Glossary

Abstract

A brief summary or description of the essential content from the source document.

Assignee

The individual(s) or corporate body to whom all or limited rights under a patent are legally transferred.

Broader Term

Broader terms are found in the Major Concepts search aid. They are known to be wider in scope than the one selected. Only the terms one level wider are given. If a term has multiple broader terms, then more than one hierarchy will appear. See also Narrower Term.

For FSTA

Broader terms are found in the FSTA Thesaurus. They are known to be wider in scope. For example, "electrical properties" is the broader term for electrical conductivity, electrical resistance, and other narrower terms.

If a term has broader terms, they will appear as broader terms. For example:

FLAVONOLS (Thesaurus Term)

ALCOHOLS (Broader Term)

FLAVONOIDS (Broader Term)

This tells us that ALCOHOLS is a more general term for FLAVONOLS. When searching the FSTA database, you might want to use ALCOHOLS rather than FLAVONOLS to get a wider search and more results. If ALCOHOLS has narrower terms, then those terms are shown as part of the entry for ALCOHOLS.

CAS Registry No.

The CAS Registry Number^® is a five-to-nine digit number assigned to chemicals mentioned in the source publication. Some chemicals may have multiple registry numbers.

Chemical Thesaurus

A controlled vocabulary of chemical and drug terms used to index documents for MEDLINE. Another name for the Chemical Thesaurus is Supplementary Concept Records. See also Chemical Thesaurus

Citation

A citation is a reference to an earlier patent (both US patents and foreign patents) or to previously published articles.

Citations are made by either the patent examiner, the inventor, or both. They are believed to be relevant prior art and may provide valuable background information on the development and importance of the patent.

Company Code

To standardize company names, Derwent assigns a unique four-letter code to approximately 21,000 companies worldwide.

Compound

A compound is a chemical substance formed by a union of two or more elements. For example, salt is a compound of sodium and chlorine because it is a distinct substance formed by the chemical union of two elements in definite proportion by weight.

Concept Code

Concept codes are five-digit codes representing broad subject areas in the life sciences as discussed in the source document, such as phylum, class, or family. A code is assigned for each organism type. A definition (concept heading) of the code follows the numeric code.

Data Set

A single or coherent set of data (or a data file) provided by the repository as part of a collection, data study, or experiment. These can be of multiple file formats such as spreadsheet, video, and audio. Data sets may have cited references or can be citable, but more commonly they inherit metadata of the overall study.

Example: Incident data

Data Study

A description of studies or experiments held in repositories with the associated data used in the data study. These are linked to a repository and may optionally link to Data Set records relating to the more granular data files. Data Studies can be a citable object in the literature and may have cited references attached in their metadata together with information on such aspects as the principal investigators, funding information, subject terms, geographic coverage, and other data. Examples of Data Studies include:

• Digital sky surveys in physics
• Population census in the social sciences
• Sea surface temperatures used in monitoring climate change
• Cultural artifacts found at archaeological sites

For example: Murder Cases in 33 Large Urban Counties in the United States, 1988

Derwent Chemistry Resource Number

A unique identifier assigned to specific chemical compounds in the Derwent Chemistry Resource database. The identifier forms a link between the compound database and the corresponding bibliographical records indexed in the Derwent World Patents Index^®.

Descriptor

Descriptors are terms that are currently used in indexing product records.

DOI (Digital Object Identifier)

The Digital Object Identifier (DOI^®) is a system for permanently identifying and exchanging intellectual property in the digital environment. It can be associated with an article, a book, a book chapter, a data study document, and other document types.

Example: DOI: 10.1134/S1061920808010020

See http://www.doi.org for more information.

DOI^® is a registered trademark of the International DOI Foundation.

Element

An element is one of 105 known substances that cannot be split by chemical means into simpler substances. For example, aluminum, sodium, and chlorine are elements.

European Patent Convention (EPC)

Nineteen European countries are parties to the European Patent Convention. A patent application filed under this convention will, when granted, usually automatically be effective in each of the countries designated by the applicant. The inventor, however, must still apply for patent protection in each of the member countries even though the EPO provides a standard procedure for the filing of patents.

Examiner

A patent office official who is appointed to determine the patentability of applications.

Explode

Explode expands a search to include medical subject headings subordinate to a specified subject heading.

FSTA Section

There are 20 FSTA sections in the FSTA index. They are basically broader terms (wider in scope than narrower terms). For example, Additives, spices and condiments is an FSTA Section. Under it falls the FSTA Subsections.

Note that the name of the FSTA Section is taken from the uppercase letter of the Accession Number.

Records under Section U (Standards, laws and regulations) and V (Patents) are available from 1969 to 1991. Keep this in mind when searching for patent records under these two sections.

FSTA Subsection

There are 130 subsections among the 20 FSTA sections. They are basically narrower terms that fall under a particular FSTA section. For example, the following FSTA Subsections fall under the FSTA Section called Additives, spices and condiments:

• Additives
• Condiments and Sauces
• General Aspects
• Patents
• Spices and essential oils
• Standards and legislation

Note that the name of the FSTA Subsection is taken from the lowercase letter of the Accession Number. FSTA Subsections came into use in 1999. Keep this in mind when searching for records by subsection.

FSTA Thesaurus

The FSTA Thesaurus is a search aid that contains approximately 9,000 terms. It features a hierarchical structure for simple searching that classifies terms as broader terms, narrower terms, and related terms.

History Note

History notes are found in the FSTA Thesaurus. They generally provide a history of the use of a thesaurus term in FSTA indexing. That is, the period of time used as a heading. For example, the history note for Chocolate Products reads: "heading from vol. 25 (1993); under Chocolate up to vol. 24 (1992)."

Holdings

Items in a library collection. For example, a library's online catalog would show whether the source publication is held in the library's collection.

Intellectual Property

Refers to creations of the mind such as inventions, trademarks, literary and artistic works, symbols, images, architectural designs, and so forth. Patents are one way of protecting intellectual property; copyrights and trademarks are other ways of protecting intellectual property.

ISBN

The International Standard Book Number is a unique identifier that identifies a work's national, geographic, or language, along with the publisher, title, edition, and volume number. The format is a 10-digit number that contains 3 hyphens (-). The last digit is a check character, which may be a number or X. The position of the hyphens can vary for each ISBN. Example: 2-7380-1000-8

ISSN

The International Standard Serial Number is a unique number that identifies the source publication. The format is four numbers, a hyphen (-), three numbers, and then a check character that may be a number or X. Example: 0002-9262

Keywords

Keywords are words or phrases that describe the content of an article. They are provided by the author(s) of the source article. They are taken directly from source article and are identified as keywords in the source articles.

Keywords Plus

KeyWords Plus^® are index terms automatically generated from the titles of cited articles. These4”/;p9 terms must appear more than once in the bibliography and are ordered from multi-word phrases to single terms. KeyWords Plus augments traditional keyword or title retrieval.

Major Topic

Medical subject headings that describe the main point or topic of an article are designated as major topics.

Map

Mapping matches a term that you know to one or more subject headings in the MeSH Thesaurus.

Marked List

A list of records that you marked from either the Results page or the Full Record page. Once you add records to the Marked List, you can later print, save, email, order, or export some or all of those records. You have the option to select records from the Total Records table to output or you can select records from a specific product database.

MeSH

MeSH (Medical Subject Headings) is a controlled vocabulary of biomedical terms used for indexing documents in MEDLINE. MeSH was developed and is maintained by the National Library of Medicine, the producer of MEDLINE. See also MeSH Thesaurus

Narrower Term

Narrower terms are found in the Major Concepts search aid. They are generally terms that are more focused in scope. Only the terms one level narrower are given. If a term has multiple broader terms, all narrower terms may not necessarily be in the same branch of the hierarchy. See also Broader Term.

For FSTA

Narrower terms are found in the FSTA Thesaurus. They are generally terms that are more focused in scope. For example, electrical conductivity is one of several narrower terms for electrical properties, which is a broader term. A term such as fluorescence may include broader terms, narrower terms, and related terms.

Non-descriptor

Non-descriptors are terms that were used in the past but are no longer used for indexing in the FSTA Thesaurus. Each non-descriptor has one or more USE clauses that specifies which term should now be used. For example, conductivity is a non-descriptor. If you search on conductivity in the thesaurus, the product displays electrical conductivity, thermal conductivity, and specific conductivity as the appropriate terms to use in your search query.

Generally, non-descriptors appear in the FSTA Thesaurus in mixed case while descriptors are in all uppercase. However, there are some uppercase non-descriptors. Therefore, to distinguish the two types: If there is a USE clause, the entry is a non-descriptor; otherwise it is a term

Terms may contain the following to represent a Greek letter:

• <ALPHA>
• <BETA>
• <GAMMA>
• <DELTA>
• <KAPPA>
• <OMEGA>

Note that non-descriptors might have lower case versions of these letters, as in:

Endo-1,3-<beta>-xylanases

USE XYLAN ENDO-1,3-<BETA>-XYLOSIDASES

Novel

New or original. That is, the invention must never have been made public in any way, anywhere, before the date on which the application for a patent is filed.

Obviousness

The concept that the claims defining an invention in a patent application must involve an inventive step if, when compared with what is already known, that is prior art, it would not be obvious to someone skilled in the art.

Patent

A patent is a document that defines the rights conferred by law to an inventor of a published specification. The inventor has the exclusive right to make use of and exploit the invention for a limited period of time. A patent must be obtained in each country where patent protection is sought.

Patents are a form of intellectual property protection. They should not be confused with trademarks, servicemarks, and copyrighted material, which are other forms of protection of intellectual property.

Patent Assignee

The individual(s) or corporate body to whom all or limited rights of a patent are legally transferred.

Patent Date Granted

The Patent Date Granted is the date found on the cover of the issue of the Official Gazette of the United States Patent and Trademark Office Patents from which the source patent was taken. In records published before 2001, the month is abbreviated.

Patent Family

A patent family is a set of individual patents granted by various countries. Think of a patent family as all the equivalent patent applications corresponding to a single invention, covering different geographical regions.

As applications are made for patents of an invention in countries around the world, Derwent links these patents together into a patent family structure. Derwent then tracks the development of the patents, indexing all updates received from the various international patent authorities.

Patent-Issuing Authority

Any country or organization with the authority and the power to issue patents.

Patent Number

A patent number is a unique identifier of a patent that is assigned to each patent document by the patent-issuing authority. It includes a two-character country code identifying the publishing authority, followed by a serial number (up to 10 characters). Example: US 6569107

Patent numbers are assigned to each patent document by the patent-issuing authority. Derwent inputs the two-character WIPO country code of the publishing country, followed by the serial number (up to 10 characters), and a status code indicating the document type or publication stage.

Preferred Term

Preferred terms are found in the Inspec Thesaurus. They are controlled terms to be used in place of the thesaurus term.

Previous Indexing

In the details about a MeSH heading, Previous Indexing refers to other subject headings that were used to represent the same concept in past years of MEDLINE.

Primary Accession Number (PAN)

A unique identification number assigned by Derwent to the first patent in each patent family, and therefore to the record created for that family. The format of each accession number is yyyy-Lnnnnn, where yyyy is a four-digit year, L is an alphabetic character, and nnnnn is a five-digit assigned number. Example: 2008-F11138

Prior Art

Previously used or published technology that may be referred to in a patent application or an examination report. More information?

Prior Term

They are controlled terms related to the thesaurus term that were (and may still be) in use before the date of input of the thesaurus term.

Priority Application Information and Date

Under the right of priority provision of the Paris Convention an application may be filed in one or more contracting states or countries within 12 months of the first application. In this case the original application number becomes the priority application number and the original application date becomes the priority application date.

Qualifier

Qualifiers, also known as subheadings, are controlled terms that qualify or add context to subject headings. Qualifiers are found in the MeSH Thesaurus along with subject headings.

Related Classification Code

Related classification terms are found in the Inspec Thesaurus. They are related to the thesaurus term.

Related Term

Related terms are found in the Major Concepts search aid. They are generally terms that have a close conceptual relationship to a Concept Code, but they are not synonymous. Related Terms may be added to a search query.

Repository

A database or collection of records that stores and provides access to the data from Data Studies and Data Sets.

The records in the Data Citation Index provide access to the material held in repositories. Repositories can be a citable object in the literature and many have cited and citing references attached in their metadata (e.g., Interuniversity Consortium for Political & Social Research (ICPSR))

Scope Notes

Scope notes are found in the Concept Codes and Major Concepts search aids. They generally describe how a term or code is used or provide historical information about its use.

Search Aid

Search aids are tools that allow you to select predefined names, terms, or codes and automatically add them with the appropriate syntax to a search query. Search aids allow you to quickly and easily achieve consistent search results.

Set Combination

A set combination consists of two or more set numbers that you can run as a unique search query. For example, #1 AND #3 combines the results of set 1 and set 3 to form a single query. Set numbers appear under the Set column in the Search History table.

You can also enter a single set number alone to refresh the results of a previous search. In this instance, you may also want to change the timespan, languages, document types, literature types, and Taxa Notes.

Shared References

hared references are cited references that are shared between two documents. At the top of the page are the two Related Records. Both cite all of the references on the Shared References list.

Source Document

An article, patent, book, or other work represented by a record in the product database. May also be referred to as "source publication" or "source record.”

Subject Heading

A controlled term from the MeSH Thesaurus used to index articles in MEDLINE. See also MeSH Thesaurus

Taxonomy

A system for naming and organizing plants and animals into groups that share similar qualities.

Term

Terms are keywords that are used to index records. A keyword can be a single word or several words. For example, enzyme is a term.

Thesaurus Term

Thesaurus terms are controlled terms (or keywords) that are used by the International Food Information Service (IFIS) to index records. A thesaurus term can be a single word or several words. For example, fermented cream is a thesaurus term. When entered in the Descriptors field, thesaurus terms are used to search the Headings and Keywords fields within a record.

Top Term

Top terms are found in the Inspec Thesaurus. They are controlled terms at the highest level of the thesaurus hierarchy. The thesaurus term is subordinate to these terms.

USE

USE terms are found in the FSTA Thesaurus. They generally indicate which descriptor (that is, thesaurus term) to use instead of the non-descriptor in question.

Used For

Used For terms are found in the FSTA Thesaurus page. They generally indicate non-descriptors (that is, non-preferred terms) for which the descriptor (the preferred thesaurus term) should be used.

Useful

The concept that the claims defining the invention are fit for some desirable, practical, or commercial purpose. It must have some utilitarian value.

US Patent Class

The US Patent Class contains the class and subclass numbers of the United States Patent Classification Scheme that has been assigned to the source patent by the US Patent Office. They are of variable length and may include numeric characters, alphabetic characters, embedded punctuation, and spacing. They appear in patent records dating from 1986 to the present.

For more information, go to United States Patent and Trademark Office Web site.

World Intellectual Property Organization

The World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) is an international organization dedicated to promoting the use and protection of intellectual property.