"[...] The provision of software for the "Similarity Discovery Service". A user of this service (a potential applicant for a patent) will be able to submit a technical text and receive a list of similar documents retrieved by an automatic comparison of this text with existing patent documentation at the European Patent Office.
The main elements of this service will be:
receipt of a technical text via the internet by a server located in a national patent office,
posting of the technical text to the European Patent Office over a pre-existing secure network (PATNET),
comparison of the technical text with the content of a full-text database stored on a server at the European Patent Office and the production of a ranked list of similar patent documents,
returning of the list of similar documents to the national patent office over the secure network and
forwarding of the list of similar documents to the user by email.
The installation of the service and its subsequent maintenance will also form part of a contract for the supply of the "Similarity Discovery Service".
[...]
The project is split into four phases:
Phase 1: demonstration of the feasibility of the solutions proposed in a test environment,
Phase 2: demonstration of the feasibility of solutions proposed in a production environment,
Phase 3: implementation of a fully operational "Similarity Discovery Service" operating between one national patent office and the European Patent Office,
Phase 4: extension of Phase 3 to other national patent offices.
The European Patent Office will not commit to Phase 2 or any subsequent phase until it has evaluated and accepted the results of the preceding phase. It shall have absolute and sole discretion as to whether or not to proceed with any phase.
Award of the contract can only take place after the necessary supervisory bodies of the EPO have been consulted. This should be completed in October 2004. [...]"
Sounds interesting. I'm quite curious on whether or not such a project will really be implemented some day ...
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Dipl.-Phys. Axel H Horns is Patentanwalt (German Patent Attorney),
European Patent Attorney as well as European Trade Mark Attorney. In particular, he is Member of:
European Patent Office has opened a 
