Shining a light on new ways to unlock hidden information Overcoming barriers to accessing Asian information

Transcription

1 Rue de la Loi 81A 1040 Brussels, Belgium Tel: +32 (0) Fax: +32 (0) guidlines for open office export to pdf with letterhead guidlines for open office export to pdf with letterhead EIRMA/ Shining a light on new ways to unlock hidden information Overcoming barriers to accessing Asian information Common meeting of two EIRMA Special Interest Groups: Intellectual Asset Management and Knowledge Management 11&12 April 2013 Eurostars Book Hotel Munich, Germany Summary Nowadays, front edge technologies are produced in all parts of the world, and information about these achievements is increasingly published in non-latin script only. This is particularly noticeable for publications in Chinese language: within less than a decade China has become no.2 in the number of scientific publications and no.1 for patent and utility model applications published by the Chinese Patent Office. This development unveils China s strategic plan to become a global leader in the development of key technologies as for instance telecommunications, alternative energy generation, electric propulsion systems, biotechnologies Neglecting this body of public information may have severe consequences for Western industry, in particular small and medium-sized companies which do not have resources for translating the relevant information into a language which they understand. Not only that they run a considerable risk of missing important technology trends in their field of business and of being confronted or even blocked by granted Chinese patents and registered Chinese utility models when trying to enter the Chinese market with their products, but also that they are challenged in their own home markets by new products offered by Asian companies and incorporating these new innovative technologies. Even worse, the validity of their own patents which are supposed to protect their own innovations in their home markets in Europe or USA is challenged by this huge and very fast growing body of relevant prior art published in languages which the Western Patent Offices have big difficulties with to understand, to analyse and to search. Information published in non-latin script only is an illustrative example of a more general global trend according to which relevant information is nowadays created in all parts of the world and made available to the public in many different and new (unconventional) ways which are not necessarily accessible via established information sources and traditional search tools. Therefore, Knowledge Management (KM) urgently needs to implement new approaches and tools, as for instance federated search engines, which enable KM to quickly find and unveil such hidden public information and to make it available to the specialists within the company. This specific meeting aims at gathering the members of the two Special Interest Groups to share different aspects of this topic. It will address both the consequences of this new global trend in public information proliferation for the freedom-to-operate ability of Western companies both in their home markets and new markets, and measures and tools needed to meet these challenges and threats. Issues addressed < Open access to NPL ( Non Patent Literature ) in Asia < Translations of Asian patent literature and NPL into English < Federated search: information retrieval technology that allows the simultaneous search of multiple searchable resources. What about the issue of security and privacy? < Challenges of crowdsourcing/crowdsearching < Big data: how to get the correct information within such an environment? Understanding how to manage the unknown < Predictive tools and visualisation: changing incomprehensible and mysterious information into transparent and understandable knowledge.

2 Target Audience Knowledge Management (KM) managers and experts within R&D and of Operations and Business Units as well as managers and team leaders in a position to apply best knowledge management practices and initiatives in their organisations. R&D, innovation & intellectual asset managers and experts, IP managers, patent attorneys as well as business strategy, business development, marketing & product managers, and in particular people who work in the field of IP exploitation. Chairmen Dr. Werner Fröhling Managing Director, Flooring Technologies Ltd. and Chief IP Counsel for the Swiss Krono Group & Mr. John Otten, Head Knowledge & Library Services Department, Tata Steel Europe To ensure a good discussion between the participants, this meeting is limited to 45 people. Key themes Innovation Processes Business strategy Intellectual Asset Management People and Knowledge Public frameworks 8 Online registration before 28 March 2013 on EIRMA website:

3 PROGRAMME Thursday, 11 April :00 Registration 13:15 13:30 Opening and welcome Ms. Camille Roy, Programme & Members Relations Manager, EIRMA Introduction Dr. Werner Fröhling, Chairman of SIG-II and Managing Director, Flooring Technologies Ltd Mr. John Otten, Chairman of SIG-III and Head Knowledge & Library Services Department, Tata Steel Europe 13:30 16:00 New approaches for finding information: alternative tools and sources How to know which information is available outside classical ways? 13:30 14:00 Challenges of crowdsourcing Experience of Philips with Article One, a platform which enables a crowd to respond to requests for research in the patent area. The presentation will share the experience of using the services of Article One. How does Philips practically use their system? What works well and not so well? Do they see any improvement for their daily work? Jan de Visser, IP&S Manager Consumer Lifestyle, Senior Director, Philips Group Innovation, Intellectual Property & Standards 14:00 16:00 Round Table open microphone discussion Various participants from the industry are invited to share their experience on the challenges they are encountering regarding alternative tools and sources. This could include the following: Crowdsourcing/crowdsearching; Federated search: how do you respect the privacy through the simultaneous search from multiple resources? Analysis and visualisation tools for big data *; How to search advanced full text searching / semantic search? * Big Data is the term used to describe the technologies and techniques used to capture, utilize and maximize the rapidly increasing streams of data to gain consumer and trend insights in order to make rapid critical business decisions. Collating, analyzing and implementing strategies based on Big Data will become the new currency of the business landscape. 16:00 17:00 Break 17:00 19:00 Get-together from Hotel Lobby to a dedicated guided tour in the city 19:15 onwards Dinner at a local restaurant

4 PROGRAMME Friday, 12 April :30 09:15 Important aspects of European industry s access to Asian (patent) literature After a short overview over the Patent Documentation Group and in particular the IMPACT working group, this presentation will cover the view, needs and requests of European industry. How to cope with the growing amount of (patent) literature? What are the main challenges? What are the ways to do it in practice? What are the open issues and how could they be solved? Who of the main actors is expected to do what to solve the existing problems? What has been achieved? The PDG Asian Patent Information Initiative as a best practice to involve users in global patent information activities. Dr. Peter Kallas, Head of Chemicals and Engineering Information, BASF, Chairman of the Patent Documentation Group Impact Group, an open forum of patent information professionals from national and international patent offices, WIPO, major providers, patent attorney associations (epi) and users from around 40 major companies in Europe. 09:15 10:00 Searching Asian patent information This presentation will give an insight into the retrieval of patent information from Asian countries. The main focus will be on China, but basic information about Japan and South Korea will also be covered. After an introduction to some country-related specifics of Asian patent documentation, an insight will be provided into the official databases offered by the Asian patent offices free of charge on the internet. Specifically it will show how to benefit from these sources, highlighting their key features and concentrating on what is searchable in English. Participants will understand how to search for patent documents, English machine translations or legal status information. However, some relevant information can only be retrieved using the native language interfaces. Therefore, tips will also be given on how to make the most of these interfaces in order to avoid gaps in information - even without knowledge of Asian languages. Dr Christine Kämmer, Asian Patent Information Services, Product Distribution & Spec. Services, European Patent Office 10:00 10:45 Removing language barriers from Asian patent documentation: EPO Machine Translation tools and activities Machine Translation ( MT ) is strategic to the EPO and to provide the most comprehensive and performing MT solution the EPO has entered a partnership with Google. As a result, Google has improved its translation tool for patent data and delivered it to the public as the "Patent Translate" service. Today, the EPO offers to the public MT covering 15 languages including Chinese and additional Asian languages will be available in the course of the next 2 years. The presentation will explain current EPO's MT activities and a demonstration of the tools offered under Espacenet, providing practical advice on how to use the systems effectively and how to get the needed information in a smart way. The presentation will also cover background information and a practical demonstration of the IP5 Common Citation Document (CCD) application, enabling to access global patent search results. This tool is continuously being improved by new citation data and by additional display possibilities. Paul Schwander, Director External Products and Services, European Patent Office 10:45 11:15 Coffee Break

5 PROGRAMME 11:15 12:00 IP5 projects to harmonise the patent world Cooperative Patent Classification This part of the presentation will look back at the origins of the CPC initiative in the broader international context of patent classification harmonisation. A report of the current implementation status after the official entry into force on 1 January 2013 will be given, followed by an outlook on the upcoming scheduled milestones as well as on the future perspectives in the area of patent classification opened by the CPC. Cooperation in the area of IP5 Some applications are filed to more than one IP5 office annually. How can the IP5 offices help applicants in simplifying cross-filings? What could be the way forward? Niclas Morey, Director of IP5/Trilateral Affairs and International Organisations, European Patent Office. 12:00 12:45 Discussion on the morning presentations 12:45 14:00 Lunch 14:00 15:30 Round Table open microphone discussion Participants are invited to share their in-house ways of accessing Asian literature, explaining how they are dealing practically with this challenge. 15:30 15:45 Short update on Unitary Patent Regulation The Commission and the EU Parliament decided on the current proposals for a Unitary Patent Regulation and the Regulation on Translations of Unitary Patents and also on the proposal for a Treaty for a European Patent Court System. It is assumed that both institutions will decide positively. The Council is supposed to sign the Treaty in February The new law will come into force once 13 EU member states will ratify these legal issues, which is supposed to happen quite soon. The whole new system is supposed to be in operation in What is still an open issue are the procedural rules for the new European Patent Court system. Here, the EU plans to have public consultations in beginning of 2013 and EIRMA member companies are encouraged to participate in giving their feedback. Dr. Werner Fröhling, Chairman of SIG-II and Managing Director, Flooring Technologies Ltd 15:45 16:00 Wrapping-up and conclusions Dates of next meetings in 2013 (locations to be defined) SIG-III on KM: 7-8 November SIG-II on IP: 5-6 December

6 PRACTICAL ARRANGEMENTS Venue & Eurostars Book Hotel Accommodation Schwanthalerstrasse, Munich - Germany Tel. +49 (0) Fax. +49 (0) reservations@eurostarsbookhotel.com Website : EIRMA will book accommodation as required on behalf of participants. The rate for a single room is 149 (164 double room), breakfast and service included, to be paid directly to the hotel. Visit Departure at 17:00 from the hotel lobby on Thursday 11 TH April 2013 Dinner Restaurant will be communicated later Transportation The hotel is located next to the railway central station ( Hauptbahnhof ) walking distance is ca. 300 meter. By Public Transport: From airport: Local trains ( S-Bahn ) depart from the airport every 10 minutes with lines S1 and S8. Ticket price is 10,40 (single trip to central station) or 11,20 (day ticket for the whole Munich area ( Gesamtnetz ). Lufthansa shuttle bus from the Airport to Central Station ( Hauptbahnhof ) about 40 minutes. Ticket price is By taxi it takes about 45 minutes. Price varies (typically ca ) Registration Please register as soon as possible but certainly before 28 March The online registration form is available on the EIRMA Website The meeting registration fee of 560 covers the cost of meeting facilities, city tour, get-together dinner and lunch. Payments We prefer payment by bank transfers but can also accept cheques provided this is at no cost to the Association. All participants will receive confirmation letters and an invoice or receipt as appropriate. Cancellations Please give as much notice as possible if you are obliged to cancel. We will refund the registration fee for cancellations received 72 hours before the meeting. Unfortunately we have no control over the hotel s cancellation policy and you may be required to make full payment for cancelled rooms that remain unused. Names may be substituted at any time without charge.

7 REGISTRATION FORM Shining a light on new ways to unlock hidden information 11 & 12 April 2013, Eurostars Book Hotel, Munich, Germany 8 Online registration available on EIRMA Website: Please return to EIRMA before 28 March 2013 by to cternest@eirma.org or register on-line. Please fill in CAPITAL LETTERS Title: (Prof./ Dr./ Mr./ Mrs.):.... First Name:.... Last Name:.... Position:... Company:..... VAT number:of paying entity (mandatory)..... Address: ZipCode:. City: Tel:.. Cell: Assistant s . I will q / will not q attend the meeting on 11 & 12 th April 2013 I will q / will not q require hotel accommodation for the night of 10 th April 2013 I will q / will not q require hotel accommodation for the night of 11 th April 2013 I will q / will not q attend the social programme on 11 th April 2013 I will q / will not q attend the dinner on 11 th April 2013 (See Practical arrangements ) Event's fee: (VAT excluded) for members excluded Belgium or 677,60 (VAT included) for Belgian members The meeting registration fee covers the cost of meeting facilities, refreshments, dinner and lunches, city visit. To be paid preferably by Bank Transfer, Credit Cards or by cheques. Mode of Payment qcredit Card (Eurocard, Master, Visa, Amex) Card Number: I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I Exp. Date: / Security Code: I I I qcheque qbank Transfer Account N ING Rond Point Robert Schuman Brussels - Belgium IBAN: BE BIC: BBRUBEBB EIRMA, as an international association of Belgian law, is subject to VAT (nr: BE ) For any further information please contact Mrs. Carine Ternest, EIRMA Operations Team Tel (0) Fax: + 32 (0) cternest@eirma.org