Patent databases MARPAT

Chemical Abstracts and GAS Registry. CAS is especially notable for the thoroughness and high quaUty of its products. The CAS Registry system does a superb job of identifying any chemical that is either involved in new chemistry with hard data, or, since about 1980, specifically claimed in a patent. The MARPAT database has also led CAS to identify the perhaps nonexistent but prophetic substances covered by Markush claims in patents. 

MARPAT Previews patent database [PATENTS, LITERATURE] (Vol 18)... 

Chemical Substructure Databases. Several patent databases are searchable by chemical substructure. These are designed to give higher relevance of retrieval when searching chemical compounds than the bibliographic or lull-text databases. They include MPHARM. WPIM (World Patents Index Markuslil. and MARPAT. 

Sometimes, molecules are represented as Markush stmctures in a generic context to cover a family of molecular structures which can go beyond millions [62], Markush structures are generic structures used in patent databases such as MARPAT main-... 

These databases are generally obtainable from the various patent offices, or from specific suppliers such as the Derwent WPI or CAS MARPAT on STN. Other databases also contain information derived from patents (e.g., Beilstein is particularly good for patents before 1960), but the term patent database is used here to indicate the collection of data with the prime aim of providing a comprehensive service with respect to patent novelty, rather than a database of factual data in the sense of this article (although patent databases may well contain such information). 

We should not minimize the effects that electronic searching of patents has had on the business of research. In 1990, CAS introduced MARPAT, which is a database of Markush (generic) structures found in patent documents [1]. This database provided a valuable tool for patent searching in a more comprehensive way than had been available previously. In 1995, CAS launched SciFinder, which provided access to the patent literature for chemists on their desktops. Using the SciFinder interface, one may search for research topics, authors, companies, or structures/reactions. From a practical viewpoint, SciFinder did more to enhance the searching capabilities of the medicinal chemist than any other tool. Even today, SciFinder continues to provide a first pass through the patent literature when chemists want to include patents in their searching. Indeed, when a search is performed, patent references are included in the answer set. Only very recently have there been additional tools to search the patent literature that have found widespread use. 

Preparation of structure queries, transfer of queries for on-line database searches, and capture of hits. Imports structures from ChemDraw, Alchemy III, and ISIS/Draw. Structures can be used to search BEILSTEIN, GMELIN, MARPAT (the CAS Markush patent file), REGISTRY, SPECINFO, CASREACT, and ChemInformRX databases. SciFinder for graphical user interface to STN databases. Internet address stnc.cas.org (134.243.5.32). 12th Collectii/e Index of Chemical Abstracts on CD-ROM. CASurveyor with recent CAS abstracts on CD-ROM. PCs (DOS and Windows) and Macintosh. 

CAS = chemical abstracts service CDB = IFI/Plenem comprehensive code DWPI = Derwent world patents index INPI = Institut national de la propriete industrielle (the french patent office, producer of pharmsearch) MARPAT = chemical abstracts service database of Markush chemical structures from patents MDARC = Markush DARC MPHARM = pharmsearch Markush file, produced by INPI WPIM = world patents index Markush file. 

Schmuff has published a comparison of MARPAT and Markush DARC software. To generalize, at this stage both commercially available systems have similar capabilities in terms of retrieval and overall functionality. Both systems have the ability to represent in their databases and queries generic nodes typical of Markush structures in patents. Both systems have translation capabilities between generic node.s and specific nodes in database records and queries, and both systems have the ability to highlight elements in the database record that caused the retrieval. The similarities no doubt reflects the Sheffield connection, which both Questel and STN supported, but also the demands the patent searching community, which the developers of both systems consulted with extensively. 

Substance information such as chemical structures, molecular formulas, and chemical names Is stored in the REGISTRY database. This is the largest collection of chemical substance Information worldwide (see Section 3,1,2), While REGISTRY contains information on specific substances, generic substances are covered by MARPAT, Generic structures are called Markush structures after the American chemist Eugene Markush, who introduced these structures in the patent literature in 1924, MaRPAT comprises generic structures from the patent literature since 1988 (see Structure Representation). Chemical reactions or molecular transformations are covered by CASREACT (see also Reaction Databases). CASREACT has been indexed since 1985 and currently holds 2.9 million chemical reactions from the chemical and patent literature,... 

MARPAT contains up till now, in addition to the Registry database, 200,000 Markush structures. The CA abstract number and therefore the reference to the patent is mentioned with each structure. MARPAT is one of the only two information sources worldwide, which allow structure searching only in patents and ascertain the most obscure substance which could be concealed in a Markush structure. Without the support of computer programs the systematic interpretation of Markush structures would often be impossible. The second database, which offers similar possibilities, is Markush DARC (Sect. 7.8). 

MARPAT contains patents of Chemical Abstracts since the publication year 1988 (Sect. 7.4). Patents fi om the former USSR are not included. MARPAT specializes in organic and organo-metallic compounds. Inorganic salts, polymers, etc. are still missing. The database contains 60,000 documents with 200,000 compounds. The database MARPATprev contains patent documents fi om CApreviews (Sect. 7.5) including Markush structures. As a learn file LMARPAT is available. 

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