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To this basic collection, other patent documents or patent gazettes could be added, such as:
the patent documents published in the region, e.g. by the Philippines, Malaysia;
the non-priority claiming patent applications published by Australia on microfiche;
English language abstracts published by the Japanese patent Office (JPO) or the Office of Patent Administration (OPA) in the Republic of Korea;
the Chinese Patent Office Gazette.
It was RECOMMENDED that immediate steps be taken to produce a microfiche collection of the patents registered in Hong Kong, and available at the Patents Registry in the Registrar General's Department. Once this microfiche collection of registered patents in Hong Kong has been prepared, it was RECOMMENDED that it be maintained in numerical order and in classified order according to sub-class of the International Patent Classification (IPC).
It was RECOMMENDED that the basic collection referred to be acquired at least from 1 January 1989, onwards, by purchasing them in microfilm e.g. on 16mm roll film from Research Publications. For the United States patents and United Kingdom patent applications, it would be useful to study the possibility of also buying, either all at once, or spread over several years, a certain number of years of back documents e.g. starting from January 1, 1980, or January 1, 1985, onwards.
It was RECOMMENDED that the possibilities offered by new technologies for document procurement and delivery, such as telefax, Compact Disc-Read Only Memory (CD-ROM) and digital optical discs should be examined. In this respect, the EPO might, from January 1, 1989, start distributing its patent documents in CD-ROM. The same is true for Japan which has started selling its patent documents on CD-ROM.
It is RECOMMENDED that the following indexes and other support material be acquired by the HKPC:
two copies each of the International Patent classification (4th edition) in English and Chinese (from the Chinese patent Office);
the United States Patent Classification, and the United States Class and Numerical Indices, either on microfilm, microfiche or CD-ROM (the so-called "CASSIS" system).
Non-Patent Literature
The existing library of technical journals and other non-patent literature maintained by the HKPC should be reviewed to ensure that it provides a sufficient basis for both the technical staff of the HKPC and members of the public to keep themselves informed about the latest development in specific technical fields. The following are particular matters to which this review should be addressed :
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