Patents: untapped sources of technical information

Summary form only given. The author has considered the importance of patent information, the types of information available, and how a technology manager can use this information to benefit the company. It is noted that patent information can guard against infringement of other companies' patents, and speed up, reduce the cost of, and generally improve the product-development effort. US, and foreign patents are an important source of detailed technical information that can be used for diverse purposes including compiling competitor information, performing state-of-the-art searches, tracking technology, and solving problems without reinventing the wheel. The amount of patent literature that can be searched efficiently and easily is constantly increasing. Several commercial databases offering US and foreign patents have been examined. The Patent Office's Official Gazette is another source of information on patents.<>