� Mr. Wolfgang Pilch receives the IPI Award 2002

Above: Mr. Wolfgang Pilch, (third from left) displays the ‘International Patent Information Award’ plaque with IPI Award Sponsor, Ford Khorsandian, accompanied by IPI International Selection Board Members (from left to right): Ian Sinclair, Lucy Akers, Ebe Campi and Christoph Haxel,.

Ceremony During European Patent Office’s EPIDOS Annual Conference

It is Tuesday 15^th October, 2002 and the attendees at the EPIDOS (European Patent Information and Documentation Systems) conference have arrived at the historic Copenhagen City Hall. Upon being seated in the grand reception hall, the gathering of over 450 people is officially welcomed by the Vice Chairman of the City of Copenhagen, Mrs. Frost. In response, the President of the European Patent Office, Dr. Ingo Kober addresses the meeting. During his speech, he acknowledges Mr. Wolfgang Pilch, who is a former staff member of the EPO and a current staff member of the Austrian Patent Office. Dr. Kober voices his congratulations to Mr. Pilch for the well-deserved honor of his receiving the International Patent Information Award for lifelong involvement in patent information. The IPI Award is to be presented a little later in the evening.

Soon the attendees are invited to enter the ornate banqueting hall where a buffet dinner is being served. After a time, the lively atmosphere of social chatter is interrupted by a fanfare from the court horn players, signifying the start of the IPI Award presentation ceremony.

Above: The court horn players announce the start of the IPI Award Presentation

Mr. Ferdinand Rudolph from the EPO is first to speak as he announces the commencement of the ceremony. He hands over to the Award organizer and sponsor, Mr. Ford Khorsandian.

Ford Khorsandian explains how the International Patent Information Award was established to recognize those dedicated individuals who, through their hard work, professional excellence and personal leadership, have made a significant positive impact on the Patent Information Industry and the Patent Information Profession. He then introduces the members of the International Selection Board, who are responsible for evaluating the nominations and choosing the recipient for 2002. The members of the Board present on the stage are:

Dr. Ian Sinclair from Pfizer, former Vice President of the PDR, the Pharma Documentation Ring

Ms. Lucy Akers from Akers & Company, current Chairperson of the Patent Information Users Group, the PIUG

Dr. Ebe Campi, Principal Director of the EPO, and past President of the PDG, the Patent Documentation Group

And Dr. Christoph Haxel from Henkel, current President of the PDG

Mr. Khorsandian then proceeds to thank the Board members, as well as those not able to be present, and also thanks the EPO, the Danish Patent and Trademark Office and those connected with organizing EPIDOS for providing the magnificent venue. He concludes by handing the floor to Dr. Ian Sinclair, Chairman of the IPI Award Selection Board.

It is Dr. Sinclair’s unenviable task to sum up, in the space of a few minutes, the life’s work of a special individual whose praiseworthy achievements have taken over thirty years to accomplish. Dr. Sinclair explains how Mr. Wolfgang Pilch is being recognized as the ‘inspiration and driving force’ behind the founding and development of the INPADOC (International Patent Documentation Centre) patent database.

Above: Ian Sinclair with IPI Board Members Ford Khorsandian, Lucy Akers, Ebe Campi and Christoph Haxel.

In 1973, Wolfgang Pilch was appointed Technical Director of INPADOC. Early on, he recognized and understood the importance of global patent information, saw the need to collect source data from the patent offices of the world, and saw the need to co-ordinate it into a patent family system. He planted the seeds and continued to nurture INPADOC for the next seventeen years, seeing the database flourish into the valuable patent family file that is relied upon to this day.

Ian Sinclair tells how “Very few patent offices were automated to any extent and, as a result, data was delivered to INPADOC on all types of media ranging from hand written lists, paper tape, punched cards, and magnetic tapes. The technical leadership required to develop computer-based information systems was a tremendous, almost overwhelming challenge.”

Dr. Sinclair praises Mr. Pilch for his “inspirational leadership, technical mastery and detailed understanding of patent data that was the key to his pioneering developments. He was instrumental in the development of the fundamental algorithms and of the computer processes that were then applied to the building of the INPADOC database of patent equivalents. And very importantly, data standardisation was defined and implemented. This was extremely important to the international patent information field, providing a formal basis for exchanging information amongst national offices as well as with the European Patent Office and companies such as Derwent.”

Above: Mr. Wolfgang Pilch (center) listens intently. Others, left to right, are: Ms. Ann Chapman of Minesoft; Mr. Mogens Kring Director General of the Danish Patent Office; Dr. Ingrid Weidinger of the Austrian Patent Office and Dr. Ingo Kober, President of the EPO

Dr. Sinclair congratulates Mr. Pilch and invites him to step forward to receive the IPI Award and honorarium. The audience applauds enthusiastically in acknowledgement of Mr. Pilch’s achievements. After Mr. Pilch shakes hands with each of the IPI Award Board Members in turn, the plaque is unveiled and is presented to its deserving recipient by Ford Khorsandian.

Above: Mr. Wolfgang Pilch accepts the ‘International Patent Information Award’ from Ford Khorsandian of Technology & Patent Research (TPR) International, and Dr. Ian Sinclair, Chairman of the IPI International Selection Board. Standing are other members of the International Selection Board: Ebe Campi, Christoph Haxel, and Lucy Akers.

On accepting the plaque, Mr. Pilch is directed towards the podium, where he patiently waits for the applause to subside. He then proceeds to relate the fascinating story of his professional career, a story that is richly peppered with the names of notable figures from the patent information world both past and present. He explains the technological and political challenges facing patent information professionals in the early 1970’s when INPADOC was founded. He goes on to explain how these challenges were overcome by the greater vision and need to gather patent information together into one coherent source to provide comprehensive patent family information. Mr. Pilch concludes by sharing his vision and hope for the future of patent information, himself convinced that evolution does not become slower or ever stop.

Following Mr. Pilch’s speech, the members of the IPI Board step forward to deliver congratulatory messages on behalf of patent information industry groups. The event is gently brought to a close, leaving the gathering to ponder on the words of Mr. Pilch and to wonder at what the future of patent information may have in store, especially compared to the breathtaking rate of development that the industry has experienced in just the past three decades.

Click on the names below for full speech transcripts and more photographs:

Introduction, by Ferdinand Rudolph

IPI Award significance, by Ford Khorsandian

Speech in honor of Mr. Wolfgang Pilch by Dr. Ian Sinclair

Mr. Wolfgang Pilch acceptance speech

Congratulatory messages from organizations and individuals

Or,

Click here for IPI ‘Hall of Fame’ and biography of Mr. Wolfgang Pilch

Click here for more photographs of the IPI Ceremony

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