A current-awareness alert (SDI) is a useful tool for the surveillance of specific research topics, competitors, inventors, patents, and legal status information. In this session, we will review the searching skills needed to identify relevant information in a consistent and periodic manner and how to receive this information in the most efficient and useful format. We will also discuss how certain SDI features and options available in CAplus, Derwent World Patents Index (DWPI), and INPAFAMDB can be used to retrieve comprehensive results, including:

• Automatic and manual alerts
• Multifile alerts and package alerts
• Choosing the right update code
• Multifile patent family and legal status alerts