Alloy design: a historical perspective

This paper presents a historical perspective of the progress of mankind from the bronze age to the present stage in alloy development. In particular, the last four decades have seen empiricism giving way to intelligent and informed design of alloys. A spectacular example from this decade is the design of metallic glasses with optimum magnetic properties in 1979.     

Patent information: a team work

Patent Information is a multi-faceted specialization, combining the several aspects of industrial property— technology, economics, law and others — with the field of information.An efficient patent information service requires education on the industrial property system and on information techniques of professionals in various fields of technology and social sciences. To take full advantage of the information provided by patent documents, the users likewise must be trained.In Brazil several tentative training and promotional activities for potential users are being conducted. But the main question of education on patent information is still quite superficial.     

Patent information from the Polish Patent Office

The Polish Patent Office activity within the scope of its patent information policy—with emphasis on the changes since the 1990s—is described. In addition to aspects of patent searching, such as documentation and databases, dissemination activities, for example education and training, and the role of Patent Information Centres, is covered. New challenges associated with the promotion of intellectual property protection and its role for the economy are also highlighted.     

Grain boundary engineering: historical perspective and future prospects

A brief introduction of the historical background of grain boundary engineering for structural and functional polycrystalline materials is presented herewith. It has been emphasized that the accumulation of fundamental knowledge about the structure and properties of grain boundaries and interfaces has been extensively done by many researchers during the past one century. A new approach in terms of the concept of grain boundary and interface engineering is discussed for the design and development of high performance materials with desirable bulk properties. Recent advancements based on these concepts clearly demonstrate the high potential and general applicability of grain boundary engineering for various kinds of structural and functional materials. Future prospects of the grain boundary and interface engineering have been outlined, hoping that a new dimension will emerge pertaining to the discovery of new materials and the generation of a new property originating from the presence of grain boundaries and interfaces in advanced polycrystalline materials.     

Video compression for the grand alliance: A historical perspective

This article outlines the evolution of the Grand Alliance (GA) highdefinition television (HDTV) standard from its divided beginnings among several systems to its final state as the proposed standard for HDTV transmission in the United Stales today. Earlier video compression standards are briefly described, and their influence on the first four all-digital HDTV proposals is demonstrated. The salient features of each proposed video compression system are high-lighted, and the more recent MPEG-2 compression standard is introduced. MPEG-2 was adopted as the basis for video compression by the GA, a group of the former HDTV competitiors. The formation of the GA is described, and the work of its Video Compression Specialists Group on evaluating modifications to MPEG-2 is reviewed.©1994 John Wiley & Sons Inc     

Patent information as a management tool

The future of a company depends to a large extent on its capacity for innovation. This capacity is depending on an adequate R. & D. activity which on the otherhand must be based on a careful study of the market. It is in this phase that the patent information search must be made, to establish either the state of the art or the legal status of existing protective rights. To obtain that questions like: should the research be carried out, should the necessary know-how be acquired in another way, should the project be abandoned, can be answered with certainty, necessitates a permanent improvement of existing patent information services.     

Autonomy of foreign R&D units in an emerging market: An information processing perspective

The

The changing nature of acute chemical hazards: A historical perspective

Emergency situations may develop from a variety of circumstances when chemicals or chemically-related substances or materials are improperly used or inadequately controlled. The various processes or circumstances, which may result in an emergency endangering significant numbers of people and requiring response by emergency control personnel or systems, are placed in a historical perspective. Acute chemical emergencies may and do occur in several modes: fire, explosions, uncontrolled release of materials, uncontrolled reactions, and time-bombs of toxic or explosive materials from improper disposal. These modes are used to illustrate the difficulty of generalizing about the control of chemicals and to encourage wider appreciation of the changing nature of chemical emergencies. In all cases, it is the lack of adequate control which precipitated a crisis, not the chemical itself.     

Internationalisation of patents by Public Research Organisations from a historical and an economic perspective

Within the field of the organisation of science, concerns about how academics generate patents tend to focus on a single set of either national or international patents. The main aim of this research is to study both national and international patenting in order to understand their differences. We have approached this issue from both a historical and an economic perspective, using data from the Spanish National Research Council (CSIC), the largest PRO in Spain. Three periods can be distinguished in the CSIC’s history, according to the political context, namely the dictatorship (1939–1975), the transition to democracy (1976–1986) and democracy (1987-to date). The prevailing legal and institutional framework has marked the way in which patenting by CSIC has evolved in each of these periods. The current situation is one in which there is strong internationalisation of patenting activity, and in this most-recent period we explore trends in some of the economic influences on patenting activity. We conclude that the political and normative context may shape the culture of international patenting at PROs like the CSIC and that increasing technological cooperation has supported this internationalisation. However, very often foreign partners are included in the application in order to extend protection abroad for commercial reasons, so their number may not be a good indicator of inventive activity.     

Chinese state and society in epidemic governance: A historical perspective

This paper looks at the role of state and society in the history of epidemic governance in China for an appreciation of the way China manages the current COVID-19 epidemic.     

Patent information of the former USSR countries

The patent information currently available for the former USSR, EAPO, Russian Federation, Turkmenistan, Belarus, Tajikistan, Kazakhstan, Azerbaijan, Moldova, Armenia, Ukraine, Georgia, Kyrgyzstan, the Baltic countries and Uzbekistan is described. It is a complicated scene, in terms of the extent and depth of coverage, the media employed (paper, CD, on-line), and the use of open access, charged INTERNET access and commercial databases.