New IAM legal research tool aids busy patent professionals in the global licensing landscape

The patent licensing business is global, making it critical for patent professionals have a grasp on the legal landscape in far-away jurisdictions where their companies operate. But it is unrealistic to expect everyone to know how to find legislation, judgments and guidance in all countries around the world. 

We have just launched a new tool that aims to help. IAM’s Primary Sources tool allows patent professionals to surface important legislation about patents, trade secrets, designs, trademarks and copyrights. 

The database of acts, statutes, codes and ordinances can fast-forward research about IP law by delivering relevant primary sources of information.

The tool contains nearly 1,200 documents from 100 countries. Across the world, we have displayed 300 patent documents.

Its search function and filters allow browsing by country and IP type, which quickly locate the correct primary source. For example, the tool displays 24 pieces of legislation on patents from the United Kingdom, 10 from the United States and four from China.

When you’ve found the right legislation, Primary Sources links to the official government repository that houses the document. You can access Primary Sources from the IAM homepage by clicking “Data and Tools” and then “Primary Sources”. 

Although anyone can see the tool, you must have a subscription to access the document link and IAM articles connected to the legislation.