PIUG 2005 Annual Conference
An International Conference for Patent Information Professionals
The Future of Patent Information - Tools and Techniques for Adding Value
Saturday, May 21 to Thursday, May 26, 2005
Hyatt Regency Crystal City

Reminder for those interested in presenting a talk at the PIUG 2005 Annual Conference

This is a reminder for those interested in presenting a talk at the PIUG 2005 Annual Conference. The conference will take place from Saturday, May 21 to Thursday, May 26, 2005, at the Hyatt Regency Crystal City, 2799 Jefferson Davis Highway, Arlington, VA, USA, 22202, (703) 418-1234, www.crystalcity.hyatt.com. The theme for the conference is "The Future of Patent Information - Tools and Techniques for Adding Value". The deadline for submission of a talk has been extended to January 31, 2005.

We are particularly interested to hear from information users within corporations, patent offices, patent offices, law firms, or universities who are able to discuss one of the following topics:

Post Processing Tools, Techniques and Philosophies
- Examples of software (BizInt, STN Express, etc.) used to format results
- Macros or programs you have written to format results, write reports or just make our jobs easier
- Philosophies on screening, analysis, report writing
- Comparison of search output/reports for different clients, types of search
- Tips and techniques
- Case studies
- Applying software tools, e.g. patent mapping software, to enhance or visualize search results

New and future technology - - Patent Analysis Tools and Techniques in 2005+
- New technologies adapted for patent analysis, text mining
- Primer on database technology
- Introduction to XML and why it matters
- Chemistry without structures
- Data exchange between different analysis tools
- Comparison of new tools for claims analysis

Paperless Patent Offices
- Searching for patent examiners or lawyers; how the search is used
- Patent examiners and the paperless patent office
- Challenges for the mechanical arts - searching images
- Primer/glossary of IP terminology

Hot Topics
- Practical challenges facing the patent analyst
- Retrospective information - incorporating older data into the commercial databases - comparison of vendors; examples or case studies
- Classification systems - when to use, comparisons, examples or case studies

Patent Office Updates
- Impact of EPO's chemical registration project
- USPTO early publication - the first 5 years
- What's happening with IPC Reform
- Reform of the PCT and Substantive Patent Law Treaty

Papers on other topics are also desirable, for example, papers highlighting specific tips and techniques for doing patent / literature research or analysis, or else papers falling in one or more of the following general categories:

- Expert Patent Searching
- Strategic Issues
- Business Impact of Patent Information
- Case Studies

If these or related themes fall into your area of expertise then we would like to hear from you!

Please send your proposed speaker name, brief biography, full contact information, presentation title, and abstract to Barbara.L.Burg@gsk.com and Terri@terridockter.com on or before January 31, 2005, for full consideration. If you think you may be interested in speaking but require management approval beforehand, please let us know so that we can begin to consider your general proposal for a paper in the meantime (submission of just a few descriptive sentences will be sufficient).

The organisers reserve the right to accept abstracts at their discretion in order to assemble the best possible program. Invited speakers may take precedence over other speakers. Please be advised that your abstract submission may be published on the Internet or elsewhere, shortly after receipt or at any time thereafter. Therefore, do not include confidential or business-sensitive information in your abstract.

If you would like to make a recommendation for a speaker on a particular topic, we would appreciate hearing from you. Please do not hesitate to contact the 2005 PIUG Annual Conference organizers with your views.

Please visit www.piug.org for further information regarding the conference.

Best regards,

Barbara Burg (Barbara.L.Burg@gsk.com)
Terri Dockter (Terri@terridockter.com)
Program Committee Co-chairs

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The Patent Information Users Group, Inc. (PIUG), the International Society for Patent Information, is a not-for-profit organization for individuals having a professional, scientific or technical interest in patent information. With the ever increasing volume of patents and related technical documents, the effective retrieval and analysis of patent information has become an essential skill in business. The mission of PIUG is therefore to encourage the development of patent information research and analysis systems, to further develop members' patent research and analysis skills, and to provide appropriate recognition for its members excelling in the field. Through this international forum and discussion, we promote and improve the retrieval, analysis and dissemination of patent information.

As of October 2004, PIUG had 570 members, including nearly 300 patent information professionals who do patent searching for a corporation, over 40 patent information professionals who do patent searching for law firms and 70 patent information consultants. PIUG members are employed in performing patentability, freedom to practice, and validity patent searches for Fortune 500 / multi-national companies, leading universities and major IP law firms. We have a very active discussion list with over 1400 subscribers world-wide. For more information, see www.piug.org.