مراکز PATLIB منطقه ای به عنوان ارائه دهندگان سرویس یکپارچه یک مرحله ای برای خدمات مالکیت معنوی

Exemplifying the case of PATON, a large patent information centre in Germany, this paper describes a wide range of services PATLIB centres can offer today. The expansion of its scope of products and services beyond classical patent information in order to become a regional patent centre is also described. The paper further argues that PATLIB centres can benefit from an increasing demand of patent statistics, a tendency PATON responded to with the development of its own in-house software tool, and deliver complex patent and literature analyses one-stop to create value for firms.

More than 300 PATLIB centres are spread throughout the member states of the European Patent Convention. Their primary goal is to provide access to patent information for small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), independent inventors, as well as academics. There are many centres offering not only patent information but also a portfolio of products and services related to intellectual property like search services, legal advice through patent attorneys, etc. [1] and [2]. However, there are still more opportunities that PATLIB centres can implement to broaden their spectrum of activities. For PATON, one of the largest patent information centres in Germany located at the Technical University of Ilmenau, it is shown how activities were expanded beyond the scope exemplified above to become an integrated one-stop service provider for intellectual property services. Furthermore, it is argued that offering value-added services such as patent analyses and statistics might be a seminal service opportunity for PATLIB centres.

There are several ways for PATLIB centres to expand their services around their core activity, namely, providing patent information. It was shown how PATON groups its services around SMEs and independent as well as academic inventors in the region. Furthermore, several perspectives were laid out as to how PATLIB centres can foster their activities related to patent statistics to create more value for new and existing customers.