Free Patent Search Training

The need for a Free Patent Search Training course is very intense around the world. State of the art Patent Search is becoming an important function of all Research and Development centers across the world. The reason is simple. The European Union estimates that about 20 billion Euros are spent every year in Europe alone trying to research and find out inventions that are already patented.

If some invention is already patented how the researchers who are specialists in their chosen fields do not know this is a good question that can be easily answered. The world has about forty-five Million Patent Documents and not all are available in the same language and not all are available online. And most importantly only two per cent of the patents granted go in to commercial exploitation and so the very knowledge that some thing is patented will not be available unless a through and intensive patent search that covers all world databases is done.

This is again a difficult task as the patent documents are not available in one database. The largest Patent issuing authority in the world is the United States Patent and Trademark Office that has about 33 million patents issued from 1790 onwards in its database. But you can search through the database only from the year 1976 using free search queries as you may make with Google. And for Pre 1976 Patents, you need to search either with the exact number of the patent application or you need to search the US class that applies. Alternatively you can use expensive patent databases where depending on your subscription and the database selected, you are billed for the search and for viewing the results separately. If you want to look at just Five hundred patent documents, which is quite normal your costs will shoot up dramatically and many in the developing world cannot afford the luxury of all this.

http://www.articlegeek.com/business/management_articles/free_patent_search_training.htm

Achieving Competitive Advantage through Collaboration with Key Customers and Suppliers

An Evolving Operational Focus
In the past when companies pondered corporate strategy, operations had been peripheral to the discussion. Operations were considered a technical matter with one way of doing things and therefore not, strategic. Strategy is about products, markets, and competitive advantage with divergent possibilities.

Operations were seen as a series of puzzles with single best solutions. The realization that optimization of parts did not optimize the whole led to new focus - operational management went up a level from looking at individual tasks to looking at whole processes. During the 1960s, Japanese manufactures obtained competitive advantage by optimizing operational efficiency, which meant lower prices, flexible production capabilities and a reduction in lead times. Operational considerations became a key theme in strategic discussions.

During the 1990s, companies like Dell took this further. The computer market was changing faster than any other market had done in history. Dell began managing operations by synchronizing functional activity into a single corporate heartbeat. An order instantly drove procurement, which drove production and then distribution. The result was a further drop in lead times, inventory requirements, and operating costs along with flexibility. Operational efficiency was Dell's sole source of competitive advantage and it reaped enormous market share gains.

Don Johnston is a consultant with the REL Consultancy Group www.relconsult.com

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