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New EPO Browser based search engine?

Added by Dominic DeMarco , last edited by Admin - Tom Wolff on Sep 21, 2010 15:46

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Did anyone else see the EPO "Patent Information News" bulletin published today? On page 10 was a very interesting announcement for the future release in October of an updated browser based version of the MIMOSA search engine detailed in this quote from the bulletin (link to the "Patent Information News" - English version):

The new interface offers professional search capabilities, allowing users to run complex queries, display, download and print their search results, and create diagrams to visualise them using statistics. Additionally, the output can be customised to suit individual needs. Access to the subscription ESPACE online databases via this new interface is via a username and password.

Is this a game changer for us? Will this be a free, fast, and high quality alternative to the pay databases? I would greatly appreciate learning more about this from anybody on that side of the pond! Will it have significantly faster image retrieval than the current MIMOSA system? Mosaics?

Dominic
www.demarcoip.com




6 Comments

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  1. Sep 21, 2010

    Anthony Trippe

    Hello Dominic,

    I saw a presentation from EPO recently where they talked about the coming enhancements and some changes they will be making with respect to the availability of bulk EPO data.

    You can find the presentation at The EPO's patent information products and services (http://www.cnipr.com/piac/ppt0909/EPO-The%20EPO's%20patent%20information%20products%20and%20services.ppt).  The Esp@cenet materials start on page 15 or 16 and the new enhancements are on page 22.

    While interesting I am not sure I would say it is a game changer yet.  They are certainly setting the bar a little higher though.

    Thanks,

    Tony

    1. Sep 21, 2010

      Dominic DeMarco

      Thanks for the quick reply Tony.

      I think the material you are referencing only applies to the Espacenet website while the new system is dramatically different.  A link to the pre-rolled out version of the new system is available within the "Patent Information News" document as: https://data.epo.org/PIES_latest/ria.html.  When you follow this link it takes you to a very non-Espacenet system.

      In the new system, if you scroll down to a dataset without a lock icon and select it, you will be taken to a browser based search engine similar to the existing MIMOSA engine.  I do not know the syntax for this engine, so I have not tested it.

      Likewise, only guest logins are currently available.  The selection for garnering a user id and password is currently not working which makes sense since it is to be unveiled in October...

      Dominic
       

  2. Sep 21, 2010

    Kristin Whitman

    Thanks for posting Dominic.  I have to say something about the PIES interface seems vaguely familiar.  Was this perhaps demo'ed in Baltimore in May?  My memory has been appallingly bad lately - maybe I just foresaw this in a dream :o)

    I have to plead ignorance of software stuff here.  Would you normally expect a Rich Internet Application to garner better speeds than desktop software?  Wouldn't they have to make improvements to their technical support on the back end in order to improve retrieval speeds and image load times?

    I have to say just looking at those data sources listed on the home page makes my head hurt.  I've spent a long time trying to understand the EPO's data products and despite their best efforts, and an EPO webpage stuffed with information, I'm still intimidated by this sort of thing.   Can anyone offer any insight into what's different here vs. what's available for free on esp@cenet?  or is it all the same stuff, and we'd just be paying to access those databases via PIES?

    1. Sep 21, 2010

      Dominic DeMarco

      Kristin,

      Re: "PIES interface" - I believe it's the MIMOSA interface and has been out for awhile as a non-browser based system of limited use (to me at least).

      Re: "Would you normally expect a Rich Internet Application to garner better speeds than desktop software?  Wouldn't they have to make improvements to their technical support on the back end in order to improve retrieval speeds and image load times?" -

      Yes.  This would probably be run as a Java Applet that would be like the good ol' Sun "dumb terminals" or "thin clients" or "KVMs" or (sorry, the searcher in me was coming out).  Rather than conveying information-dense data to your desktop for local processing and lots of back-n-forth communications, the only thing conveyed to you would be information-light screenshots.  This is how the current vendors provide the relatively fast access they currently offer in web-based systems.  Now imagine the vendors having the deep pockets and resources of a governmental agency to buy hundreds rather than dozens of servers...

      I'm not saying this is what the system is, but it is a possibility and one we've all been waiting on for a long time.  More likely is that the data set available for searching will be limited to EP applications and EP patents which would make it yet another nice tool, but not particularly special.  But I look forward to being corrected.

      Dominic

      P.S. I really hope you're not dreaming about patent search engines.  If so, you might want to work a few less hours ;)

       

  3. Sep 23, 2010

    Stephen Adams

    This sounds rather like the next stage in the EPO's Global Patent Index (GPI) project, which up to now has been effectively the same data set, available off a remote server using MIMOSA developed for the job.  I think the clue is the October launch date - watch this space for something after the Lausanne meeting (19-22 Oct).

  4. Sep 23, 2010

    Kristin Whitman

    Thanks for your comment Stephen, that makes sense to me.  The development of the Global Patent Index from the EPO surprised me when it was released, particularly because I was not expecting that the EPO would release a new data product for MIMOSA.  This was only because I'm used to thinking of MIMOSA as a total dinosaur, and I haven't heard much in the community about anybody  using it.  Perhaps it's because it's more frequently used in Europe.  Or maybe it's more frequently used with the EPO CD-ROM data products (do any end users subscribe to these?).  Or perhaps the use really has fallen off tremendously and the EPO recognizes the need for a better platform to access this data.

    In any case, like Dominic, I'm looking forward to the October launch.