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Thomson Reuters and WIPO Launch Free Patent Information Access in Developing Countries

The IP Solutions business of Thomson Reuters (www.thomsonreuters.com) announced a partnership with the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO; www.wipo.org) to launch a program giving industrial property offices and government and academic researchers in developing countries free access to global patent information. The aim of the program, which is due to launch in September 2010, is to foster global innovation by enabling the development of solutions to the world's technical challenges. The announcement was made on April 26, 2010, designated as World Intellectual Property Day.

This partnership is to be modeled after WIPO's "Access to Research for Development and Innovation" (aRDi) initiative, which provides free online access to major scientific and technical journals by not-for-profit institutions in the least-developed countries, and low-cost access to industrial property offices in developing countries. Patent content is a source of rich information when doing scientific research, as the majority of what is contained in a patent application is not yet publicly available elsewhere, and such access will significantly enhance the innovative ability of these regions of the world.

Thomson Innovation, an intellectual property research and analysis platform from Thomson Reuters with patent, scientific literature, business, and news content, will be made available to researchers through the program.

WIPO is a specialized agency of the United Nations dedicated to developing a balanced and accessible international intellectual property (IP) system, which rewards creativity, stimulates innovation, and contributes to economic development while safeguarding the public interest.

Source: Thomson Reuters