Newly Launched Patent Database Opens Free Search Access to IBM's Open Source Software Patent Collection
PatentCafe's Natural Language Based OSS Patent Search Engine Accelerates Software Developers' Use of IBM's 500 Pledged Patents. Freely accessible by the entire OSS community, PatentCafe's Open Source Software Patent Search Engine adds significant value to IBM's contribution by accelerating the integration of IBM's patented technology into the marketplace, helping to foster worldwide interoperability standards.
Yuba City, CA (PRWEB) February 1, 2005 -- Initially populated with IBMs 500 pledged software patents, PatentCafe today announced the opening of its Open Source Software (OSS) Patent Search Engine devoted entirely to worldwide search access of OSS patents. Now, through PatentCafe's new OSS Patent Search Engine (http://www.IAMcafe.com) software developers can search this important collection of OSS patents, and find the patents most related to their software projects.
On January 11, 2005, IBM pledged open access to key innovations covered by 500 IBM software patents to people and groups working on open source software that meet the Open Source Initiative. This means that qualifying software developers can now develop their OSS software without fear of IBM asserting these patents against them.
According to PatentCafe CEO Andy Gibbs, as important as IBM's patent contribution is to the Open Source Software community, the profound economic and product impact on the software industry will be realized when OSS developers begin delivering programs built on IBM's patents. First, they must identify the single best patent to use for their software programs. Smart searching further helps establish the freedom to operate for their own OSS based software innovations. That's where the PatentCafe OSS Patent Search Engine comes into play.
The Benefits of PatentCafe's Patent Search Engine:
Because of the complexity of patent documents, searching patents has historically been the domain of skilled patent searchers. The OSS Patent Search Engine is a vital component to making software patents accessible to software developers since searchers can use natural language search queries describe the concept of the software functions they are looking for.
The advanced Latent Semantic Analysis search engine technology then automatically creates a hierarchical list of results with the most relevant patents ranked first. PDF copies of all 500 patents are available online for a nominal fee.
Freely accessible by the entire OSS community, PatentCafe's Patent Search Engine adds significant commercial value to IBMs contribution by accelerating the integration of IBMs patented technology into the marketplace, helping to foster worldwide interoperability standards.
Many software terms and industry jargon change over time, making patents very difficult to find because search keywords often don't exactly match words contained in the older patents. For instance, the term business method" was not a widely used term found in patents during the early 1990s. Traditional Boolean searching for business method" will therefore miss many applicable patents that dont contain that exact phrase.
PatentCafe's semantic analysis search engine has indexed the concepts of all 500 patents. The engine understands that business method" may also refer to a system that does...", or a process that results in...", and identifies the most relevant IBM patents even if they do not contain the words used in the search query.
Developers still need to remain vigilant even if using the information in a pledged IBM patent. Their software programs written to take advantage of the safe harbor" of an IBM pledged patent could still be found to infringe a different companys patent.
Will PatentCafe's OSS Patent Search Engine ever contain more than IBMs 500 patents? Gibbs only says: IBM primed the pump; time will tell whether it leads to a flood".
About PatentCafe
PatentCafe.com, Inc. is a privately held provider of intellectual property management resources and advanced patent research solutions. Its web properties include ICO Global Patent Search Engine, containing over 23 million patents, one of the world's top 3 patent databases, and IPFrontline.com, the intellectual property & technology magazine. The company's web-based solutions are used by leading Fortune 500 technology innovators and patent law firms for competitive patent research, infringement litigation strategy and compliance with Sarbanes-Oxley and FASB 142 mandates. The company publishes the weekly IP200 lists of top patent law firms and corporate patent leaders, and tracks patent trends in 14 industry segments.
www.IAMCafe.com - Patent Search Engine and Management Solution for Enterprise
www.IPFrontline.com - Intellectual Property & Technology Magazine
For more information, or to arrange interviews, please contact:
Todd Brabender
Spread The News Public Relations, Inc.
785.842.8909 / todd@spreadthenewspr.com
Kevin Cooksy
VP Corporate Development
Email: kcooksy@patentcafe.com
Direct: 916-337-2975
Andy Gibbs
Chief Executive Officer
Email: ag@patentcafe.com
Assistant: 530-671-0200 Ext. 203
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