Integration of public patent libraries into existing SME advisory structures, and the resulting new range of services

This article describes the new contact arrangements that have been made with selected partners since the Swiss Federal Institute for Intellectual Property closed all patent documentation centers in 1999. All of the partners have an existing range of services available to SMEs and/or universities in non-patent consultancy areas. A contractual relationship, similar to a franchising arrangement, has been set up with the partners, the Institute taking responsibility for basic and further training on intellectual property issues, for hardware and software, and for marketing, while the partners are required to provide an advisory service and mediate in search requests. New products linking patent data and market data, developed by the Institute, are also described. These products provide more comprehensive answers to clients' strategic questions than in the past. An ever-increasing number of standardised modules are being combined to form simple service packages, each of which independently supplies the basis for deciding on a strategic problem. The very simple structure of these service packages makes it possible to integrate intellectual property seamlessly into other SME-oriented advisory services.