Call for Papers

We are pleased to announce the call for papers and proposals for panel discussions for the PIUG 2017 Annual Conference to be held May 20-25, 2017, at the Crowne Plaza Atlanta Perimeter at Ravinia in Atlanta, Georgia. The theme for this 19th Annual Conference is:

"The Complete 21st Century Patent Searcher-Addressing Our Skills Gaps"

The working title of this conference recognizes that the effective use of modern search and analysis tools requires that the searcher/analyst have at least a basic understanding of much more than database content and command languages. We will be covering everything you wanted to know about patent searching, apart from patents!

The deadline for the abstract submissions has been extended.  Please submit your abstracts, by Monday, January 30, 2017, to Heather Simmons by email at hsimmons @ illinois.edu.

Plenary Sessions

We are particularly interested in presentations from patent information users working in-house or as external providers; patent offices; IP law firms; universities; and others who are able to discuss the following broad topics, with a focus on how they affect our efficiency and effectiveness in providing patent searching and analysis services.

• Topic 1: Search and statistics 101
  • classical query-building models; are they still relevant in the age of the Web?
  • full text vs. indexing; either, both or neither?
  • understanding ranking, extraction and analysis from first principles
  • sampling theory
• Topic 2: Visualization tools
  • basic introduction of how they work
  • different visualization models
  • scope for misleading interpretations
• Topic 3: Information retrieval mechanisms
  • a first look 'under the hood' at search engine technology
  • recent research in information retrieval - is it any use for patent searchers?
  • a closer look at relevance ranking
  • semantic search models
• Topic 4: Machine translation
  • handling the flood; challenges of different language groups for translation
  • query translation engines
  • document translation; static databases and on-the-fly display
  • patent-specific issues on translation; reflecting ambiguity in the original text
• Topic 5: Searching non-text parameters
  • genetic sequences
  • chemical structures, exact and generic
  • numerical data searching for engineers
  • direct search of drawings for the mechanical arts
• Topic 6: Soft skills
  • reference interviewing; talking to attorneys and inventors
  • reporting standards, globally
  • reporting standards, locally
  • beyond the basics with standard software tools
• Topic 7: Unconventional prior art
  • searching social media
  • finding and citing internet-based disclosures; discovery, dating and permanence
  • non-text disclosures; images, video etc.
  • institutional repositories; theses and reports
  • literature in green technology - locating prior art to fast-tracked applications
  • technology areas where non-patent literature is a significant factor
• Topic 8: IP policies and patent offices
  • behind the Asian tsunami; national innovation and political incentives
  • concessions for small and medium enterprise applicants
  • accelerated examination schemes around the world; why and how?
  • The patent prosecution highway and Global-PPH
  • shared workload initiatives at the technical level; Global Dossier, WIPO CASE
  • understanding filing laws and company filing policies
  • innovation ladders; patent informatics goes global
  • rising stars in the IP heavens; who will be next?
• Topic 9: Non-patent sources of information about patents
  • litigation information sources
  • licensing information
  • locating standard-essential patents (SEPS)
  • walk-in rights and compulsory licensing records
  • patent sales and auctions
  • patent pools

If any of the above or related themes fall into your area of expertise, then we would like to hear from you!

Panel Discussions

Following the informative session in 2016, the Program Committee is proposing to run a second panel discussion in 2017 on the ongoing issues concerning certification of patent searchers. If you would be interested in contributing your viewpoints to the panel, we invite you to consider emailing hsimmons @ illinois.edu to indicate your interest.

A second proposed panel will consider initiatives or innovations in the technology underlying patent search tools (Topics 3, 4 or 6 in the plenary) and the integration of patent-relevant information from other sources into the search and analysis process (Topics 7 or 9 in the plenary). If you would be interested in contributing, please email hsimmons @ illinois.edu to indicate your interest.

How to Submit a Proposal for the Plenary Session

Please send your presentation title, abstract, proposed speaker name, company name, brief biography and full contact information to hsimmons@illinois.edu on or before Monday, January 30, 2017 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).

Presentations will need to be provided to the Program Committee prior to the Annual Conference for review (by April 14, 2017) and feedback before being loaded into the presentation system.

The organizers 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 recommend a speaker on a particular topic or suggest another topic of interest, do not hesitate to contact Heather Simmons (hsimmons @ illinois.edu) with your ideas.

Further news about the program and updates regarding the conference will be posted on the PIUG Discussion Forum (PIUG-DF) and on the PIUG web site at www.piug.org.

Thank you for your consideration. We look forward to seeing you at the PIUG 2017 Annual Conference!

Stephen Adams and Heather Simmons - Co-Chairs, Program Committee

Kartar Arora, Andrea Davis, Dominic DeMarco, Zhifu Shu - Members, Program Committee

Ken Koubek and Martha Yates - Co-Chairs, Planning Committee