mathematical algorithm prohibition still stands, patent protection is now routinely granted for software inventions, some say too routinely. In 1994 in excess of 3600 software patents were granted and by the year 2000 are expected 80,000 active US software patents. However, it was not until 1996 that the PTO finally and belatedly issued guidelines for its examiners to follow when prosecuting applications for computer related inventions. Wherein lies the third problem with software prior art patents: they do not form a consistent body of prior art to rely on.

3.0 PRIOR ART AND PATENT EXAMINATION

When an inventor seeks a patent the PTO performs an examination of the application for that patent which includes a determination of the patentability of the invention. This determination includes a search of what has already been invented so that no patent will issue for any invention already in the public domain. Obviously, not every invention exists in working form or even as a working model, so publications which disclose the invention in sufficient detail for a practitioner to build it or practice it are searched as well. Finally, the invention might be on sale or others might know about it and that would also preclude its patentability, so catalogs and individual knowledge are sought out as well.

3.1 Prior Art Defined

The aggregate of information about prior inventions is called prior art. To preclude patentability of an invention, this prior art must possess certain characteristics according to the patent statute. In order to be granted the right to exclude others from making, using, or selling an invention the invention must be novel and non-obvious. Both of these characteristics are determined by referring to prior art. Certain time constraints must be met for a patent or document to be prior art against a new invention, that is, the prior art must have been invented or published more than one year before the inventor sought patent protection. Also, the same time restrictions apply to an invention which has been on sale or known to others (note the plurality). These time restrictions contribute an upper limit on dates of references to be prior art: the date of publication of the reference must be more than one year prior to the date the inventor first sought patent protection.

This means that prior patents, journal or trade articles, catalogues, conference proceedings, published papers, and the like, are prior art. That is, they are sources for confirmation that an invention was already known at the time the inventor sought patent protection and therefore such protection will not be granted, as a matter of law.

3.2 Role of Prior Art

In determining if an invention is novel there must be a single prior art source which discloses every aspect of the invention. Only one patent or publication or catalog entry can be used to reject an invention as not novel and that one source must describe every feature of the invention. Note that more could be described, but not less, for an invention to lack novelty under the patent act, 35 USC §102. When such a single source is found it is held that the source anticipates the invention and no patent will issue for the invention.

If no single source discloses the entire invention, but several sources can be combined to describe every aspect, and it would have been obvious to one with ordinary skills in the art of the invention to combine these sources, then, the invention is rejected as obvious. When an invention is obvious based on a combination of prior art, no patent will issue under the patent act, 35 USC §103.

3.3 PTO Approach to Software Prior Art

The staff of the PTO that examines patent applications is known as the Examiner Corps. A software prior art search by a member of the PTO Examiner Corps might involve, but not be limited to, the following steps:

1. determining the US classes/subclasses of the invention based common terms which describe its function, effect, end-product, structure, and use from a perusal of the Index to U.S. Patent Classification and Manual of Classification (see Appendix A);
2. developing an initial search strategy based on this classification, including but not limited to:

• date of invention (e.g., filing of application or priority date);
• statutory type of subject matter;
• type of patent applied for (e.g., utility, utility model in Japan)
• international and U.S. class/subclass (the only standard vocabulary across all sources);
• keywords and phrases based on function, effect end-product, structure, and use;
• inventors;
• assignees;
• boolean search criteria: necessary (ANDs) and optional elements of search (ORs) and elements to be excluded (NOTs);

3. performing a prosecution history search with the search strategy against patents in the same classification, which are stored at the PTO in file drawers called shoeboxes, and which contain the complete prosecution history of each patent including other examiner's notes;
4. applying the search strategy against the examiner's own collection of information, called a digest;
5. refining the search strategy based on information obtained from steps 3 and 4, and repeating any steps if necessary;
6. computerizing the refined search strategy against electronic databases:

1. (a) available to the public in the same form

1. trade newsletters
2. portions of the NTIS database
3. portions of INSPEC
4. Microcomputer Abstracts
5. calls for papers at trade conferences
6. miscellaneous full-text sources

1. IBM Technical Bulletin
2. Non-Patent Literature (NPL) cited in European patents
3. REFI, a catalog of holdings for a major European patent library
4. National patent databases from various EPO member countries
5. Patent classification schemes

7. searching paper collections in the PTO library

3.4 Quality of Software Patents

Commentators question the validity of most issued software patents, based on their conclusion that most of the PTO's software prior art searches are unreliable. Their views are given strength by infamous patent grants followed by equally infamous invalidations.

This perceived lack of validity has been attributed to the small amount of time the examiner spends on each application. The time allotted to each application is very short and there is constant pressure within the PTO to fill quotas. Performance is judged by satisfying quotas. Further, this time was set in the late 1970s when there was not a great and disparate volume of prior art to be searched. Although the PTO has made more software prior art available to examiners and provided professional searchers to support examiners there has been no relaxation of the time constraints placed by the PTO on patent examiners.

4.0 PERFORMING A SOFTWARE PRIOR ART SEARCH

Probably the single most important step in searching software prior art is to determine the scope of such a search. Budget, time, and subject matter are the primary determinants of the scope of a prior art search and each must be determined by consulting the inventor. It is the inventor who best knows the prior art that is relevant to the invention and who sets the budget and time frame.

4.1 Developing a Search Strategy

The inventor should write down as much information as possible, in each of the following categories, as the starting point for a software prior art search:

1. budget for search - what prior art sources can be consulted
2. time-frame for search - which of these sources will yield the best results in the time required
3. a succinct description of the invention - class/subclass, keywords and phrases, remember that class/subclass are the only standard descriptors used in ALL patent databases
4. the exact date when the inventor conceived of the invention - priority and date of invention
5. the exact date when (and if) the inventor reduced the invention to practice - priority and date of invention
6. the exact dates when (and if) the inventor applied for or obtained other patents, including foreign patents and certificates of invention - priority, prior art, 1 year prior application or patent statutory bar
7. the technology on which the invention is based - class/subclass, keywords and phrases
8. the sources used by the inventor, e.g., journals, popular press, trade journals, catalogs etc.- prior art materials to be searched
9. the firms involved in the technology of the invention - on sale bar, known by others bar, assignee searches, company searches, SIC searches (standard industry codes used in U.S.)
10. names of other inventors involved in the technology of the invention - priority, known by others bar
11. what other inventions the inventor relied on - prior art, on sale bar, known by others bar
12. the academic institutions involved in the technology of the invention - known by others bar, publication bar (theses and grants)

Regardless of where the type of search is to be conducted, the information gathered from the inventor must be used as the framework. The most important search criteria is the class/subclass because it is the only standard used in all the world's patent systems, and it provides a set of initial keywords for automated searching.

The information gathered during this initial process should be further placed into the following categories:

1. dates to be searched to limit the search;
2. required keywords: class/subclass for patent databases; technology area, dates, assignees, etc. - these will be ANDed in boolean queries;
3. optional keywords - these will be ORed in boolean queries.

4.2 Determining Type of Search

Time and budget constraints determine whether a search will be manual, automated or a combination. This section provides information about where to conduct manual and automated searches. There are many free on-line databases, as well as very extensive and expensive on-line databases. Internet addresses (URLs) are provided for many on-line sources. This is not an exhaustive listing. It is meant to be suggestive, especially concerning firm and university sources. The inventor will know which firms and universities are sources for software prior art searches relevant to the software invention.

4.3 Manual/On-Site Searches

A manual or on-site search can be performed at a Patent office and a library. Most large universities that are involved in software research have extensive prior art collections.

4.3.1 On-Site Searching at the PTO

There are several PTO offices around the country and these offices are open to the public for searching and video conferencing. At the PTO's offices in Crystal City VA, automated patent text searching and image retrieval are available free to the public using the Automated Patent System (APS). A CD-ROM system provides access to the Manual of Patent Classification and its Index (see Appendix A), complete with definitions (see Appendix B). CD-ROM information may be saved to diskette for free. There are paper copies as well, with facilities for making copies on a per page fee of $.25 per page. A copy of the PTO's 1998 Products and Services Catalog can be obtained by calling 1-800-PTO-9199. Many of the PTO products are also available on-line at http://www.uspto.gov . Finally, there is PTO staff to assist searchers available for an hourly fee of $30.00.

However, only U.S. patents are available at the PTO and for a comprehensive search, foreign patents should be searched.

4.3.2 On-Site Searching at a State Library

Each state has a Patent and Trademark Depository Library (PTDL) which is free to the public and contains CD-ROM and paper patent indexes, patent classification definitions and images of patents for the last three years. Patents from 1970 are available on microfilm. Copies of CD-ROM information can be either saved to diskette (purchased on-site) or printed (for a fee of $.10 per page) and copies of microfilm can be obtained (for a fee of $.25 per page). In addition, all the Official Gazettes of the PTO are available for abstracts of patents issued earlier than 1970, although such early patents should not be relevant to software prior art searching. There is staff available to provide a searcher with very limited assistance for free.

However, only U.S. patents are available at PTDLs and for a comprehensive search, foreign patents should be searched.

4.4 On-Line Searching

Direct, dial-up access to search services is almost a thing of the past. The Internet is the access mechanism of choice. All of the prior art providers listed below are accessible via the Internet.

4.4.1 Non-Patent Prior Art

1. On-Line Databases

1. http://www.dialog.com

Mathematical Reviews

Current Mathematical Publications

ACM Guide to Computing Literature

Computing Reviews

Technical Reports in Computer Science (Stanford Univ)

Current Index to Statistics

Index to Statistics and Probability

Coverage is from 1940. Updated monthly.

File 256 - SoftBase: Reviews, Companies, and Products

GROUP DATABASES

2. http://www.questel.orbit.com Questel-Orbit provides many databases on an exclusive basis. A special search tool, Imagination 2, facilitates searching these databases. There is some overlap with DIALOG databases and attention should be paid to the content of these databases as many are not full text.

There is a search capability for the QUESTEL-ORBIT on-line database catalog which should prove helpful in identifying potential sources of software prior art (see Appendix D for the search result for Science and Technology databases).

There are some unique databases only accessible via QUESTEL-ORBIT. For example, the full text of Informatique, a weekly publication covering all aspects of the computer sector, is only available on Questel.

3. ACM-Association for Computing Machinery (http://www.acm.com) This site provides access to the preeminent software publications in the U. S., if not in the world. For over thirty years the ACM has published computer science and software literature ranging from surveys to journals, virtually chronicling the evolution of the software industry in the U.S. Every significant development has been reported in these publications. These publications should be a part of every prior art search. However, they are not all on-line and they are not free.

4. IEEE - (http://www.ieee.com) This site provides access to the society's technical publications from 1995 on at (http://www.computer.org/epub/). The society has a very active computer group and has published Data Engineering, Software Engineering, Computer journals for decades.

5. (http://www.zdnet.com) This site enables searching for magazine articles in U.S., including PC Computing, PC WEEK, MacWeek, and PC Magazine. This site also provides access to international sites, including sites for th UK, Germany, Italy, Spain, Russia, France, Japan, China, Taiwan, Australia, and South Africa. Additionally, the site provides product reviews.

6. SPI - Software Patent Institute (http://www.spi.com) Covers descriptions of software technologies and each record is either all or a portion of a source document that is generally not readily available elsewhere. The search facilities at this site are free.

2. Company/Vendor Web Sites - many software vendors maintain elaborate web sites with information concerning their products. The inventor knows which vendors build products in the same field. A visit to each vendor's web site should be a part of a software prior art search.

1. Digital Equipment - http://www.digital.com
2. IBM - http://www.ibm.com
3. Microsoft - http://www.microsoft.com
4. Oracle - http://www.oracle.com
5. Sybase - http://www.sybase.com
6. Red Brick - http://www.redbrick.com
7. Symantec - http://www.symantec.com

3. Professional Publications - DIALOG and QUESTEL-ORBIT databases cover virtually all of them. There are also individual web sites maintained by software publishers, e.g., http://www.byte.org .
4. Industry Publications - DIALOG and QUESTEL-ORBIT databases cover virtually all of them. There are also individual web sites maintained by industry publishers.
5. University Sources - many universities contributed to development of particular aspects of the software industry. For example, the University of Maryland has had a software engineering laboratory in cooperation with NASA for over a decade. There is a web site describing the work of this partnership at http://fdd.gsfc.nasa.gov/seltext.html . Maryland has a very complete library of publications in software engineering, covering the entire development of software engineering as a discipline. If the invention is a CASE tool for engineering software, the University of Maryland is THE place to look for prior art. The inventor should be aware of which universities and which researchers are good sources of software prior art. Each university has many web sites and many have paper and microfilm archives. Master's theses are generally not recorded by University Microfilms for public dissemination and a call to the a university's Computer Science Library is in order. It is more likely that a master's thesis covers a software invention than a PhD dissertation.

6. Government Sources - NASA is a treasure-trove of information and maintains many repositories that are accessible but are not necessarily free. A visit to the NASA web site might provide relevant software prior art (http://www.nasa.gov ). This is the top of a pyramid of web sites for each NASA center and special offices.

1. The COSMIC database, maintained by the University of Georgia, contains all software released for public dissemination by NASA. The catalog is free. The software is incredible and is for sale for a nominal fee, including source code.
2. All internally funded NASA research is maintained in NASA/ReconPlus and much of this research is software related. Dbase, among others, is a NASA spin-off from its Jet Propulsion Laboratories.
3. The Office of Technology Transfer is charged with migrating NASA-sponsored technologies into the public domain, or licensing them to private firms for further development.

4.4.1 Patent Prior Art

DATABASE OR FILE ACCESSING:

Subject matter under the class definition directed to the retrieval of

data stored in a database or as computer files, where a file is defined as

a named collection of data.

(1) Note. This class is directed to computerized database and file

accessing and retrieval, including hierarchical, bit-mapped and flat

indexing, hashing, stapling, containerizing, and other methods. Accessing

and control of a memory, per se, is classified elsewhere. See the search

class notes below.

(2) Note. The combination of details of database technology with the

business data processing is classified in the business art. See search

class notes below.

(3) Note. The combination of details of database technology with a

nominal recitation of the subject matter of another class is classified

herein. Particular fields of use of database technology performing in

combination with the basic subject matter of another class to effect some

end other than mere information accessing or retrieval is classified with

the subject matter of the other class, unless specifically excluded

therefrom. See the search class notes below.

(4) Note. This class is directed to generic methods and apparatus for

accessing and retrieving data housed in either databases or files. The

generic steps to access and retrieve an object from an object-oriented

database may be properly classified herein; however, objects themselves for

an application other than database accessing and retrieving data, such as,

for example an operator interface object, an icon object capable of

instantiating a process, or a simulation system physical structure object

are classified elsewhere. See the search class notes below.

(5) Note. This class is directed to generic methods and apparatus for

accessing and retrieving data housed in either databases or files. The

generic steps of accessing and retrieving data or information in a

particular computer design "environment" may be properly classified herein.

Examples of such "environments" include, for example, a computer aided

design (CAD) and analysis tool "environment", a software development tool

"environment", an image processing "environment", a desk-top or other

operator interface "environment", etc., may rely on accessing and

retrieving information or routines from libraries while working in the

"environment". The "environments" themselves are classified elsewhere in

the data processing arts. See the search class notes below.

(6) Note. The combination of a database accessing method with a

particular operator interface feature may be found in these subclasses.

Operator interfaces, per se, are classified elsewhere. See the search

class notes below.

KEYWORDS: Directory, hierarchy, hierar-

chical, tree, indexing, point-

ers, folders, books, bit map,

hashing.

SEARCH THIS CLASS, SUBCLASS:

100+, for data structures, per se.

102, for indexing, per se, in the creation of a database.

500+, for document processing, per se.

501, for processing a document including hypermedia.

513, for processing a structured document (e.g., HTML, SGML, ODA, CDA).

515+, for compound documents.

SEARCH CLASS:

128, Surgery, subclasses 630+ for diagnostic testing and appropriate

subclasses for applications of computers in the life sciences including

patient monitoring and medical imaging.

273, Amusement Devices: Games, for games and amusements. Classes 463 and

473 will eventually replace 273.

345, Computer Graphics Processing, Operator Interface Processing, and

Selective Visual Display Systems, subclass 302 for synchronization of

documents with multiple different media, subclasses 326+, for operator

interfaces, per se, in particular subclasses 333+ for interface

customization, subclasses 339+ for on-screen workspaces or objects,

subclasses 348+ for icons and subclasses 352+ for menus.

358, Facsimile, subclass 403 directed to facsimile document filing and

retrieval system.

364, Electrical Computers and Data Processing Systems, subclasses

468.01+ for manufacturing applications of computers, subclasses 490+ for

integrated circuit design systems (e.g., silicon compilers), subclasses

550+ for measuring and testing, per se, both of which may include

generation of sets of interrelated data over time, and subclass 578 for

simulation and simulation environments, per se.

382, Image Analysis, for image recognition, transformation and sensing,

per se, and applications therefor.

395, Information Processing System Organization, subclasses 1+ for

artificial intelligence, subclasses 182.13+ for state recovery, per se, in

particular, subclass 182.18 for plural recovery sets with set interrelation

data, subclass 500 for design and analysis environments directed to circuit

design, and physical system design which may include the use of libraries,

and subclasses 701+ for a software development environment which may

include database usage.

463, Amusement Devices: Games, for a specific type of amusement,

recreation, or play activity.

472, Amusement Devices, for the amusement or recreation of human beings,

and includes patents relating to devices of the type.

473, Amusement Devices: Games, for devices ancillary or appurtenant to

games for which there is no provision in other classes.

704, Data Processing - Speech Signal Processing, Linguistics, Language

Translation, and Audio Compression/Decompression, subclass 10 for

dictionary building in machine translation systems.

705, Data Processing - Financial, Business Practice, Management, or

Cost/Price Determination, subclasses 1+ for applications of databases in

business transaction processing.

711, Electrical Computers and Digital Processing Systems - Memory,

subclasses 1 through 5 for addressing particular memory configurations and

systems, subclasses 100+ for memory accessing and control, per se, and in

particular subclasses 113 for disk caching, subclasses 117+ for

hierarchical memory, per se, subclasses 118+ for caching, subclasses 147+

for shared memory accessing and control, subclasses 170+ for memory

configuring and allocation, subclasses 200+ for address formation

processing, and subclass 216 for address hashing.

SEARCH OPTIONS

BASIC INDEX

SEARCH DISPLAY FIELD NAME/

PREFIX CODE INDEXING/EXAMPLES

None None All Basic Index Fields

Word

S AEROSPACE

/AB AB Abstract - 1

Word

S CONTROL(W)FAILURE?/AB

/DE DE Descriptor - 2

Word & Phrase

S HEALTH(W)SCIENCES/DE

S ENGINEERING, AEROSPACE/DE

/TI TI Title

Word

S CONTROL(W)IMPAIRED/TI

ADDITIONAL INDEXES

SEARCH DISPLAY FIELD NAME/

PREFIX CODE INDEXING/EXAMPLES

AD= AD Advisor's Name - 3

Phrase

S AD=VALAVANI, LENA

None AN DIALOG Accession Number

AU= AU Author

Phrase

S AU=WAGNER, ELAINE ANN

CS= CS Corporate Source

Word & Phrase

S CS=(MASSACUSHETTS(F)TECHNOLOGY)

S CS=MCGILL UNIVERSITY (CANADA)

DC= DC Descriptor Code

Phrase

S DC=0538

DG= DG Degree

Phrase

S DG=PH.D.

IC= IC Institution Code

Phrase

S IC=0753

LA= LA Language - 4, 5

Phrase

S LA=GERMAN

None LO Location of Reference Copy - 4

PN= PN UMI Order Number

Phrase

S PN=AAD8821885

None PU Publisher

PY= PY Publication Year

Phrase

S PY=1988

None SO Source Information - 6

UD= None Update

Phrase

S UD=8906:9999

NOTES:

1-Abstracts included only for Dissertation records from July

1980 to the present and for Masters records from January 1988.

2-Also /DF.

3-Advisor included since December of 1988.

4-Included in published European Dissertations only.

5-Non-English languages only.

6-Includes Volume, Pagination, and Publication Name.

FMT35 : DISSERTATION ABSTRACTS ONLINE

User defined formats may be specified using the display codes indicated

in the Search Options tables. TYPE S3/TI,CS,AD/ALL

OUTPUT OPTIONS

Format 1 DIALOG Accession Number

Format 2 Full Record except Abstract

Format 3 Bibliographic Citation

Format 4 Abstract and Title -1

Format 5 Full Record -1

Format 6 Title and UMI Order Number

Format 7 Full Record except Indexing

Format 8 Title and Indexing

Format 9 Full Record -1

Format K KWIC (Key Word In Context) displays a window of text may

be used by itself or with other formats (HILIGHT is also

available)

DIRECT RECORD ACCESS

DIALOG Accession Number TYPE 1026703/2 DISPLAY 1027085/AU,TI PRINT

1023612/5

Output can be displayed with tags identifying each display field.. TYPE

S3/3/1-5 TAG

SAMPLE SEARCH FOR: PATENT and SOFTWARE and PRIOR ART

S1 575 PATENT

S2 11685 SOFTWARE

S3 37995 PRIOR

S4 20879 ART

S5 19 PRIOR(1W)ART

S6 0 PATENT AND SOFTWARE AND PRIOR (1W) ART

THERE WERE NO RECORDS WITH ALL THREE SEARCH TERMS

SAMPLE SEARCH FOR: PATENT and PRIOR ART

S7 2 S1 AND S5

THERE WERE TWO RECORDS RESULTING FROM THIS SEARCH

DIALOG(R)File 35:Dissertation Abstracts Online

(c) 1998 UMI. All rts. reserv.

01522550 ORDER NO: AAD97-02857

DO YOU SPEAK GENOMICS? PATENTING BIOTECHNOLOGY "TRANSLATION" INVENTIONS AND

OTHER MACROMOLECULES (INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY)

Author: DUCOR, PHILIPPE GEORGES

Degree: J.S.D.

Year: 1996

Corporate Source/Institution: STANFORD UNIVERSITY (0212)

Adviser: JOHN H. BARTON

Source: VOLUME 57/08-A OF DISSERTATION ABSTRACTS INTERNATIONAL.

PAGE 3652. 373 PAGES

Descriptors: LAW ; CHEMISTRY, BIOCHEMISTRY ; CHEMISTRY, PHARMACEUTICAL

Descriptor Codes: 0398; 0487; 0491

7/9/2

DIALOG(R)File 35:Dissertation Abstracts Online

(c) 1998 UMI. All rts. reserv.

01516447 ORDER NO: AAD96-36166

THREE ESAYS IN LAW AND ECONOMICS (PATENTS, R&D, CRIME RATE)

Author: HUNT, ROBERT MARTIN

Degree: PH.D.

Year: 1996

Corporate Source/Institution: UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA (0175)

Source: VOLUME 57/07-A OF DISSERTATION ABSTRACTS INTERNATIONAL.

PAGE 3151. 166 PAGES

Descriptors: ECONOMICS, GENERAL ; SOCIOLOGY, CRIMINOLOGY AND PENOLOGY

Descriptor Codes: 0501; 0627

SAMPLE SEARCH FOR: PATENT and SOFTWARE

Set Items Description

S1 575 PATENT

S2 11685 SOFTWARE

S8 9 S1 AND S2

THERE WERE 9 RECORDS RESULTING FROM THIS SEARCH

8/TI/1

DIALOG(R)File 35:(c) 1998 UMI. All rts. reserv.

CAPTURING IDEAS: INSTITUTIONS, INTERESTS AND INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY RIGHTS

REFORM IN INDIA

8/TI/2

DIALOG(R)File 35:(c) 1998 UMI. All rts. reserv.

COMMUTATED ION CHAMBERS FOR MEASUREMENT OF FIELD UNIFORMITY (ION CHAMBERS)

8/TI/3

DIALOG(R)File 35:(c) 1998 UMI. All rts. reserv.

ON ANALYTICAL "ENGINES", DATA "ARCHITECTURES" AND SOFTWARE "ENGINEERS":

METAPHORIC ASPECTS OF THE DEVELOPMENT OF COMPUTER TERMINOLOGY

8/TI/4

DIALOG(R)File 35:(c) 1998 UMI. All rts. reserv.

HIGH-TECHNOLOGY VENTURE PERFORMANCE (VENTURE CAPITALISTS)

8/TI/5

DIALOG(R)File 35:(c) 1998 UMI. All rts. reserv.

INVESTIGATION INTO DEVELOPMENT AND IMPLEMENTATION OF NATURAL RESOURCES

GEOGRAPHICAL INFORMATION SYSTEMS (GIS): CASE STUDY GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF

BRITISH COLUMBIA

8/TI/6

DIALOG(R)File 35:(c) 1998 UMI. All rts. reserv.

ESSAYS ON THE DEVELOPMENT, DIFFUSION, AND ADOPTION OF TECHNOLOGY (JOINT

VENTURES, LICENSING, NETWORK EXTERNALITIES)

8/TI/7

DIALOG(R)File 35:(c) 1998 UMI. All rts. reserv.

DESIGN AND APPLICATION OF THE RPA II

8/TI/8

DIALOG(R)File 35:(c) 1998 UMI. All rts. reserv.

THE ETHICS OF SOFTWARE OWNERSHIP

8/TI/9

DIALOG(R)File 35:(c) 1998 UMI. All rts. reserv.

A STUDY OF UNIVERSAL MODULATION TECHNIQUES APPLIED TO SATELLITE DATA

COLLECTION

DIALOG(R)File 35:(c) 1998 UMI. All rts. reserv.

DO YOU SPEAK GENOMICS? PATENTING BIOTECHNOLOGY "TRANSLATION" INVENTIONS AND

OTHER MACROMOLECULES (INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY)

7/TI/2

DIALOG(R)File 35:(c) 1998 UMI. All rts. reserv.

THREE ESSAYS IN LAW AND ECONOMICS (PATENTS, R&D, CRIME RATE)

SEARCH OPTIONS

BASIC INDEX

SEARCH DISPLAY FIELD NAME/

PREFIX CODE INDEXING/EXAMPLES

None None All Basic Index Fields

Word

S PHARMACOLOGY

/DE DE Descriptor - 1

Word & Phrase

S CLINIC(W)MEDICINE/DE

S CLINICAL MEDICINE/DE

/SH SH Section Heading

Word & Phrase

S PHARMACOLOGY/SH

S CLINICAL MEDICINE

/TI TI Title

Word

S BETA(W)BLOCKER/TI

ADDITIONAL INDEXES

SEARCH DISPLAY FIELD NAME/

PREFIX CODE INDEXING/EXAMPLES

None AN DIALOG Accession Number

AU= AU Author

Phrase

S AU=UZUNOV, N?

CL= CL Conference Location

Word & Phrase

S CL=(SAN(W)DIEGO)

S CL=SAN DIEGO

CS= CS Corporate Source

Word

S CS=(MED?(W)ACAD(F)BULGARIA)

CT= CT Conference Title

Word & Phrase

S (PHYSICAL(W)ACTIVITY(F)AGING)

S CT=AMERICAN SOCIETY FOR CLIN?

CY= CY Conference Year

Phrase

S CY=1988

JA= JA Journal Announcement

Phrase

S JA=V16N3

LA= LA Language

Phrase

S LA=RUSSIAN

MN= MN Meeting Number

Phrase

S MN=8810155

SC= SC Section Code

Phrase

S SC=3500

SP= SP Sponsor

Word & Phrase

S SP=(PHARM?(F)THERAPEUTIC)

S SP=AMERICAN SOCIETY FOR CLINI?

UD= None Update

Phrase

S UD=9999

NOTES:

1-Also /DF.

FMT77 : CONFERENCE PAPERS INDEX

Display codes listed in the Search Options tables can be used to

customize output. TYPE S3/AU,TI/1-5

OUTPUT OPTIONS

Format 1 DIALOG Accession Number

Format 2 Full Record

Format 3 Bibliographic Citation

Format 4 Full Record with Tagged Fields

Format 5 Full Record

Format 6 Title

Format 7 Bibliographic Citation

Format 8 Title and Indexing

Format 9 Full Record

DIRECT RECORD ACCESS

If the accession number of a specific record is known, it can be used to

display the record directly. TYPE 78047350/5 DISPLAY 7804994/AU,TI

PRINT 7804994/5

Output can be displayed with tags identifying each display field. TYPE

S3/3/1-5 TAG

SAMPLE SEARCH FOR: PATENT and SOFTWARE and PRIOR ART

S1 338 PATENT

S2 3790 SOFTWARE

S3 1023 PRIOR

S4 1554 ART

S5 0 PRIOR(1W)ART

S6 0 PATENT AND SOFTWARE AND PRIOR (1W) ART

S7 0 S1 AND S2

THERE WERE NO RECORDS RESULTING FROM THIS SEARCH

Comp & dist by NTIS, Intl Copyright All Rights Res

*File 265: Date fields (FY, SD, CD) changing to 4-digits (YYYY)

Abstracts from NSF (FS=NSF) are being truncated.

FIELD265: FEDERAL RESEARCH IN PROGRESS (FEDRIP)(ABRIDGED)

SEARCH OPTIONS

BASIC INDEX

SEARCH DISPLAY FIELD NAME/

PREFIX CODE INDEXING/EXAMPLES

None None All Basic Index Fields

Word

S ALLUVIAL(W)SEDIMENT?

/AB AB Abstract - 2

Word

S CONTAMINANTS(5N)SEDIMENT/AB

/CO CO Company Name - 1

Word

S KECK(W)LAB?/CO

/DE DE Descriptors - 2

Word & Phrase

S ENVIRONEMNTAL(W)NEC/DE

S ENVIRONMENTAL NEC/DE

/TI TI Title

Word

S WATER(1N)SEDIMENT/TI

ADDITIONAL INDEXES

SEARCH DISPLAY FIELD NAME/

PREFIX CODE INDEXING/EXAMPLES

None AN DIALOG Accession Number

AU= AU Author - 3

Word & Phrase

S AU=(BROOKS(1N)NORMAN)

S AU=BROOKS, NORMAN?

None AZ DIALOG Accession Number

CD= CD Completion Date - 4

Phrase

S CD=199802?

CN= CN Sponsor Identifying Number

Phrase

S CN=9421491

CO= CO Company Name - 1

Phrase

S CO=NATIONAL SCIENCE FOUNDATION?

CS= CS Corporate Source - 5

Word & Phrase

S CS=(CALIFORNIA(2W)TECHNOLOGY)

S CS=CALIFORNIA INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY?

CY= CY City - 6

Phrase

S CY=PASADENA

FD= FD Funding - 7, 8

Numeric

S FD=391809

FS= FS File Segment - 9

Phrase

S FS=NSF

FU= FU Funding (rounded value) - 4, 8

Numeric

S FU=>300000

FY= FY Fiscal Year - 10

Phrase

S FY=1997

IN= IN Investigator Name - 3

Word & Phrase

S IN=(BROOKS(1N)NORMAN)

S IN=BROOKS, NORMAN?

PM= PM Project Monitor

Word

S PM=(EDWARD(1N)BRYAN)

PO= PO Performing Organization - 1, 5

Word

S PO=(CALIFORNIA(W)INSTITUTE)

SD= SD Start Date - 11

Phrase

S SD=19950315

None SO Source Information - 12

SP= SP Sponsoring Organization - 1

Word & Phrase

S SP=(BIOENGINEERING(1W)ENVIRON?)

S SP=NATIONAL SCIENCE FOUNDATION?

ST= ST State - 13

Word

S ST=CA

TA= TA Type of Award - 14

Phrase

S TA=CONTINUING GRANT

UD= None Update - 15

Phras

S UD=9999

ZP= ZP Zip Code - 16

Phrase

S ZP=91125

NOTES:

1-Company Name, CO=, includes both Performing Organization (PO=

and CS=) and Sponsoring Organization (SP=).

2-Also /DF.

3-Principal Investigator and Associate Investigators for a

Performing Organization are searchable as both IN= and as Author,

AU=.

4-Completion Date present in all subfiles except CRISP, FHWA,

NASA, NSB, SBIR, and VA. May omit the two digit day in the date.

5-Performing Organization searchable as PO=, and CS=, Corporate

Source, and as Company, /CO and CO=.

6-Consists of Performing Organization's City.

7-Funding present in the CRISP, EPA, FHWA, INTBM, NSF, and SBIR

subfiles. FD= contains the value as displayed, while FU= is

rounded down to the first digit.

8-Numeric values for Funding can be entered in several

different ways: directly as a number, e.g., S FD=391809; in

exponential notation, e.g., S FD=3.0E5:4.0E5. Letter

abbreviations are also available: K for thousand, M or million,

B for billion, e.g., S FD=391K:392K. To search a range of

values, use a colon between starting and ending values, e.g., S

FD=391000:392000, OR use relational operators (>, =, and <=), e.

g., S 390K<=FD<=400K.

9-For a current list of FEDRIP file segments see HELP CODES265

or HELP CODES266.

10-Present in the CRISP, EPA, FHWA, INTBM, NBS, NRC, NSF, SBIR,

and USGS subfiles.

11-Present only in the CRISP, FHWA, NASA, and NRC subfiles.

12-Includes: Performing Organization, Sponsoring Organization,

Sponsor Identifying Number, Completion Date, Start Date, and

Fiscal Year.

13-Consists of Performing Organization's State. State may be

spelled out or abbreviated, depending on subfile.

14-Present only in the FHWA, INTBM, NSF, NRC, and SBIR subfiles.

15-File is reloaded, so only update code available is UD=9999.

DIALOG Accession Numbers change with the monthly reload.

16-Not present as a separate field only in the CRISP and USGS

subfiles.

FMT265 : FEDERAL RESEARCH IN PROGRESS (FEDRIP)(ABRIDGED)

Display codes listed in the Search Options tables can be used to

customize output. TYPE S5/TI,SP,FU/1-5

OUTPUT OPTIONS

Format 1 DIALOG Accession Number

Format 2 Full Record except Summary

Format 3 Full Record except Summmary and Indexing

Format 4 Full Record with Tagged Fields

Format 5 Full Record

Format 6 Title

Format 7 Full Record except Indexing

Format 8 Title and Indexing

Format 9 Full Record

Format 14 Full Record with DELIM format for post-processing (Order

of fields is AN, CN, SF, TI, IN, IN (2nd), IN (3rd), IN

4th), PO, PM, SP, SP (2nd), SP (3rd), SP (4th), SP (5th)

SD, CD, FY, FU, TA, DE, AB)

Format K KWIC (Key Word In Context) displays a window of text may

be used by itself or with other formats (HILIGHT is also

available)

DIRECT RECORD ACCESS

If the accession number of a specific record is known, it can be used to

display the record directly. TYPE 00117881/3 DISPLAY 00117300/TI,AU

PRINT 00117602/5

Output can be displayed with tags identifying each display field. TYPE

S3/6,FS/ALL TAG

SAMPLE SEARCH FOR: PATENT and SOFTWARE and PRIOR ART

S1 400 PATENT

S2 6902 SOFTWARE

S3 8569 PRIOR

S4 3116 ART

S5 12 PRIOR(1W)ART

S6 0 PATENT AND SOFTWARE AND PRIOR (1W) ART

THERE WERE NO RECORDS RESULTING FROM THIS SEARCH

SAMPLE SEARCH FOR: PATENT and SOFTWARE

S7 16 S1 AND S2

THERE WERE 16 RECORDS RESULTING FROM THIS SEARCH

SAMPLE RESULTS:

7/TI/1

DIALOG(R)File 265:Comp & dist by NTIS, Intl Copyright All Rights Res. All

rts. reserv.

DATA ACQUISITION SYSTEM FOR ULTRAHIGH-RESOLUTION DEDICATED STEM

7/TI/2

DIALOG(R)File 265:Comp & dist by NTIS, Intl Copyright All Rights Res. All

rts. reserv.

EXPERT SYSTEM FOR RECOMBINANT DNA INVENTION DISCLOSUR

7/TI/3

DIALOG(R)File 265:Comp & dist by NTIS, Intl Copyright All Rights Res. All

rts. reserv.

MULTISPECTRAL FLUORESCENT PROTEINS

7/TI/4

DIALOG(R)File 265:Comp & dist by NTIS, Intl Copyright All Rights Res. All

rts. reserv.

STATISTICAL/ COMPUTATIONAL METHODS FOR PHYSIOLOGY, PHARMACOLOGY, &

ENDOCRINOLOGY

7/TI/5

DIALOG(R)File 265:Comp & dist by NTIS, Intl Copyright All Rights Res. All

rts. reserv

PESTICIDE RISK REDUCTION STRATEGIES TO ENHANCE MILITARY READINESS AND

PREVENT POLLUTION

7/TI/6

DIALOG(R)File 265:Comp & dist by NTIS, Intl Copyright All Rights Res. All

rts. reserv

TECHNOLOGY TO SUPPORT THE CONTROL AND ERADICATION OF TICKS OF REGULATORY

IMPORTANCE

7/TI/7

DIALOG(R)File 265:Comp & dist by NTIS, Intl Copyright All Rights Res. All

rts. reserv.

Expert System for Recombinant DNA Invention Disclosure

7/TI/8

DIALOG(R)File 265:Comp & dist by NTIS, Intl Copyright All Rights Res. All

rts. reserv.

Therapeutic Applications of 3-D Corneometr

APPENDIX D - QUESTEL ORBIT SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY DATABASES

ADHEMIX

ADHEMIX

Questel

Subject(s): Materials Science. Science and Technology.

ALIT

APILIT

Orbit

Subject(s): Energy and Earth Sciences. Science and Technology.

ANAB

Analytical Abstracts

Orbit

Subject(s): Science and Technology.

APIN

API En Compass

Orbit

Subject(s): Business. Energy and Earth Sciences. News. Science and

Technology.

BIOT

Derwent Biotechnology Abstracts

Orbit

Subject(s): Chemical Information. Engineering. Science and Technology.

CEAB

Chemical Engineering & Biotechnology Abstracts

Orbit

Subject(s): Chemical Information. Engineering. Science and Technology.

CETIM

CETIM

Questel

Subject(s): Materials Science. Science and Technology.

CIM

CIM

Questel

Subject(s): Materials Science. Science and Technology.

CIS

CISDOC

Questel

Subject(s): Health, Safety and the Environment. Medicine. Science and

Technology.

CISD

CISDOC

Orbit

Subject(s): Health, Safety and the Environment. Medicine. Science and

Technology.

COLD

COLD

Orbit

Subject(s): Engineering. Science and Technology.

COMP

Ei Compendex

Orbit

Subject(s): Engineering. Science and Technology.

CORP

Corp Tech

Orbit

Subject(s): Business. Science and Technology.

CSNB

Chemical Safety Newbase

Orbit

Subject(s): Health, Safety and the Environment. Science and Technology.

ELIN

Energyline

Orbit

Subject(s): Business. Energy and Earth Sciences. Science and Technology.

EMAB

Engineered Materials Abstracts

Orbit

Subject(s): Materials Science. Science and Technology.

ERTH

Environmental Resources Technology

Orbit

Subject(s): Energy and Earth Sciences. Science and Technology.

EVENT

EVENTLINE

Questel

Subject(s): Business. Medicine. Science and Technology.

FSTA

Food Science & Technology Abstratcs

Orbit

Subject(s): Business. Health, Safety and the Environment. Materials Science.

Science and Technology.

GALE

Gale directory of bases

Orbit

Subject(s): Business. Chemical Information. Energy and Earth Sciences.

Engineering. Health, Safety and the Environment. Humanities and Social

Sciences. Materials Science. Medicine. News. Patents. Science and

Technology. Trademarks.

GEOR

GEOREF

Orbit

Subject(s): Energy and Earth Sciences. Engineering. Science and Technology.

IALINE

IALINE

Questel

Subject(s): Business. Science and Technology.

INBK

INSPEC

Orbit

Subject(s): Engineering. Science and Technology.

INSC

INSPEC

Orbit

Subject(s): Engineering. Science and Technology.

INSM

INSPEC

Questel

Subject(s): Engineering. Science and Technology.

INSPEC

INSPEC

Questel

Subject(s): Engineering. Science and Technology.

MABU

Materials Business File

Orbit

Subject(s): Business. Materials Science. Science and Technology.

MDEX

METADEX

Orbit

Subject(s): Materials Science. Science and Technology.

MEDLINE

MEDLINE

Questel

Subject(s): Health, Safety and the Environment. Medicine. Science and

Technology.

MEETING

MEETING AGENDA

Questel

Subject(s): Science and Technology.

NORIANE

NORIANE

Questel

Subject(s): Science and Technology.

NTBK

National Technical Information Service (NTIS)

Orbit

Subject(s): Engineering. Health, Safety and the Environment. Materials

Science. Medicine. Science and Technology.

NTIM

NTIS

Orbit

Subject(s): Engineering. Health, Safety and the Environment. Materials

Science. Medicine. Science and Technology.

NTIS

NTIS

Orbit

Subject(s): Engineering. Health, Safety and the Environment. Materials

Science. Medicine. Science and Technology.

ORBIT

Orbit

Orbit

Subject(s): Business. Chemical Information. Energy and Earth Sciences.

Engineering. Health, Safety and the Environment. Humanities and Social

Sciences. Materials Science. Medicine. News. Patents. Science and

Technology. Trademarks.

PASCAL

PASCAL

Questel

Subject(s): Chemical Information. Energy and Earth Sciences. Engineering.

Health, Safety and the Environment. Medicine. Science and Technology.

PIRA

Paper, Printing & Publishing, Packaging & Nonwoven

Abstracts

Orbit

Subject(s): Business. Materials Science. Science and Technology.

PLUS

Ei Compendex

Questel

Subject(s): Engineering. Science and Technology.

PSTA

Packaging Science & Technology Abstracts

Orbit

Subject(s): Business. Materials Science. Science and Technology.

QUESTEL

Questel

Questel

Subject(s): Business. Chemical Information. Energy and Earth Sciences.

Engineering. Health, Safety and the Environment. Humanities and Social

Sciences. Materials Science. Medicine. News. Patents. Science and

Technology. Trademarks.

RAPR

RAPRA Abstracts

Orbit

Subject(s): Business. Materials Science. Science and Technology.

RATN

RAPRA Trade Names

Orbit

Subject(s): Business. Materials Science. Science and Technology.

SSAB

Safety Science Abstracts

Orbit

Subject(s): Health, Safety and the Environment. Science and Technology.

TELEDOC

TELEDOC

Questel

Subject(s): Engineering. Science and Technology.

TULS

TULSA

Orbit

Subject(s): Energy and Earth Sciences. Patents. Science and Technology.

URBAMET

Urban Planning

Questel

Subject(s): Health, Safety and the Environment. Humanities and Social

Sciences. Science and Technology.

WAST

WasteInfo

Orbit

Subject(s): Health, Safety and the Environment. Science and Technology.

WELD

Weldaearch

Orbit

Subject(s): Engineering. Materials Science. Science and Technology.

WHOT

Who's Who in Technology

Orbit

Subject(s): Humanities and Social Sciences. Science and Technology.

WPAM

Derwent World Patent Index/ API Merged

Orbit

Subject(s): Energy and Earth Sciences. Patents. Science and Technology.

WSCA

World Surface Coating Abstracts

Orbit

Subject(s): Business. Materials Science. Science and Technology.