6.1.10 Non-Patent Literature

Date Published

Overview

Once the 3-person search team has reached an agreed search strategy (see page 6.1.8.1 Introduction), the search examiner should conduct any non-patent literature (NPL) search deemed necessary at the same time as the patent search is conducted. This is in line with expectations on search times.

The non-patent literature (agreed upon by the International Search Authority’s [ISA] and listed in the PCT Minimum Documentation) comprises periodicals specified in the list of periodicals established under PCT Rule 34.1(b)(iii). It also includes ‘Chemical Abstracts,’ where the publication date does not precede the date of the search by more than 5 years.

EPOQUE databases

The NPL databases Pubchem, Medline, XPTK (database of recent traditional knowledge) and INSPEC provided by EPOQUE have documents relating to chemistry, biotechnology, traditional knowledge, physics, electronics, etc. Consideration of the results of the search in these databases may require obtaining the full journal article. The examiner can obtain the journal article by an email request to the IP Australia Library.

Traditional Knowledge Digital Library

The TKDL (Traditional Knowledge Digital Library, India) database contains information on about 223,000 medicinal formulations, some of them dating back many centuries. It can be accessed via URL: http://www.tkdl.res.in/. Please note that TKDL is not available through EPOQUE.

STN databases

Chemistry searches are conducted using the STN collection of non-patent literature databases. The non-patent literature databases include Chemical Abstracts (CA, CAPLUS), Medline, Biosis and FSTA (Food Science and Technology Abstracts). Results from the search are retrieved in the form of abstracts from STN. Occasionally the Chemical Abstract result will refer to the printed form of the Chemical Abstract. The examiner can obtain the full journal article and/or printed form of the Chemical Abstract by an email request to the IP Australia Library.

Examiners should refer to authorised users of STN for assistance in constructing search strategies.

GenomeQuest databases

Biotechnology searches are conducted using the GenomeQuest collection of patent and non-patent literature databases. The non-patent literature databases include EMBL and NCBI. Consideration of the results of the search may require obtaining the full journal article. The journal article is obtained by an email request to the IP Australia Library.

Examiners should refer to authorised users of GenomeQuest for assistance in constructing search strategies.

See also

See also 4.4.3.3 Non-Patent Literature for further guidance on NPL searching.

Amended Reasons

Amended Reason Date Amended

Edited to improve readability and accessibility. Added On this Page links and simplified the language for consistency with the Style Manual. Added links to external websites where available.

Published for testing

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