1999 PIUG Annual Meeting

Tuesday, April 27th to Thursday April 29th
Crystal City, Washington, D.C.

Hello,

This is to keep you informed on the plans being made for the 1999 Patent Information Users Group (PIUG) annual meeting. This note incorporates all the information from previous updates. This is the final schedule of events.

- Walter Bolger is an examiner at the EPO. Walter will describe search methods at the EPO.

- Michael Lydon (EPO) is preparing a CD-ROM containing INPADOC information. This CD-ROM will be available to all attendees. It contains a copy of the slide presentation from the INPADOC lecture and extensive documentation for the INPADOC database (details below).

- Questel-Orbit, Dialog and STN will be offering presentations on Thursday afternoon.

- The hands-on classes (INPADOC and European Register) are full.

- Mike Tansey, CEO Thomson Science and Technology, will provide a Derwent update during the Derwent Product Showcase Luncheon, at noon, Monday April 26th.

- Larry Grant is the new contact for the Derwent Product Showcase (details below)

- The Wednesday evening play is Lady Windermere's Fan - A Play About a Good Woman

- As of 4/8/99 we exceeded 150 reservations for the 1999 PIUG annual meeting.

The 1999 PIUG Annual Meeting is Tuesday, April 27th to Thursday April 29th in Crystal City, Washington, D.C. Several other organizations are working in cooperation with the PIUG to offer a full week of training opportunities for patent searchers. Additional meetings and activities are planned from Sunday, April 25th to Friday, April 30th.

Location

The final schedule is as follows:

---- formal PIUG meeting begins ----

---- Tuesday evening ----

---- Wednesday Evening ----

- Intellectual Property Research, Valuation, and Management

---- formal PIUG meeting ends ----

Notes:

1) Registration for the 1999 PIUG annual meeting:

After April 1st the registration fee is $175 for both members and non-members of the PIUG, if space is available. This registration fee includes breakfast and lunch for April 27 through April 29. The registration fee does not include an evening meal. Evening meals may be purchased separately in the Hotel or any of the fine Washington D.C restaurants.

2) 1999 PIUG Business Meeting

There is no fee for attending the PIUG Business Meeting on Sunday, April 25. All members of the PIUG are encouraged to attend the PIUG Business Meeting and to participate in the running of the organization. Volunteers are always especially welcome!

3) Hands-On INPADOC and European Register classes (Monday and Friday)

The hands-on classes are full.

The hands-on INPADOC and European Register classes are limited to 12 students per class. There is a $75 fee for each class.

4) Derwent Product Showcase (Monday)

Derwent will be mailing out a separate registration for the Derwent Product Showcase. See the contact information at the end of this note.

5) The Dialog (Monday) , Questel-Orbit (Friday) and STN (Friday) Patent Training classes are free, but registration is recommended. See the contact information at the end of this note.

6) A demonstration room will be open Tuesday through Thursday. A list of the demonstrators and a description of the products they plan to show is described in a separate message:

I hope all these plans meet with your approval. We are really trying hard to make this meeting a wonderful opportunity for patent searchers.

Further details of the 1999 PIUG annual meeting will be published on the PIUG email list.

Sandra Unger

PIUG Chair, Inc.

Phone: (908) 730-2662

Fax: (908) 730-3230

Abstracts for the 1999 PIUG Annual Meeting

Derwent World Patents Index presentation (Tue 27 Apr 1999)

Karen Thrane, Online Manager, North & South America

Rob Austin, Content Manager, Online Business

Title: Derwent Online Developments

This session focuses on the latest developments at Derwent Online. The agenda will consist of an overview of Online Sales and an update on multi-host fixed price agreements, and an outline of how Derwent can support you and your organization in your use of our online services. The second half of the presentation will address changes to Derwent World Patents Index (DWPI) in 1999 stemming from Derwent's re-engineered editorial process. Timeliness improvements and details of implementation and access arrangements will be provided. The searcher will learn that a key benefit of the changes in the format and content of the DWPI online abstracts are more structured and informative abstracts. Finally, the Derwent Chemistry Resource (DCR), a structure-based central indexing system for chemical information in the Derwent Online files, and its relationship to existing Derwent chemical indexing, will be covered. Please note that you can also find information on changes to DWPI on the "New Content Forum" at www.derwent.com/custserv/newcontent prior to the meeting

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Chemical Abstracts Service presentation (Tue 27 Apr 1999)

Kerry G. Stanley, Application Specialist, Chemical Abstracts Service

Title: Enhanced Patent Searching with Unique File Content from CAS

Keeping current in online searching involves applying unique file content and features to enhance the patent search. This session will discuss and show how to use new developments from CAS in patent family retrieval and retrospective online searching back to 1907. Also presented will be unique CAS enhancements to USPATFULL, including US National Patent Class search and thesaurus capabilities.

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API EnCompass presentation (Tue 27 Apr 1999)

James K. Walters and Joe Terlizzi

Title: API EnCompass: Your Source for Petroleum & Petrochemical Patent Information

API EnCompass, a provider of petroleum and petrochemical information since 1954, offers patent searchers three unique databases: the patent database APIPAT, the Derwent/API EnCompass merged file WPAM, and the technical literature database APILIT. This presentation will focus on the controlled vocabulary, detailed indexing, and special features in these databases, and the value-added technical and competitive intelligence attained by using them. The discussion will also review the other products EnCompass provides for the patent searcher, including the weekly and monthly patent alerting abstract bulletins, now available in both print and electronic formats.

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Tuesday Evening - Poster Sessions -

The Poster Sessions are organized by Lucy (Virden) Akers

lucia.t.akers@exxon.com

7:30 to 7:45pm Patents for Free -- Patent Retrieval on the Internet, A survey of sites and formatting issues in international patent retrieval (Leland Ness)

7:45 to 8:00pm Competitive Intelligence -- A Pharma Example (Brian Stockdale)

8:00 to 8:15pm Classification Analysis: Where Bibliometric Methods and Content Analysis Meet (Michael P. Bigwood)

8:20 to 9:00pm Poster Session Walkabout and Q&As

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Michael Lydon has been the EPO Liaison Officer to the Irish Patents Office in Kilkenny, Ireland since 1997. He is responsible for coordinating a co-operation program between the EPO and the Irish Office comprising a number of different projects relating to the development of facilities for the promotion and use of patent information. Prior to this Michael worked at the EPO office at The Hague in The Netherlands for 6 years as a search and substantive examiner in the fields of telecommunications and cryptography. Before joining the EPO in 1991 Michael was a lecturer and researcher in the Department of Electrical and Electronic Engineering at the University of Ulster in Northern Ireland. Michael received his Ph.D. from the University of Sheffield in England.

Michael Lydon

Title: INPADOC

The INPADOC databases, compiled by the EPO, contain bibliographic data of patents, utility models and inventor's certificates issued by almost 70 countries and patenting organisations all around the world, as well as information concerning the legal status of patents which is published in the patent gazettes of 23 countries plus the EPO and WIPO. INPADOC is arranged into two major sections or services, namely the Patent Family Service (PFS) and the Patent Register Service (PRS). PFS provides, together with the bibliographic data of all members of the patent family, a complete list of the patents claiming the same priority. PRS provides up-to-date information concerning the legal status of a patent or patent application and the members belonging to its patent family. In essence it records the notices or events related to the grant procedure and the subsequent life of the patent which are advertised in the various patent gazettes of the countries and patent organizations covered.

The presentation will seek to offer a detailed insight into the structure, contents, coverage and reliability of the INPADOC database, how to access the data and interpret the information e.g the legal status codes, designated countries, fee payments, error flags, etc. Practical examples and tips will be given to highlight how patent searchers can maximize the usefulness of INPADOC.

Contents of INPADOC CD-ROM (companion to the INPADOC lecture)

A CD-ROM will be distributed to all the participants of the PIUG Meeting in April. In addition to containing a copy of the slide presentation from the INPADOC lecture (versions for Windows 3.1x and Windows 95/98), the disk contains very extensive documentation for the INPADOC database as follows:

- List of all INPADOC Legal Status Codes.

- Legal Status Code Sheets for Austria, Brazil, Germany, EPO, Spain, France, UK, Lithuania, Netherlands, US and PCT.

- Set of INPADOC manuals (Users' Guide, PFS database, Data Formats, User Interface and Commands, Database Contents and Structure).

- Samples of DE, EP and UK printouts from PRS.

- Samples of EP, GB and US PFS and corresponding PRS records.

- List of INPADOC commands.

- Copies of the INPADOC homepages from the EPO website.

- List of Kind Codes.

- PRS and PFS coverage lists.

Most of the documentation is in both WordPerfect and pdf format. The disk contains Acrobat Reader software for accessing the pdf files. There are also several indexes, a Readme file, a contacts list and INPADOC connection information.

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Michael Lydon

Title: Register of European Patents, On-line

The European Patent Register on-line provides users with on-line access to the bibliographic and procedural data of all European patent applications from publication up to grant, including the opposition and appeal procedure. Apart from the application and publication number, the system is accessible via applicant name, IPC and priority number. Daily updated information provides users with the legal status data of all European applications published by the EPO since 1978 and all PCT applications.

The seminar will help users to follow the patent granting procedure step by step and save on file inspections.

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Michael Lydon

Title: Esp@cenet

The esp@cenet project is a free patent information service on the Internet provided by the EPO, giving users access to "worldwide" patent information. The main aim of this new service is to provide users with a readily accessible source of free information. It also aims to improve the awareness of the kind of information that is accessible to the public at national and international level. Via esp@cenet users have access to up-to-date national information of the member states of the EPO as well as to worldwide patent information.

This presentation gives an overview of the goal of the esp@cenet project and explains its coverage and usage. Worldwide patent information is accessible in esp@cenet covering a comprehensive collection of English language abstracts of patents published worldwide since 1920.

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Title: ECLA (this session has been replaced by Walter Bolger's lecture)

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Michael Lydon

Title: Epoline

The purpose of the epoline project is to improve both the services offered to applicants and the efficiency of the EPO by providing an integrated environment within which all communications between the applicants and the EPO can be conducted in a secure, electronic way.

The areas that will be affected by the implementation of epoline include all Applicant-EPO Communication such as: filings, search reports, exchange of examination communications, publication, file inspection and access to the patent register. The system will also deal with all filing, renewal and procedural fees.

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Walter Bolger: After graduating in Chemistry from Liverpool University in 1970 he joined Kodak Ltd. in Harrow in the UK. He worked there for 18 years in the Research and Development Laboratories where he was involved in the design and developmnt of new black and white photographic products for use in the graphic arts industry. In 1989 he joined the European Patent Office in the Hague, Netherlands where he carries out both search and substantive examination in the field of G03C which covers silver halide photographic materials and processes.

Title: Search Methods in the European Patent Office

The presentation will cover the evolution of search methods in the EPO from the almost exclusively manual search method used a decade ago to the sophisticated electronic search methods currently used today. Topics covered include the EPO classification and coding systems (including ECLA), EPO query language (EPOQUE), databases (especially EPODOC), means for viewing documents (VIEWER), specific EPO-designed search tools, deficiencies of electronic search methods and means for overcoming those deficiencies (DOCTOOL).The presentation will include simple examples mainly taken from the photographic field.

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Noel J. Akers is a Chartered British Patent Agent and European Patent Attorney. Before joining his current firm, The Frohwitter Law Firm, in Houston, Noel worked as a Patent Attorney with Shell International in its offices in London and The Hague. His current practice includes preparing and filing patent applications in Europe and around the world, together with representing clients in opposition and appeal proceedings before the European Patent Office.

Title: European Patent Law for Patent Searchers

This paper addresses key aspects of European patent law and practice, especially as they relate to patentability, opposition and freedom-to-operate searches. The paper deals in particular with the approaches taken to the fundamental issue of novelty and the manner in which prior art documents and disclosures are considered relevant, concentrating on the absolute rule of novelty as applied in Europe. The paper goes on to cover the prior art effect of earlier filed, later

published patent applications and how such documents can affect the validity of European patents. In addition, the paper considers the "problem-solution" approach as applied by the European Patent Office when considering the issue of obviousness. The paper also addresses the terminology as used in European patent claims and the format of such claims and its relevance on the scope of such claims. Throughout the paper, while the focus is on issues of European law and practice, the opportunity is taken to draw a comparison with the relevant US provisions.

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Stephen Adams is managing director of Magister Ltd., an information and training consultancy specializing in patents documentation. He trained as a chemist at the University of Bristol, then completed a Masters degree in Information Science at City University London. He has worked in technical information for over 18 years, latterly with Zeneca Agrochemicals as their principal patent searcher. He also spent periods as the editor of "International Packaging Abstracts" at Pira International and as a searcher in the UK government's Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries & Food.

Title: Dots before the eyes...using the IPC in an online environment

This paper provides an overview of the background, development and use of the IPC by patent offices, commercial database producers and searchers. The structure and rules governing the classification will be considered, together with their implications for on-line loading of class marks and catchword listings. Examples of its application and use will be reviewed, from the point of view of the searcher.

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TITLE: Intellectual Property Research, Valuation, and Management:

(Coordinated by: Richard Kurt and Ford Khorsandian)

This session will examine how business units and management evaluate their own patent portfolios as well as those of their competitors. It will provide an insight into how IP analysis can assist in positioning technology for Freedom to Practice, valuation and licensing strategies, and aid in assessing how well these assets support the overall business strategies.

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Part - 1: IP Management and Valuation

Carl Lucas - The Dow Chemical Company

R& D Operations Manager - Planning, Measures, Intellectual Asset Management

Title: IP portfolio management

Carl Lucas will start with a talk on IP portfolio management covering specific competitive awareness issues using patent mapping/trees and weekly alerts. He will discuss the process, classification tools, and key metrics for portfolio assessment and performance monitoring. He will also cover methods for rating the importance of technologies and patents to the businesses as well as identifying potential protection gaps.

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Dan McGavock - founding partner of IPC Group, LLC

Title: Practices of Valuing Patents

Dan McGavock will cover the practices of valuing patents in order to estimate the worth of the IP assets, and also for litigation, licensing and royalty considerations. Topics include IP inventory and mapping; cost to obtain, maintain and enforce a patent portfolio; how IP management activities generate value; metrics to measure value of IP.

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Part - 2: Experiences with IP Management and Valuation Tools

Keith Walker - Patent Intelligence Group, Eastman Kodak Company

Keith Walker from the patent information user community will talk about his experiences with IP management and valuation tools detailing strengths, applications, and weaknesses of some of the more recent tools for IP research. Products and services from Aurigin, IBM, and Manning & Napier will be discussed as tools for IP research and management.

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Part - 3: Round Table Discussion with Vendors

A vendor panel will have the opportunity to further describe their products and discuss their future enhancements and plans for IP related research and management tools. The session will conclude with an interactive discussion between the meeting participants, vendors and speakers, with Q&A. This will be an ideal opportunity to share individual experiences with these and related tools in different industries.

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Questel- Orbit presentation (Thu 29 Apr 1999)

David Dickens, IPG Project Manager, Questel-Orbit

The Questel-Orbit training session introduces the enhanced and improved Questel-Orbit service made through the IPG Project. System features, including using Orbit commands, are discussed, with special emphasis placed on new databases and the new value added features.

Items covered, include:

-Enhancements to Inpadoc and the Legal Status databases - increased searchability and display enhancements

-The new Legal Feature -- which allows integrated legal status information from within any patents database

-Greatly enhanced crossfile searching and statistical analysis capabilities

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Dialog presentation (Thu 29 Apr 1999)

Terri Sawyer, Database Development Manager, Content;

Ric Snead, IP Consultant, IP/Legal Strategic Marketing.

Dialog has recently made a wide range of improvements to its intellectual property content. French patents (File 371) came on-line in December, 1998, which includes images. Images are also being added to JAPIO. And, to further strengthen text searching, abstracts translated to English are in European Patents Fulltext (File 348), for applications filed in German or French. Although not available just yet, the new abstract and chemical data for Derwent's World Patents products will be discussed. New content and display designs are in CLAIMS US Patents (File 340) and R&R (File 123), including the addition of provisional applications. On the Y2K front, searching dates has changed a bit due to Y2K system upgrades, and will be illustrated. Dialog has introduced two new knowledge management tools that IP professionals will find useful. The Dialog Intranet Toolkit creates customized search screens that seamlessly integrate into an organization's Intranet, capable of meeting the information needs of individuals or company-wide. Lotus notes users can send output to their Notes application using DialogClassic(tm) and DialogWeb(tm). Dialog now offers patent training over the web. Time permitting, we will give a short description of the course.

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STN presentation (Thu 29 Apr 1999)

Kerry G. Stanley, Application Specialist, Chemical Abstracts Service

Title: Patent Information from STN -- Database Content and System Features

STN offers easy and convenient access to an effective combination of key patent databases and system features. This session will present an overview of the latest enhancements to these databases and features, including multifile information retrieval and data analysis, in the context of improved service access opportunities.

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IFI CLAIMS SESSION, APRIL 27, 9-12 NOON

The IFI CLAIMS session is open to all. You do not need

to be an IFI subscriber to attend this session.

AGENDA

9-9:30 1. Explain who IFI really is. (IFI STAFF)

a. When did we start

b. What do we cover in patents

c. Where did the back data come from

d. Contents of the total database as of now

9:30-10 2. Enhancements of the IFI files (IFI STAFF)

a. Explain when and what is enhanced

b. Why are the enhancements important

c. How are the enhancements used by searchers

Jeff Forman - (IBM CORP)

d. Year-end updates - what do we change and why -

what are the benefits to the users

e. Summary of the IFI enhancements versus the PTO

raw data

10-10:30 Coffee Break

10:30-11 3. Contents of the various IFI databases (IFI STAFF)

a. US patent files

b. Uniterm file

c. R & R file - what is in the file - where does

it come from - how and when do we update the

file

d. IFI Reference file - why should you use it

e. Citation files - file content

11-11:30 4. Explanation of other IFI databases (IFI STAFF)

a. Patent Intelligence & Technology Report

1. Printed product

2. Electronic format

3. Custom reports available 1975 forward

b. PC Reference file

c. IPLEX CD

d. IPC Class CD

e. Thesaurus & term lists - how they are used

f. Q & A session and what is available from the

IFI help desk

11:30-12 5. Patent bills before Congress -

Joe Ebersole, (COALITION COUNSEL)

Information Futures -

Dick Kaser - (EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR NFAIS)

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Contacts for the free training offered before and after the PIUG meeting.

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Derwent Product Showcase - Monday, April 26, all day

Contact: Larry Grant - Client Services Manager

lgrant@derwentus.com

1-800-336-5010

Derwent Information will be hosting a full-day Product Showcase on Monday, April 26, in Crystal City, VA, preceding the 1999 PIUG Meeting. Product enhancements and updates will be presented in addition to the interactive demonstration stations. Further details will be issued in the coming weeks. Please contact Larry Grant with questions. We look forward to seeing you in April. Thank you.

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STN Patents Training - Friday, April 30, 8:30 to 11:30

Registration for this session will be free, but encouraged due to limited space. Walk-ins will be accepted subject to available space. The registration information is as follows:

Training Assistant

CAS

PO Box 3012

Columbus OH 43210-0012

PHONE: 800-848-6538, Ext. 3549

FAX: 614-447-3694

E-Mail: wksp@cas.org

Kerry G. Stanley, Applications Specialist, Chemical Abstracts Service

STN is pleased to offer advanced patent training in conjunction with the 1999 PIUG Annual Meeting. This training will focus on two topic areas and will be presented in a discussion format. The topics will include:

* Online Approaches to Validity Searches - In several ways, online searching can help to invalidate an invention thought to be obvious or anticipated. Value-added indexing may enhance retrieval of aspects of a patent specification that are not closely tied to the patent classification. Analysis of the inventors and patent assignees, as well as their publications predating the priority date in question, is appropriate. Analysis of well-published authors may also help identify expert witnesses.

* Enhancing Visualization of Search Results - This session will further explore effective ways to present and analyze patent data using two convenient STN features. The ANALYZE and TABULATE commands on STN, along with the use of word-processing and spreadsheet software, will be demonstrated.

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Dialog Patents Training - Monday, April 26, 8:30 to 11:30

Claudia Marshall

415-288-5019

claudia_marshall@dialog.com

Ric Snead

This advanced patent training is intended to enhance IP specialist's knowledge of Dialog patent content and search skills. These are some of the topics covered during this 3-hour session.

1) Useful and cost effective ways to manipulate and display INPADOC retrieval.

2) The MAP command and use of MAP to retrieve comprehensive patent families.

3) The RANK command, a search aid as well as a tool for competitive analysis.

4) IDPAT overview, Dialog's system enhancement for identifying and eliminating

duplicate patent records.

5) Legal status searching.

6) Use of DialIndex for prior art searching.

7) Finding patent references in non-patent databases.

The session includes a continental breakfast. The trainer is Ric Snead. Pre-registration is encouraged, as space is limited. To register, contact Ric via e-mail, ric_snead@dialog.com, phone, 1-800-213-3580 X5018, or FAX to 1-415-986-5248.

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Questel/Orbit Patents Training - Friday, April 30, 12:30 to 3:30

Questel.Orbit Patent Training signups for the PIUG meeting should go to:

Lisa Gunther

Manager Customer Service

Questel.Orbit

8000 Westpark Drive

McLean, VA 22102

Phone: 703-556-7493

Fax: 703-893-4632

lgunther@questel.orbit.com

Trainer:

David Dickens

IPG Project Manager

Questel-Orbit

8000 Westpark Drive

McLean, VA 22102

703-556-7446

ddickens@questel.orbit.com

The Questel-Orbit training session introduces the enhanced and improved Questel-Orbit service made through the IPG Project. System features, including using Orbit commands, are discussed, with special emphasis placed on new databases and the new value added features.

Items covered, include:

-Enhancements to Inpadoc and the Legal Status databases - increased searchability and display enhancements

-The new Legal Feature -- which allows integrated legal status information from within any patents database

-Greatly enhanced crossfile searching and statistical analysis capabilities

Questel-Orbit now has the most comprehensive collection of Intellectual Property databases. Come see how the new Questel-Orbit can help you find the information you need.

Sandra Unger / 26 February, 1999

Contacts for the free training offered before and after the PIUG meeting.

Derwent Product Showcase - Monday, April 26, all day

STN Patents Training - Friday, April 30, 8:30 to 11:30
Registration for this session will be free, but encouraged due to limited
space. Walk-ins will be accepted subject to available space.
The registration information is as follows:

Training Assistant
CAS
PO Box 3012
Columbus OH 43210-0012

PHONE: 800-848-6538, Ext. 3549
FAX: 614-447-3694
E-Mail: wksp@cas.org

Dialog Patents Training - Monday, April 26, 8:30 to 11:30

Claudia Marshall
415-288-5019
claudia_marshall@dialog.com

Questel/Orbit Patents Training - Friday, April 30, 12:30 to 3:30

Questel.Orbit Patent Training signups for the PIUG meeting
should go to:

Lisa Gunther
Manager Customer Service
Questel.Orbit
8000 Westpark Drive
McLean, VA 22102
Phone: 703-556-7493
Fax: 703-893-4632
lgunther@questel.orbit.com

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