Patent Information on the Internet

Stephen R. Heller
USDA, ARS
Beltsville, MD 20705
(srheller@gig.usda.gov)

Patents are to companies as scientific publications are to universities researchers. They are the lifeblood of the operation. As patents have been more important and critical to the financial success of a company and not the technical success of an individual, they are often neglected or given minimal time in chemical information courses. In addition, searching patents tends to be more expensive than searching for other types of chemical information, as patents are searched for by patents departments. These patent departments tend to be staffed by lawyers and the financial concerns about getting and/or infringing (violating) as patent have allowed providers of this information to make this a high cost item.

While there are a number of excellent sources of patent information available on the popular online information services such as DIALOG, STN, and Questel-Orbit, only Questel-Orbit has made some of this information available at no cost. Even better than this, are the web sites of all US patent data since 1976 made available by the US Patent Office . The International Business Corporation (IBM) has recently made available all US patents from 1971 on its web site. This article will describe only the QPAT and IBM Internet sites.

QPAT

The QPAT-US database is a fully searchable, primarily fee-based, Internet-based database of over 1.8 million full-text U.S. patents. It has a graphical user interface and the ability to support both boolean and natural language queries. By offering a very rich set of search tools (boolean operators, left, right and internal truncation, set manipulation, query expansion advisors and several types of proximity operators), QPAT-US offers users powerful search capabilities. QPAT-US is able to serve many different market needs because of the content it offers - the full text of U.S. patents. The patents contained in QPAT-US are an unmatched source for technical information and are distinct from every other type of scientific literature. Unlike a journal article discussing matters of scientific principles, a patent provides an explicit "recipe" for a given technology. It is not enough for a patent to merely list the ingredients of a technical application or the scientific principles involved. To be granted, a patent must disclose sufficient information such that anyone "skilled in the art" would be able to replicate that invention exactly. The legal requirement imposed on patents for explicitness and detail results in a literature that is remarkably rich and useful.

For the industrial researcher, QPAT-US offers invaluable competitive intelligence and market knowledge. Often, examining a competitor's patents will provide in-depth and comprehensive information about strategies, production costs and product limitations. In a more general sense, examining patent information for a given industry will highlight important trends and directions within the industry. A further, and invaluable, use of patent information is to evaluate the patenting viability of a particular research effort. Taking advantage of the dynamic hypertext capabilities supported by the WWW, QPAT-US performs on-the-fly hyper text markup language (HTML) markup of search results and provides hypertext links within patent documents allowing the user to jump from one occurrence of a found term to the other.

A QPAT-US search result presents a HTML document that guides the user directly to the most relevant parts of the document as defined by the user. QPAT-US is the only patent database in the world that provides this powerful, innovative and invaluable feature. Also, in contrast to traditional online distribution practices, Questel-Orbit continues to provide a useful subset of the QPAT-US database for no charge. QPAT-US allows free, unlimited search and retrieval of all of the 1.8 million plus patent abstracts and bibliographic information it contains. To get more than the abstracts one needs to be a subscriber to the QPAT service. Qpat is available for unlimited search and retrieval for a flat fee of $195 per month.

While the above description of QPAT-US covers some of the properties and capabilities of the database and search software, examples are always the best way to show something. In this particular case, with the ability of the WWW version of this paper to have hyperlinks built in, it seems best to show directly how one can use the system. In the example which follows, one sees how easy it is to get free access to the QPAT-US abstracts database, perform a simple search, and see the results. The search in this example (and the search of the IBM patent database) is for patents about mass spectrometry. Owing to the need to register and logon to the QPAT system, some of the search hyperlinks will not work, but the links are shown here to properly represent what the system looks like to the user. The free QPAT searches shown here in this manuscript are only from the free sub-set of the full QPAT database.

Easy Enough for an End User,
Powerful Enough for a Patent Professional-
Priced to Meet the Needs of Both.

After registering online, one logs on and gets directly to the search query web page:

Last Query: 13:12 EST 05/05/97 (18:12 GMT)

Default View: Abstract

Front Page

S1: 20530 documents found (1-50 returned)

   
Score Patent

   326 US3801788  MASS MARKING FOR SPECTROMETRY USING PROGRAMMED MOLECULE CLUSTERS
   318 US3814936  MASS SPECTROMETERS AND MASS SPECTROMETRY
   316 US3800151  METHOD FOR ADJUSTING THE ION BEAM HEIGHT IN A MASS SPECTROMETER
   316 US3796872  MASS SPECTROMETRY
   314 US4377745  Mass spectrometer for chemical ionization, electron impact io...
   312 US4472631  Combination of time resolution and mass dispersive techniques...
   310 US4785172  Secondary ion mass spectrometry system and method for focused...
   310 US4778993  Time-of-flight mass spectrometry
   309 US4731533  Method and apparatus for dissociating ions by electron impact
   309 US3935453  Quadrupole field mass analyser
   308 US5616918  Plasma ion mass spectrometer and plasma mass spectrometry usi...
   308 US4705616  Electrophoresis-mass spectrometry probe
   308 US4224031  CI Mass spectrometric analysis of physiologically active comp...
   308 US4140905  Laser-induced mass spectrometry
   307 US5148021  Mass spectrometer using plasma ion source
   306 US4952803  Mass Spectrometry/mass spectrometry instrument having a doubl...
   306 US4701419  Analysis of polymeric protein and protein products
   306 US4645929  Method and apparatus for the compensation of charges in secon...
   306 US4529879  Process for the determination of isotopes by mass spectrometry
   306 US4489237  Method of broad band mass spectrometry and apparatus therefor
   306 US4283626  Methods and apparatus for analysis of mixtures by mass spectr...
   306 US4105916  Methods and apparatus for simultaneously producing and electr...
   306 US3950641  Methods of mass spectrometry and mass spectrometers
   306 US3922544  Device for separation of sputtered neutrals and high energy i...
   305 US5449905  Method for generating filtered noise signal and broadband sig...
   305 US5256875  Method for generating filtered noise signal and broadband sig...
   305 US4442354  Sputter initiated resonance ionization spectrometry
   304 US5623144  Mass spectrometer ring-shaped electrode having high ion selec...
   304 US5547835  DNA sequencing by mass spectrometry
   304 US4769542  Charged particle energy analyzer
   304 US4766313  Apparatus for quantitative secondary ion mass spectrometry
   304 US4730111  Ion vapor source for mass spectrometry of liquids
   304 US4701324  Novel cell-cidal antibiotic 82-85-8A and its production
   304 US4633082  Process for measuring degradation of sulfur hexafluoride in h...
   304 US4613755  Method of mass spectrometry
   304 US4296322  Method for analyzing organic substances
   304 US4005291  Ionization method for mass spectrometry
   304 US3997298  Liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry system and method
   304 US3936532  Activation of thin wire emitters for field ionization/field d...
   303 US5208457  Method of secondary ion mass spectrometry analysis
   303 US5180914  Mass spectrometry systems
   302 US5545895  Method of standardizing data obtained through mass spectrometry
   302 US5381007  Mass spectrometry method with two applied trapping fields hav...
   302 US5200613  Mass spectrometry method using supplemental AC voltage signals
   302 US5173604  Mass spectrometry method with non-consecutive mass order scan
   302 US5159194  Method and apparatus for mass spectrometry
   302 
US5078135  Apparatus for in vivo analysis of biological compounds in blo...
   302 US5051583  Atmospheric pressure ionization type mass spectrometer
   302 US4999492  Inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry apparatus
   302 US4945236  Direct imaging type SIMS instrument having TOF mass spectrome...

Of the above patents I have chosen one (which has also been found in the IBM patent database search below) to print out the details of the patent record. In this case it is for US Patent #5616918.

S1: 11 of 20,530

US5616918 Plasma ion mass spectrometer and plasma mass spectrometry using the same

United States Patent

Patent Number: US5616918

Oishi; Konosuke, et. al.

Date of Patent: Apr. 1, 1997

PLASMA ION MASS SPECTROMETER AND PLASMA MASS SPECTROMETRY USING THE SAME

Inventors:

Oishi; Konosuke (Mito, JP)
Okumoto; Toyoharu (Hitachinaka, JP)
Tsukada; Masamichi (Higashi, JP)
Iino; Takashi (Hitachinaka, JP)

Assignee:

Hitachi, Ltd. (Tokyo, JP; Assignee type: Foreign Company or Corporation)

Appl. Number: 95US-539258
Filed: Oct. 5, 1995

Foreign Application Priority Data

Oct. 11, 1994 JP..................................94JP-6-245039

Int. Cl.-6

6-H01J-049-0006

U.S. Cl.

250288000

Field of Search

250288000, 25028800A, 250281000, 250282000, 250290000, 250291000, 250292000

References Cited

U.S. PATENT DOCUMENTS

US4540884     9/1985  Stafford et al..............250282000
US4955717     9/1990  Henderson...................250288000
US5179278     1/1993  Douglas.....................250292000
US5481107     1/1996  Takada et al................250288000

OTHER PUBLICATIONS

Spectrochimica ACTA., vol. 49B, No. 9, pp. 901-914 Konosuke Oishi et al.: Elemental Mass Spectrometry Using a Nitrogen Microwave-induced Plasma as an Ion Source, May 1994.

Primary Examiner - Berman; Jack I.
Assistant Examiner - Nguyen; Kiet T.
Attorney, Agent, or Firm - Kenyon & Kenyon

ABSTRACT

A plasma ion mass spectrometer capable of improving detection accuracy in mass spectrometry by reducing background noise due to ultraviolet radiation and neutral particles, and a plasma ion mass spectrometry using the same. A sample is ionized with plasma in a plasma generating portion. The flow of the ionized sample is shielded by a shield plate after an elapse of a specified time, and ions of the sample accumulated before the shielding is held in an ion trap type mass spectrometric portion for a specified time. The ions of the sample held for the specified time are then subjected to mass spectrometry. During ions of the sample accumulated before the shielding are held, ultraviolet radiation mixed with the ions of the sample disappears, and thereby only ions of the sample can be subjected to mass spectrometry. As a result, background noise is reduced, to improve detection accuracy in mass spectrometry.

16 Claims, 13 Drawing Figures

* * * * *

The IBM Patent Server

The second Internet patent site to be described in this article is one which IBM, the computer manufacturer, has made available to the public at no cost. It is believed IBM is doing this as a general marketing tool and to show the power of its search software for this large database. Whatever the motives and reasons are, the chemical community is benefitting from this web site. This site provides the ability to search patents from the IBM files back to the beginning of January 1971. Images from the patents are available from 1980 onwards. The database of patents comes from IBM's Research Division and is the same database which chemists and patents lawyers at IBM use in their everyday patent work.

Searching can be done by keywords, patent number, inventor, assignee, title, abstract, claim, and agent. It is also possible to do a keyword search "any field" of data or information. Boolean logic is also part of the search capability. There is an advanced search capability which allows one to easily do a combined search for information from different search fields. To test out the system the same search performed on QPAT was done on the IBM patent server, as shown below.

Home
Help
Search
Order Form
Guestbook
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IBM

elcome to the IBM Patent Server. With this World Wide Web server, IBM lets you access over 26 years of U.S. Patent & Trademark Office (USPTO) patent descriptions as well as the last seventeen years of images. The first entries date back to January 5, 1971. You can search, retrieve and study over two million patents. There are What's New? and FAQ pages, as well as information on the interesting history and background of this site and a patent Resource Page.
New - Resource Page added. Images updated to April 29th.

1995-present     1971-present

Enter search words, e.g. elevator, robot, twin-engine, Smith John, bee culture

   Patent Number Search  |   Boolean Text Search  |   Advanced Text Search

Human ingenuity is unbounded. In the search for a better mousetrap, lawn mower, or golf cart, inventors come up with some pretty bizarre solutions. For a taste of the strange and wonderful, try the

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Search Results
Query: ( (mass spectrometry) )
741 patents, out of a total of 2104127 patents, matched your query. The 50 most relevant ones are displayed below. Click on a patent number to view the details of a patent. Select the check boxes of patents you wish to order by fax or mail and then click on the Order button at the bottom.

5625184 Time-of-flight mass spectrometry analysis of biomolecules 100%

5622824 DNA sequencing by mass spectrometry via exonuclease degradation 100%

5616918 Plasma ion mass spectrometer and plasma mass spectrometry using the same 100%

5614711 Time-of-flight mass spectrometer 100%

5580434 Interface apparatus for capillary electrophoresis to a matrix-assisted-laser-desorption-ionization mass spectrometer 100%

5572025 Method and apparatus for scanning an ion trap mass spectrometer in the resonance ejection mode 100%

5547835 DNA sequencing by mass spectrometry 100%

5470753 Peptide sequencing using mass spectrometry 100%

5451782 Mass spectometry method with applied signal having off-resonance frequency 100%

5449905 Method for generating filtered noise signal and broadband signal having reduced dynamic range for use in mass spectrometry 100%

5382793 Laser desorption ionization mass monitor (LDIM) 100%

5381007 Mass spectrometry method with two applied trapping fields having same spatial form 100%

5180914 Mass spectrometry systems 100%

5171987 Combined magnetic sector mass spectrometer and time-of-flight mass spectrometer 100%

5041725 Secondary ion mass spectrometry apparatus 100%

5008537 Composite apparatus with secondary ion mass spectrometry instrument and scanning electron microscope 100%

4931640 Mass spectrometer with reduced static electric field 100%

4785172 Secondary ion mass spectrometry system and method for focused ion beam with parallel ion detection 100%

4472631 Combination of time resolution and mass dispersive techniques in mass spectrometry 100%

5543170 Desorption mass spectrometric control of alloy composition during molecular beam epitaxy 99%

5464975 Method and apparatus for charged particle collection, conversion, fragmentation or detection 99%

5399857 Method and apparatus for trapping ions by increasing trapping voltage during ion introduction 99%

5256875 Method for generating filtered noise signal and broadband signal having reduced dynamic range for use in mass spectrometry 99%

5248875 Method for increased resolution in tandem mass spectrometry 99%

5210412 Method for analyzing an organic sample 99%

5148021 Mass spectrometer using plasma ion source 99%

4959543 Method and apparatus for acceleration and detection of ions in an ion cyclotron resonance cell 99%

5538897 Use of mass spectrometry fragmentation patterns of peptides to identify amino acid sequences in databases 98%

5274233 Mass spectrometry method using supplemental AC voltage signals 98%

5248882 Method and apparatus for providing tailored excitation as in Fourier transform mass spectrometry 98%

5168158 Linear electric field mass spectrometry 98%

5087815 High resolution mass spectrometry of recoiled ions for isotopic and trace elemental analysis 98%

5073713 Detection method for dissociation of multiple-charged ions 98%

4835383 High mass ion detection system and method 98%

5623144 Mass spectrometer ring-shaped electrode having high ion selection efficiency and mass spectrometry method thereby 97%

5561291 Mass spectrometry method with two applied quadrupole fields 97%

5436445 Mass spectrometry method with two applied trapping fields having same spatial form 97%

5308978 Method of preparing a sample for analysis 97%

5281538 Method of preparing a sample for analysis by laser desorption mass spectrometry 97%

5278407 Secondary-ion mass spectrometry apparatus using field limiting method 97%

5260571 Method of preparing a sample for analysis 97%

5202563 Tandem time-of-flight mass spectrometer 97%

5200613 Mass spectrometry method using supplemental AC voltage signals 97%

5196699 Chemical ionization mass spectrometry method using notch filter 97%

5144127 Surface induced dissociation with reflectron time-of-flight mass spectrometry 97%

5134286 Mass spectrometry method using notch filter 97%

5047636 Linear prediction ion cyclotron resonance spectrometry apparatus and method 97%

5045694 Instrument and method for the laser desorption of ions in mass spectrometry 97%

4931639 Multiplication measurement of ion mass spectra 97%

4902627 Method for detecting amine-containing drugs in body fluids by sims 97%

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5616918 : Plasma ion mass spectrometer and plasma mass spectrometry using the same

INVENTORS: Oishi; Konosuke, Mito, Japan
Okumoto; Toyoharu, Hitachinaka, Japan
Tsukada; Masamichi, Higashi, Japan
Iino; Takashi, Hitachinaka, Japan

ASSIGNEES: Hitachi, Ltd., Tokyo, Japan

ISSUED: Apr. 1 , 1997 FILED: Oct. 5 , 1995

SERIAL NUMBER: 539258 FEE STATUS:

INTL. CLASS (Ed. 6): H01J 49/06;

U.S. CLASS: 250-288; 250-281; 250-282;

FIELD OF SEARCH: 250-288,288 A,281,282,290,291,292 ;

AGENTS: Kenyon & Kenyon;

ABSTRACT:   A plasma ion mass spectrometer capable of improving detection accuracy in mass spectrometry by reducing background noise due to ultraviolet radiation and neutral particles, and a plasma ion mass spectrometry using the same. A sample is ionized with plasma in a plasma generating portion. The flow of the ionized sample is shielded by a shield plate after an elapse of a specified time, and ions of the sample accumulated before the shielding is held in an ion trap type mass spectrometric portion for a specifi ed time. The ions of the sample held for the specified time are then subjected to mass spectrometry. During ions of the sample accumulated before the shielding are held, ultraviolet radiation mixed with the ions of the sample disappears, and thereby only ions of the sample can be subjected to mass spectrometry. As a result, background noise is reduced, to improve detection accuracy in mass spectrometry.

U.S. REFERENCES:

Patent No. Patentee Issue Date

4955717 Henderson Sep. 1 , 1990

4540884 Stafford et al. Sep. 1 , 1985

5481107 Takada et al. Jan. 1 , 1996

5179278 Douglas Jan. 1 , 1993

No patents reference this one

16 CLAIMS: First Claim Shown (Show all claims)

We claim:

1. In a plasma ion mass spectrometer comprising:

a plasma ion source for ionizing a sample with a plasma; and

a mass spectrometric portion for performing mass spectrometry for said ionized sample;

the improvement comprising:

a shielding device for shielding the flow of said ionized sample from said plasma ion source after an elapse of a specified time; and

a holding device for holding, ions of said sample accumulated before shielding the flow of said ionized sample, for a specified time after shielding the flow of said ionized sample;

thereby performing mass spectrometry for said ions of said sample held in said holding device.

RELATED U.S. APPLICATIONS: none

FOREIGN APPLICATION PRIORITY DATA:

Application No. Country Date

6-245039 Japan Oct. 11, 1994

FOREIGN REFERENCES: none
OTHER REFERENCES:

Spectrochimica ACTA., vol. 49B, No. 9, pp. 901-914 Konosuke Oishi et al.: Elemental Mass Spectrometry Using a Nitrogen Microwave-induced Plasma as an Ion Source, May 1994.
PRIMARY/ASSISTANT EXAMINERS: Berman; Jack I.; Nguyen; Kiet T.
ADDED TO DATABASE: Apr. 2 , 1997

Patent Number Search  |   Boolean Text Search   |   Advanced Text Search

In summary, these two services are both easy to use and useful. Looking at the two outputs of this patent by Oishi, Konosuke, et. al, the basic information, including the abstract is the same. The main general difference between these two systems is that the free IBM database of all US patents back to 1971 is much larger than the free QPAT file while the QPAT system has more search features. For a first search of the patent literature either of these two are worth looking at.