Information Today
                Volume 17, Number 1 • January 2000		 Thomson & Thomson Launches Data Quality Initiative

Thomson & Thomson, a leader in trademark and copyright research services, has launched a companywide Data Quality Initiative designed to improve its management of key data provided by the U.S. Patent & Trademark Office (USPTO) and incorporate provisions of the recently enacted Trademark Law Treaty of 1999. According to the company, these enhancements advance Thomson & Thomson’s ongoing mission to deliver their clients the highest-quality data in terms of accuracy, relevancy, currency, and efficiency.

Jay Gast, Thomson & Thomson’s president, said, “Not only will our clients be pleased with reports that focus more closely on the most relevant records, but our internal systems have been improved to provide greater efficiency and throughput of search criteria, ultimately resulting in increased customer satisfaction.”

The recent Trademark Law Treaty mandated an easier process to revive “unintentionally abandoned” marks, and has caused the USPTO to update its own database with additional information fields. One feature of Thomson & Thomson’s Data Quality Initiative will place greater emphasis on these recently abandoned marks, as well as add Trademark Trial and Appeal Board (TTAB) information regarding relevant disputes, arbitration hearings, and decisions. According to the company, the Data Quality Initiative also sustains Thomson & Thomson’s standing as the leader in the trademark and copyright research industry, and reflects the company’s desire to maintain this leadership by incorporating new programs and product improvements to better serve their customers in a changing business landscape.

The Data Quality Initiative was also designed to provide Thomson & Thomson customers with only the most relevant and current trademark research by cleaning up extraneous and out-of-date information, particularly in relation to inactive trademarks. The USPTO database itself has grown by 76 percent since 1995 and has become clogged with over 1 million abandoned, canceled, and expired marks. The data quality improvement screens these often-irrelevant, outdated records, reducing the size, but not the scope of research reports.

According to the company, the direct customer benefits of this initiative include improved search quality, increased search efficiency, more focused and concise search reports, increased user effectiveness, easier review of search reports, and time saved through more focused results.

Another highlight of Thomson & Thomson’s Data Quality Initiative is the expansion of its domain-name research. In response to the explosion in Internet domain name registration, Thomson & Thomson has announced an expansion of its domain name database to include all ICANN accredited registries. With the accelerating growth of the Internet, this information has become invaluable to organizations seeking to research or protect a trademark. According to the company, Thomson & Thomson is in fact the only trademark research firm to have secured an agreement to be able to record domain name registrations from all ICANN-accredited registrars. The expanded domain name database furthers the mission of the company’s  Data Quality Initiative as an ongoing process of ensuring the availability of the most relevant, accurate, and up-to-date information on trademark usage.

Source: Thomson & Thomson, North Quincy, MA, 617/479-1600; Fax: 617/786-8273; http://www.thomson-thomson.com.

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