IP offices work towards enhanced EU-SE Asia patent data exchange services
IT officials and managers from the IP offices of Southeast Asia met with IP Key SEA and European Patent Office (EPO) representatives in Bangkok on 20-21 February to work through data sharing mechanisms that will lead to enhanced services for both local and international users.
The Southeast Asia IP Offices launched ASEAN Patentscope in 2017, a centralised regional online platform for the dissemination of patent information from ASEAN countries. It also facilitates the sharing of patent data with international IP systems, such as WIPO CASE for patent examiners, WIPO Patentscope, and IP5 Global Dossier Systems. The EPO foresees integration of ASEAN Patentscope data into the DOCDB international patent database, to enable further value-added processing on a global platform.
As EPO International Cooperation Administrator Nicholas Koernig noted, the integration of quality patent data provides greater access and transparency for industry and examiners, improving legal certainty for EU and Southeast Asian enterprises seeking to operate in the region.
EPO IT Coordinator for International Cooperation Nikolaos Chardalias explained how value-adding processes turns patent data into knowledge products that informs both internal and external stakeholders. Linked citations and the categorising of patent families, for instance, makes prior art searches vastly more efficient, saving time and costs for patent examiners and for research purposes.
Mr. Chardalias also demonstrated new features on Espacenet, the premier online public patent database used by industry, commercial providers, researchers and IP offices worldwide, averaging over 140 million queries per month. New features include more sophisticated quick search facilities, an improved interface to navigate between results, and the inclusion of legal data such as licensing information and active status.
The meeting was followed by bilateral meetings with representatives from each Southeast Asia IP office, to discuss nation-specific practical requirements for further patent data exchange.