IP Search

Report Overview

This report was developed in a consultancy for IP Australia, but has been expanded to make it relevant for all jurisdictions. It provides an informed view of current and future directions in IP related information search and retrieval. It is particularly relevant for IP professionals in Australia, but also holds useful observations and applications for IP professionals around the world. We analyse the technical trends in search and character recognition software and how these interact with the needs of innovators. Innovation is better enabled if the information that government patent offices provide is clear and readily searchable.  Fee-charging patent search services may not provide the best information.

Australian patent data, unlike trademark data and plant variety rights data, is currently largely unavailable to the public in a unified, full text searchable form.  This report will examine some of the mechanisms that are available to searchers of IP data with an eye to identifying the best features to incorporate into IP services. The recommendations are made in response to internal (examiners) and external (the public, particularly innovators and implementers of technology) stakeholders’ needs.

The report will also look at pathways to interim and future solutions to support these stakeholders.

Report Components:

• Emerging and potential new uses for IP information
• Overview of current IP information systems
• Discussion of Emerging Trends in Information Retrieval
• Analysis of Trends in Search and Retrieval of Trade Marks
• Analysis of Trends in Search and Retrieval of Plant Variety Rights