DWPI FIRST VIEW

 

Q: How easy is it to search both DWPI® and DWPI First ViewSM in a multi-file environment? Will all of my DWPI strategies work in DWPI First View?

A: Search strategies optimized for DWPI, which include search fields not present in DWPI First View, may not be supported in a cross-file search environment. However, these are largely limited to the Derwent proprietary indexing and extended abstract fields. The time delay inherent in the creation of the value-added content, combined with the nature of the production systems and online file designs, meant that it is not possible to include these elements in DWPI First View.

The philosophy of the DWPI First View file design is to ensure that the search process is identical for fields that are present in both DWPI and DWPI First View for ease of cross-file searching. For example:

  • Patent details, e.g. patent number, patent kind code, priority/application information, dates, patent assignee, inventor, etc.
  • IPC fields are the same
  • Patent assignee code thesaurus is available

Q: Why have some patent records remained in DWPI First View for several months when some of these documents appear to be very old?

A: There are a few hundred records from the internal DWPI production system which were included in the initial load of the DWPI First View online file back in November 2003, and came from significantly older publication dates. These entries were effectively “stuck” in the production system due to mismatches in the source data.

We have a team actively working in conjunction with the patent-issuing authorities (where required) to complete analysis and correction of these by early summer 2004.

Q: Can I use the STN® de-duplication feature when I run my Alerts in DWPI and DWPI First View?

A: Due to the rolling nature of the DWPI First View file, it is not possible to use this STN SDI feature to de-duplicate results for an SDI running in both DWPI and DWPI First View. Therefore, even if this option is selected a record will be retrieved when it enters DWPI First View and then again when it transfers into DWPI. However, one benefit of selecting this functionality is to prevent the DWPI record from being supplied more than once (for example, every time the DWPI family is subsequently updated).

Q: Why are there equivalents in DWPI First View that have not been added to the patent family already in DWPI?

A: The appearance of a record in DWPI First View for an Equivalent patent, where a record for the corresponding Basic patent already exists in DWPI, is not due to errors in the production process or original data load. This is simply a reflection of the ongoing work in progress carried out between creation of an update for DWPI and the later creation of the corresponding DWPI First View update.

If these work-in-progress Equivalent patents are not available in time for inclusion in DWPI, they are added to the corresponding DWPI First View update instead. These Equivalent patent records will typically remain in DWPI First View until the next update when they will be promoted into the main DWPI file.

Q: What citation details are included in DWPI First View records?

A: The citations included in DWPI First View are extracted directly from the electronic feeds for the following patent data: DEA, DEB, DEU, EPB, JPB, GBA, GBB, and USB. They are mainly examiner citations, with the exception of USB for which the bibliographic data feed also includes the inventor citations.

Q: How do the updating procedures work online? I have noticed that sometimes DWPI is more up to date than DWPI First View.

A: The updates are designed so that DWPI is updated just before DWPI First View. This is to ensure that records are promoted into DWPI before being removed from DWPI First View. There may be a short period in which the updates are not synchronized.

Q: There are several different types of abstract available in the DWPI First View file. Could you please explain what these are?

A: Three different types of record identifier have been indexed within DWPI First View. These are Derwent, Original, and MAT.

Derwent is assigned to a record containing either a Derwent value-added title or abstract. Original is assigned to a record containing either a first-level (original) title or abstract. MAT (machine-assisted translation) is assigned to a record containing either a MAT title or abstract (currently only JP records).

STN has indexed this information within the FS (file segment) field. Dialog has indexed it within the RT (record type) field. The few records which contain neither a title or abstract will have an empty FS/RT field.

Q: Why have you created two files? I would prefer to have DWPI First View merged into DWPI.

A: The creation of a single file is dependent on completion of some major initiatives currently underway within Thomson Scientific:

  • Enhancement of our editorial production and product creation processes
  • A fundamental re-design of DWPI online

We expect to be able to share more specific details about this DWPI/DWPI First View project later in 2004.

Q: How long does it take Thomson Derwent to receive patent documents from the various patent offices around the world?

A: There are many factors that impact the delay between the date of publication and the delivery to Thomson Derwent. For the major patent-issuing authorities, the bibliographic data is available on the day of publication and the full patent specifications (including the drawings) are delivered within a couple of days thereafter.

For other patent offices, the most timely data is available only in the official gazette. The time to capture the information in electronic format from the Gazette adds to the delivery time. Finally, for countries like Korea, China, and Russia, the delay from publication is increased by the time needed to translate the information into the English language. All these factors--delivery media, language of publication, specific publication pattern of the national patent offices, courier service--can affect the front-end timeliness of the patent data.

Q: What abstracts are available for Chinese, Korean and Taiwanese patents?

A: Our primary source data for KRA applications for DWPI First View typically does not include abstracts for applications with foreign priorities as they are usually equivalent to our patent families. These may appear in DWPI First View with a Derwent abstract from the Basic or without any abstract. However, we do subsequently source abstracts for these patents if required for DWPI.

Since September 2003, we have also been sourcing abstracts for KRB Basics. Prior to this date, the KRB source data was limited to titles only.

Similarly, our source data for CN patents typically does not include abstracts for applications with foreign priorities. Again, these will appear in DWPI First View with a Derwent abstract from the Basic or without an abstract.

If, for some reason, we have not yet seen the non-CN publication, we try to obtain additional information to produce an abstract for the subsequent DWPI record. However, very often we find that the non-CN published application has been withdrawn.

Q: How much does DWPI First View cost to search?

A: DWPI First View transactional prices are available on our Web site: www.thomsonscientific.com/media/dw/support/dwpiref/onlinepricelist.pdf

Q: Will all documents processed by Derwent now appear in DWPI First View before being loaded into DWPI?

A: No, but most Basic patents will appear in DWPI First View, though there is a small percentage that get their full value-add very quickly and these will go straight into DWPI.

DWPI First View is updated with new Basic patents and some new Equivalent patents as follows:

  • a) DWPI First View contains all Basic patents that have not yet been added to the main DWPI file. The DWPI First View Basic record is based on original author content as the full value-added Derwent data is not generally available at that time.
  • b) DWPI First View contains Equivalent patents in all cases where the corresponding Basic has not yet been released into DWPI. This happens when the Equivalent is published soon after the Basic, and so the value-added Basic record has not yet been created for DWPI. In most cases, the DWPI First View Equivalent record is based on original author content. Occasionally, some work-in-progress value-add data like a Derwent title is present instead of author text data.
  • c) DWPI First View contains a number of Equivalent patents where the corresponding Basic has already been added to DWPI. These reflect the ongoing work in progress carried out in the time period between creation of an update for the main DWPI file in our production system and creation of the corresponding DWPI First View update. If these work-in-progress Equivalent patents are not available in time for inclusion in a DWPI update, they are picked up in the corresponding DWPI First View update instead. As a result, they may often contain a Derwent value-added title or abstract instead of author text data. These Equivalent patent records will typically remain in DWPI First View for the duration of one update only, moving to the main DWPI file in the next update.

Q: How often is DWPI First View updated and how does this relate to DWPI?

A: The updating schedule for DWPI First View is the same as the main DWPI file, which is currently every 3 working days. The DWPI update is run first and includes patent records being promoted from the DWPI First View file. Directly after this, the DWPI First View file is updated and all records that have been promoted into DWPI are removed from DWPI First View.

Please note that there may be a brief period of time between these updates where the promoted records will appear in both files. It is always worth checking the file entry banners to ensure that the updates are the same in both files.

Q: I understand that there are no duplicate records in DWPI First View and DWPI. So why do I sometimes get several hits for a single patent number?

A: As long as both files are at the same update, there are two reasons why you may get multiple hits for a patent number:

  1. A Basic and its associated equivalent records are all in DWPI First View as they have not yet been promoted into DWPI. Each Equivalent record includes the Basic patent number in the record.
  2. Equivalents are entered into DWPI First View as soon as they are processed in the DWPI update, so they could not be added straight into DWPI.

Q: I run many alerting profiles automatically for each update in DWPI and now want to extend these to include DWPI First View. How do I do this to the best effect?

A: You can find a simple guide to setting up a multi-file SDI/Alert in DWPI First View and DWPI on our Web site:

STN guide: www.thomsonscientific.com/media/dw/productpdfs/dwpifv/dwpifv-stn-help.pdf
Dialog guide: www.thomsonscientific.com/media/dw/productpdfs/dwpifv/dwpifv-dialog-help.pdf

Please note that the ability to de-duplicate results between DWPI First View and DWPI is dependent on the standard software functionality available on the online hosts.

Q: How can I find out which are the latest patents covered by DWPI and DWPI First View?

A: Summaries of the latest publication dates for the different patent authorities and kind codes covered is available on our Web site: http://scientific.thomson.com/support/patents/coverage/latestupdates/

Q: Do DWPI First View records include Derwent Primary Accession Numbers (PANs)?

A: No. In the current DWPI production process, PANs are assigned only upon completion of the last piece of value-add data prior to extracting the new record for inclusion in products. As a result, PANs are not available at the time that a DWPI First View update is being created for newly published patents.

Q: Will the additional content present in DWPI First View (US classes, US full inventor names, US address information, author abstract, author title, author claim) also be available in the main DWPI file?

A: No, it is not possible to make DWPI First View content an integral part of the main DWPI file at this time due to technical constraints in our current DWPI production system.

We are making significant investments in a new editorial system that will remove these technical constraints in future. This will give us the option of creating a merged file containing all of the DWPI-enhanced content in addition to the DWPI First View records as precursors to the complete DWPI records. However, merging the two files, while still retaining all of the unique content features of both, will represent a major file re-design project. To this end, we welcome ongoing customer feedback and input.

Q: How can I send you feedback about DWPI FirstView?

A: You can contact us via e-mail to ts.custserv.emea@thomson.com