Science IP -Types of Searches

Chemical Structure – The purpose of this search is to discover chemical entities that either exactly match or are similar to a chemical compound of interest. There are a number of different types of structure searches that can be conducted including:

• Exact – where the discovered compound exactly matches the query compound.

• Substructure – where the discovered compound(s) completely encompass the query compound but may contain additional elements.

• Markush – where the chemical compounds being queried are potentially contained within a collection of generic or prophetic compounds defined using variable functional groups, atoms, ring sizes, etc… Markush structures are generally associated with patent literature.

• Fragmentation – where the query molecule is defined as the sum of its individual pieces or fragments and discovered compounds will contain the same collection of fragments but not necessarily connect in the same way that the query molecule was connected (i.e., functional groups, types of ring systems, etc.).

Chemical structures can also be discovered by other means including searching by molecular formula, CAS Registry Number^®, ring size and other chemical attributes. This type of search is often referred to as a dictionary search.

Science IP will provide up to 200,000 Connection Tables for individual or multiple project use within an organization. A Project is defined as work on a specific question of scientific import to the organization. An example would be a project involving the design of JNK kinase inhibitors.

The price for a Connection Table search is $2.50 for each Connection Table plus Science IP labor ($250/hr - 1 hr minimum). The following Structure File Formats will be provided: SDfile, Molfile, SMILES strings.

The customer must provide the chemical substance name or CAS RN, either of which must be in machine readable form. The chemical name must match a chemical name synonym found in Registry. An attempt will be made to search for names which are not in Registry if the customer agrees. In all cases standard Science IP labor rate applies to this work.

Use of Connection Tables supplied by Science IP is limited to internal use only and subject to CAS data use guidelines. Redistribution will be strictly prohibited.

Biosequence – Sometimes also referred to as a nucleic acid or amino acid search, the purpose of this search is to discover extended amino acid (peptides and proteins) or nucleic acid (genes) sequences that either exactly match or are similar to a biosequence of interest. There are a number of different types of biosequence searches that can be conducted including:

• Exact – where the discovered amino or nucleic acid sequence exactly matches the query sequence.

• Subsequence – where the discovered amino or nucleic acid sequence(s) completely encompass the query sequence but may also contain additional amino or nucleic acid segments.

• Homology – where discovered sequences are retrieved based on how much similarity they have to the query sequence. Computer algorithms are used to provide a score of how similar one sequence is to another.

You can receive updates whenever new information on your topic of interest is published in the scientific literature, or when a new, related patent/application is issued.

Property Data – If a compound is provided this search will supply information on the physical properties (such as melting point, vapor pressure, optical rotation, etc…) associated with this material. Conversely, if a property value or range is provided the chemical compounds that share that property can be discovered.

Infringement – This type of search is often performed to support a legal opinion that an unauthorized party is, or is not, using a patented technology without the permission of the individual or organization who owns it. Assignees will conduct these searches to protect their patented intellectual property.

Prior Art – The most general type of search normally associated with the patenting process, results from a search of this type will include patent and non-patent literature which is associated with the topic of interest. The term “Prior Art” is used to describe relevant documents that discuss or provide background on the particular topic.

State-of-the-Art – Instead of providing general information on a topic (see Prior Art search) this type of search provides focused, specific information that is most relevant to a particular topic. Also normally associated with the patenting process, this type of search will also typically include a current awareness component for ensuring that the latest information is available on a topic.

Validity – Often associated with patent litigation this search will attempt to discover “art” (either from patents or from non-patents) that was available in the public domain prior to the priority filing date of a patent of interest. Patent owners or potential licensees will sometimes conduct this type of search to ensure that a particular piece of intellectual property will stand up to a validity challenge. This type of search can also be conducted by organizations that are looking to invalidate a patented invention which is blocking them from conducting business.

Patentability/Novelty – Typically an inventor or assignee will have this type of search conducted to support a legal opinion that the invention they are looking to patent is both novel and non-obvious to someone skilled in the art of that particular subject. This type of search is very specific to the exact technology that is potentially going to be patented and will look to discover patent and non-patent references that speak to whether the invention is novel and non-obvious.

Freedom-to-Operate/Practice – An organization will typically conduct a search of this nature to support a legal opinion that a product does not infringe a valid, in-force patent held within the country where the organization is planning to conduct business. In this search only the claims of valid, in-force patents from the country of interest are searched to see if the particular product is covered within them.

CAS Registry Number^® Lookup – If you have a chemical name and need to know the CAS Registry Number for the substance this search will provide the number if available. If no CAS Registry Number is available Science IP can connect you with the scientists responsible within CAS who can assign one for you.

CA Abstract Retrieval – If you have a CAS accession number ("CAN") or some bibliographic information on a reference but need to retrieve the CAS abstract for a particular record Science IP can provide this information for you.

Key Words – If a topic, author name, assignee, or organization is provided this search will supply information on the available documents associated with this query. This search can be customized to include database records from patents, books, journal articles, dissertations and other types of data as required by the customer.

Reaction Information – Science IP has access to a number of different databases where chemical reaction data can be discovered from both the patent and non-patent literature. If chemical structures are provided, this search will supply references that demonstrate how to perform a particular transformation or what products might be expected from a collection of starting materials. Reaction searching can also be conducted using chemical functional groups when more general transformation, non-structurally specific data is required.

E-mail: scienceip@cas.org | Phone: 866-360-0814; 614-447-5650 | Fax: 614-447-5443