The head of EIP Search, Andrew Samm, recently attended Search Matters 2011, which is aimed at broadening knowledge among experienced patent search professionals.
The two-day seminar organised by the European Patent Academy was held at the EPO headquarters in The Hague on 14-15 March. Lectures and workshops were given by EPO staff, including patent examiners working in a variety of technical fields.
The lectures gave attendees the latest developments in patent classification, search tools and documentation. Topics included EPO search tools, free patent searching in web sources, crowdsourcing for patent validity, and the new look for Espacenet.
They were complemented by a broad range of workshops, presented by EPO experts, on search strategies and the state of the art in particular technological fields, such as telecommunications, computing, genetics and biotechnology.
Andrew said: “Events such as Search Matters are a useful way to keep patent search professionals at the forefront of developments in patent classification and searching tools, and keep knowledge fresh.”