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East meets West in Vienna 2009
23/24 April 2009, Vienna
With over 50% of patent applications worldwide being written
in Japanese, Chinese or Korean, understanding patent information from Asia has become an essential element in the work of every
patent searcher. The EPO's "East meets West" forum provides an ideal
platform for patent information users around the world to discuss their most
pressing Asian patent information needs.
Come to Vienna and join "East meets West" if:
- you have to tackle patent searches in Asian data on a regular basis
- you need to find out about the latest developments, search tools, and data enhancements
- you want to gain new insights, share experiences or simply get inspiration from colleagues and other patent information users
- you are looking for an opportunity for one-on-one talks and informal encounters with experts from Asia and Europe
This year's "East meets West" forum puts a strong focus on machine translation in patent searching, spotlights traditional knowledge from Asia and introduces patent information from India and the patent system in the Philippines.
Registration
Registration for East meets West 2009 has been closed. For further details please contact asiainfo@epo.org.
Day 1:
Presentations
Machine translation focus
In recent years, we have seen considerable progress in machine translation technologies. In Japan and Korea machine translation tools are helping to make patent documents more "visible" for Western patent searchers. In April 2008, the Chinese Patent Office launched its first patent translation engine for test purposes. A year on, what is the status of automatic Chinese-to-English machine translation? How useful are machine translation tools for searching and accessing Asian patent information? Speakers from Asia and Europe will look into this question and report on their experiences in the plenary session of East meets West 2009.
Country focus
With the number of patent applications tripling in the last ten years, India has come into the spotlight for patent information users. Following last year's introduction to the Indian patent system, we will hear more about patent information dissemination in India and the Indian Patent Office's policy in this respect. Another presentation in our country focus will introduce the legal framework for patent protection in the Philippines.
Traditional knowledge focus
Meeting a popular demand by our participants, we have decided to dedicate the last part of day 1 to a non-patent literature topic of growing importance: "Traditional Knowledge (TK)". A user will present a case study in TK searching and a speaker from the EPO will give a patent office's viewpoint.
Day 2:
Product presentations and poster session
Day 2 starts with a series of short product presentations by commercial data providers from Asia and Europe.
Due to the positive feedback received last year, we have decided to continue the commercial presentations with a poster session, providing an opportunity for more in-depth discussions and for providers of Asian patent information to introduce in detail the latest search possibilities and features of their services in an informal atmosphere during a long coffee break.
If you are a data provider and would like to participate in this poster session or give a commercial presentation, please visit the poster session page to find more information.
Discussion rounds
After the poster session, you will have a chance for discussions and informal exchanges on specific topics in smaller break-out sessions.
This year's discussions will circle around:
- the future of Asian patent documentation
- classification matters
- patent law changes in Asia
- MT and patent searching in multi-lingual environments
- English information on Asian patents
- Asian legal status information
Use these discussion rounds to bring your particular patent information needs to the attention of patent offices' representatives and other experts from Asia, or for getting answers to your most pressing open questions.
Please turn to the "East meets West" virtual forum for further details on topics, and a pre-conference discussion with experts and other users.
What industry needs
The PDG (Patent Documentation Group) will meet representatives of the EPO and of Asian patent offices and their related organisations who are participating at East meets West to discuss the results of a recent analysis the PDG has done on the needs of European patent information users with respect to Asian patent information. Peter Kallas (BASF SE) will present a summary and the outcome of the meeting in the plenary session of "East meets West" in the afternoon of 24 April 2009.
Venue:
This year's "East meets West" forum will take place at a new venue, the "Austria Trend Hotel Savoyen". The hotel is situated on Rennweg, only five minutes from the EPO's office and within walking distance from the city centre of Vienna. For more detailed information please go to the hotel website.
Training and introductory sessions:
Training sessions
For first-time participants and those who feel in need of an update, we are offering two training courses in the run-up to the forum:
In the afternoon of 22 April 2009, we will start off with practical hands-on training sessions.
One of the sessions will give an overview of the free data products and services from the Chinese Patent Office (SIPO) and practical tips on how to make the most of Chinese patent resources both in English and Chinese. Participants will be able to explore SIPO's internet databases themselves in hands-on exercises.
Alternatively, participants can brush up their understanding of the special Japanese classification systems FI and F-terms and learn how to apply them in their Japanese patent searches to access the complete collection of Japanese patents and utility models.
Introductory session
A new opportunity for getting into the spirit of the forum is the introductory session on the morning of 23 April, which will highlight the differences and similarities between the European patent system and those in Asia.
Go to the introductory and training sessions page to see the abstracts of the sessions.
Alerts
Use this form to register for e-mail alerts about this event or contact the EPO's Asian patent information team at asiainfo@epo.org.
Past events