DWPI - Using proximity operators to design effective search strategies


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Power Up: Derwent World Patents Index - Using proximity operators to design effective search strategies

Derwent World Patents Index^® (DWPI^SM) now offers many new and enhanced features for patent searchers, including a new database record structure. This article provides an overview of the DWPI record structure as well as tips for effectively using a variety of proximity operators. Gaining a better understanding of these topics will help you to more effectively utilize the DWPI databases on STN (non-subscribers: WPINDEX; subscribers: WPIDS/WPIX).

DWPI database record structure

The record structure in DWPI on STN includes both the traditional invention information and the information associated with the individual patent publications.

New DWPI database record structure

Boolean operators may be sufficient for your search needs, particularly with very specific search terms. However, with the ever increasing amount of data to evaluate, the use of more restrictive proximity operators can help you form more selective strategies. DWPI allows the use of six proximity operators, (L), (P), (S), (A), (W), and (T), which let you specifically relate invention and document information within a record.

Link (L) proximity

Since both invention information and individual patent publication information are included within the same database record, you can use the broadest level of proximity, (L), to link these two different types of information.

The document level (DLVL) field specifies whether the information is contained in the INVENTION or the PUBLICATION. By using the (L) operator with DLVL field, you can restrict your search so that terms appear only in the invention information or only in an individual publication.

Find German publications concerning influenza vaccine.

=> S DE/PRC (L) INFLUENZA VACCIN?/BI,BIEX (L) PUBLICATION/DLVL

L1 5 DE/PRC (L) INFLUENZA VACCIN?/BI,BIEX (L)
PUBLICATION/DLVL

=> D MEMB(2)

Member(0002)

PI WO 2005090584 A2 20050929 (200573)* DE 40[5]

TIDE IMPFSTOFF GEGEN INFLUENZA BASIEREND AUF GEFLUGELPESTVIREN

TIEN INFLUENZA VACCINE BASED ON FOWL PLAGUE VIRUSES

TIFR VACCIN CONTRE LA PESTE BASE SUR DES VIRUS DE LA PESTE AVIAIRE

AG TRANSMIT GESELLSCHAFT FUR TECHNOLOGIETRANSFER MBH

AGA: Kerkrader Str. 3, 35394 Giessen, DE

IN WAGNER R

INO: WAGNER, Ralf

INA: Dorfwiesenweg 8, 35043 Marburg, DE

Residence: DE

Nationality: DE

KLENK H

INO: KLENK, Hans-Dieter

INA: Oberhof 11, 35440 Linden, DE

Residence: DE

Nationality: DE

PA (UYPH-N) UNIV PHILIPPS MARBURG

PAO: PHILIPPS-UNIVERSITAT MARBURG

PAA: Biegenstrasse 10, 35032 Marburg, DE

Limitation: except US

Residence: DE

Nationality: DE

ADT WO 2005090584 A2 WO 2005-DE496 20050316

APTS 2005WO-DE0000496

PRAI DE 2004-102004013335 20040317

PRTS 2004DE-100013335

IPCR Current: A61K0039-145 [I,A]; A61K0039-145 [I,C]; C12N0007-01 [I,A];

C12N0007-01 [I,C]; C12N0007-04 [I,A]; C12N0007-04 [I,C]

IIC IICM C12N0015-86

ABDE Die vorliegende Erfindung betrifft die Herstellung von klassischen

Gefluegelpestviren des Stammes A/FPV/Ro/34 (H7N1) mittels eines Systems

der reversen Genetik sowie die Herstellung von Mutanten dieses

Virusstammes, deren Genom weitestgehend mit dem Wildtyp-Stamm

uebereinstimmt. Diese Mutanten sind immunogen, allerdings - im Gegensatz

zum FPV-Wildtypstamm - nicht pathogen. Weiterhin ermoeglicht dieses System

auch die Einbringung der Oberflaechenantigene anderer hochpathogener

aviaerer Viren in das FPV-Genom. Die so erzeugten rekombinanten FPV werden

als Ausgangsviren zur Erzeugung eines inaktivierten Impfstoffes gegen das

Influenzavirus verwendet.

Paragraph (P) proximity

The (P) proximity operator is more restrictive than the (L) operator, so it lets you connect information within the invention or within a specific publication. The fields that may be connected with the (P) operator include:

Inventor (IN, INO, INA)
Publication (PC, PN, PK, DW, LA, PGN, DRWN, PD, PY, PT, DS)
Application detail (AC, AP, AP.YR, APTS, APT, AD, AY, PC, PK, PN)
Filing detail (FDT, PC, PN, PK)
Priority (PRC, PRN, PRN.YR, PRD, PRDF, PRTS, PRY, PRYF)
IPC (potentially comprises IC, ICM, ICS, ICI, ICA, MGR, SGR, IPC)
Initial IPC (comprises IIC, IICM, IICS, IICI, IICA, MGR, SGR, IPC)
Enhanced title (TI, AW, TT)
Enhanced abstract sections (ALE, USE, ADV, UADV, NOV, DETD, ACTV, ACTN, USE, DRWD)
Technology focus section (TECH)
Abstract extension section (ABEX subfields)
Documentation abstract section (ABDT subfields)
Derwent Classifications (DC)
Derwent Chemical Manual Codes in MC
Derwent Engineering Manual Codes in MC
Derwent Electrical & Electronic Manual Codes in MC
Indexing terms paragraph in IT
Issued US national classification types (INCL, INCLM, INCLS)
Agent (AG(.T), AGA)
Author title (TIDE, TIEN, TIES, TIFR, TL.M)
Author abstract (ABDE, ABEN, ABFR, SL.M)
Main claim (CLMDE, CLMEN, CLMFR, SL.M)

Search for an inventor named P. Smith, who lives in Houston.

=> S SMITH P?/IN,INO (P) HOUSTON/INA

L2 18 SMITH P?/IN,INO (P) HOUSTON/INA (P) HOUSTON/INA

=> D MEMB

Member(0001)

PI US 6789183 B1 20040907 (200465)* EN 10[5]

TIEN Apparatus and method for activation of a digital signal processor in an

idle mode for interprocessor transfer of signal groups in a digital signal

processing unit

AG Holloway, William W.

AGA: US

Brady, W. James

AGA: US

Telecky, Jr., Frederick J.

AGA: US

IN SMITH P J

INO: Smith, Patrick J.

INA: Houston, TX, US

JONES J A

INO: Jones, Jason A.

INA: Houston, TX, US

MCGONAGLE K A

INO: McGonagle, Kevin A.

INA: Houston, TX, US

Sentence (S) proximity

Sentence (S) proximity is more restrictive than (P) proximity and can be used with the following fields:

Patent Assignee name
Patent Assignee address, limitation, residence, nationality
Inventor name
Inventor address, residence, nationality
Sets of linked ICI codes
IPCs with the pertaining supplementary data, i.e., keyword data
Title parts, title terms, and additional words
Paragraphs from enhanced abstract, technology focus, abstract extension, or documentation abstract, as designated by Thomson Scientific

You can use (S) proximity to limit searches to terms within the patent assignee name or abstract paragraphs, which often consist of a single sentence.

Retrieve answers in which the terms catalysis and hydrogenation appear in the same sentence.

=> S CATALYSIS (S) HYDROGENATION

L1 141 CATALYSIS (S) HYDROGENATION

=> D HIT

USE

     USE - For producing metal powder used as materials with enhanced electronic,
    magnetic and/or mechanical properties, especially for use as conductivity increasing
    materials in fluids, polymers or ceramics, or for use as hard or soft magnetic
    materials for magnets or transformers, for use as building blocks for wires, sensor,
    or switches in electronic industry and as raw product for powder metallurgy in
    machining industry, as low melting alloys for interconnects in electronics (all
     claimed), and in heterogeneous catalysis such as hydrogenation and

hydrodenitrogenation.

Word (A, W, T) proximity

Word proximity can be used to require that terms appear in the same field. A term is defined as the most specific information unit, e.g., one IPC.

You can use (A) and (W) proximity operators to require terms to be adjacent to or following each other.

Further, you can use simultaneous left and right truncation (SLART) in conjunction with the Term (T) proximity operator to retrieve answers in which two fragments appear within the same word.

Retrieve documents that contain the fragments anti and allerg in the same word.

=> S ?ANTI? (T) ?ALLERG?

L2 15708 ?ANTI? (T) ?ALLERG?

This search strategy retrieves records containing the term antiallergic:

=> D KWIC=3 1-2

ACTV ACTIVITY - Antiinflammatory; Antiallergic; Antiasthmatic. No

biological.. . .

ACTV ACTIVITY - Neuroprotective; Antiallergic; Antipsoriatic;

Antirheumatic; Antiarthritic;..

The same query also retrieves records in which anti and allerg are not adjacent but are within the same word:

=> D L2 ACTV 10913

ACTV ACTIVITY - Antiinflammatory; antiimmunoallergic; keratinocyte

antiproliferation agent; dermatological; antirheumatic; antioxidant;

antiarthritic; ophthalmological; cytostatic; immunosuppressive;

antidiabetic; anti-HIV; endocrinal; cardiant; osteopathic; vasotropic;

antiarteriosclerotic; antiseborrheic; antiasthmatic.

(1T) proximity allows you to retrieve records in which the fragments are in a hyphenated word:

=> S ?ANTI? (1T) ?ALLERG?

1134522 ?ANTI?

33784 ?ALLERG?

L6 17451 ?ANTI? (1T) ?ALLERG?

=> S L6 NOT L2

L7 1743 L6 NOT L2

=> D KWIC=10 2 10

TECH. . .

agent comprises angiogenic inhibitors; anti-inflammatory agents; tyrosine

kinase inhibitors; anti-infectives; anti-allergic

agents; cyclooxygenase inhibitors; decongestants; anti-glaucoma agents;

phosphatidyl-inositol kinase inhibitors; gamma-aminobutyric. . .

NOV. . . . portion may have at least one of a mite-proof layer,

anti-allergens and anti-fungicides. The highest mean

temperature, which may be at..

Summary

The new DWPI record structure and the use of proximity operators let you design more sophisticated and effective patent search strategies.

Overview of the use of proximity operators in DWPI:

Proximity operator	Search level	Example of use:
(L)	Record	Restrict search to information contained only in the invention or only in a publication
(P)	Paragraph	Connect information within the invention or within a specific publication
(S)	Sentence	Limit search to terms within the same field
(A), (W) (T)	Word	Require terms to be adjacent to or following each other Require two terms to be within the same word

Additional resources

For more information, see:

STN Database Summary Sheets for WPIDS/WPINDEX/WPIX
STN User Documentation: Searching for Patent Information

Updated: 7/19/2007 1:18:57 PM