An expert system for international patent advice

Summary form only given as follows. The recent creation of the World Trade Organization (Geneva) and the proposed expansion of the European Patent System into Eastern Europe will require RD&E managers, engineers and scientists to think about patents and intellectual property protection in new ways. This paper reports on the results of a Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase I effort to design an expert system to advise middle school, high school and undergraduate science and engineering students in the procedures and steps necessary to file US and International Patent Applications.