ADVERTORIAL FEATURE
are and what their backgrounds are. We post their details on our website so customers can choose with whom they want to work. It’s similar to an approach in a law firm where you want to know about someone’s credentials and who you are hiring to work for you.”
Te website lists concise biographies of each researcher, explaining their qualifications and professional experience before joining Science IP. Tese are the people helping to maintain Science IP’s strong reputation in the field of life sciences research, and fitting customers’ needs, as McBride notes. “Some need quick and dirty searches, or they just need some information to get the job done. But certainly when it comes to IP-related work there is a considerable cost to getting it wrong—and that’s where we come into play. Customers need cost-effective work in a timely manner but they also need the highest quality results possible, so we’ve hired people who can deliver all that to a customer and back it up with their years of experience, and we have the fastest turnaround out of most of our competitors—three to five days on average.”
But that is not the end of the process. Science IP’s clients are educated and intelligent people: they will ask questions and not easily take an answer at face value. “In many cases our clients demand that aſter we have done a search, we retrieve the full text of the information and re-confirm—we do that if needed,” he says. Before the results are sent off, Science IP runs a number of checks. Senior staff members review all findings before they go out to the customer.
McBride explains there is not one given way to complete a project: it is a flexible and versatile process. “Having a second set of eyes can oſten identify errors—sometimes there are errors—or whether an alternative approach is required,” he says.
So how does he ensure that a customer is satisfied with the work? “We make certain that our customers are satisfied; if they felt the work was insufficient we would work with the customer to resolve the issue. We follow up all our work at no additional cost if there has been an error, even if it’s just tracking down why something wasn’t retrieved.” Te customer is always right.
“SOME NEED QUICK AND DIRTY SEARCHES, OR THEY JUST NEED SOME INFORMATION TO GET THE JOB DONE. BUT CERTAINLY WHEN IT COMES TO IP- RELATED WORK THERE IS A CONSIDERABLE COST TO GETTING IT WRONG—AND THAT’S WHERE WE COME INTO PLAY”
liaise with its clients. Tis may take the form of an update on the search report when, for example, the customer requires an update on any new information that may affect the strategy it now wants to adopt. Tis liaison period can range from one month to several years. In all cases, McBride says, Science IP follows up with customers to ensure they are satisfied and the search meets their expectations. “In most cases they are working with their own client, waiting on feedback, before we know if we have met their needs,” he says.
Tis illustrates the real scope of Science IP’s effectiveness: its findings pass down the life sciences food chain, falling into the hands of those responsible for researching, developing and innovating. Its work is not limited to its customers, but it extends to their clients too. Te team helps to shape IP strategies, providing a foundation and pointing them in the right direction.
Te biggest challenge facing Science IP is meeting customers’ high expectations. It is imperative, McBride says, that the customer’s need is understood “right up front” because it dictates how Science IP executes the search. Every researcher spends a great deal of time trying to understand what information is required before he or she begins researching.
“A customer can write something on a piece of paper and say ‘this is what I’m looking for’, when in fact the request may be different—in terms of how quickly they need it back, the real question being addressed or even the format of how they want the information delivered. Sometimes we spend a lot more time getting all that done than we actually do on the search.”
When the search is over, when the work is done and the results sent off, Science IP continues to
50 Life Sciences Intellectual Property Review 2012
Matt McBride is the manager of Science IP®, the professional search service of Chemical Abstracts Service (CAS). CAS is a division of the American Chemical Society.
Prior to joining
Science IP in 2010, Matt worked at CAS as a senior applications specialist for six years. In that role he was responsible for customer training on STN and SciFinder. Before CAS, Matt was an independent information consultant, a consultant at Tomson Dialog and a fungicide scientist at Rohm and Haas. Matt has an MSc in plant pathology and a BSc in molecular biology.
www.worldipreview.com
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