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Services provided by the patent information centres (PATLIB)
If you want to search the vast collection of information stored in patents, you may wish to consider consulting a qualified search expert at one of the PATLIB centres.PATLIB centres can also offer a number of related services. Here are just a few examples:
- provision of intellectual property documentation to the public
- public reading rooms
- copy and document delivery services
- helpdesk services
- searches in intellectual property documentation (basic searches - state-of-the-art, novelty, infringement - including comments on search results)
- technology and competitor watches
- technology and competitor trend analyses
- database and search training
- provision of speakers for IP seminars (eg at universities)
- patent clinics
PATLIB - challenges for the future
The rapidly changing information technology market and the availability free of charge of patent information via the Internet mean that PATLIB centres are having to focus increasingly on product and service diversification. They will not only have to function as service-oriented one-stop shops for clients looking for information, but also take a pro-active approach in identifying possible future users and visiting them at their premises.
The future will see PATLIB centres moving away from their former role as “patent libraries” and becoming first-point providers of quality information in the area of patents and intellectual property, and prime movers in the provision of information to local government institutions, the general public, companies and academic circles.