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 also offer a number services. Here are just a few examples:

• providing 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
• providing speakers for IP seminars (e.g. at universities)
• patent clinics

PATLIB - challenges for the future

The rapidly changing information technology market and the availability of free patent information via the internet mean that PATLIB centres are increasingly focusing on product and service diversification.

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 as providers of information to local government institutions, the general public, companies and academic circles.