Colleagues of Dr. Peter Kallas from the Patent Information Industry will immediately bring to mind Peter’s friendly nature, coupled with patience and humility. These inherent traits conjure up a picture of someone who is a pleasure to work with, but what about getting results?
Peter’s track record of working as Head of Chemicals and Engineering Information within BASF in Ludwigshafen, Germany, as well as his tireless service within a number of high-profile patent information industry working groups, aptly illustrate how it is possible to gain collaboration between providers and users of patent information to effect serious change. In fact, Peter is known as someone with a keen intellect who is able to tackle problems at their very root and always stretch the bounds of possibility.
During his career, Peter has fiercely promoted improvements to data quality and the enhancement of access to global patent information. He has achieved this especially through his participation in working groups such as: ARPAD, the advisory group for the German Patent and Trademark Office; IMPACT – supporting the provision of patent information worldwide on behalf of the Patent Documentation Group (PDG); as well as working with other groups of the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO), the European Patent Office (EPO) and the European Industrial Research Management Association (EIRMA).
Through this involvement, Peter Kallas has clearly had a powerful positive effect on improving the quality of international patent data and search tools, and has forged a path and direction for others to follow in pursuit of this goal. It is for these reasons that his accomplishments are now being celebrated with the bestowal of the International Patent Information Award for 2015.
The IPI-Award announcement was made at the International Patent Information Conference, IPI-ConfEx in Rome, Italy, on March 9, 2014 by Ms. Lucy Akers, Chair of the International Selection Board, along with fellow Selection Board members present: Dr. Monika Hanelt, Dr. Tsutomu Kiriyama and Dr. Thomas Lorenz. Following an introduction by IPI-Award founder and sponsor, Mr. Ford Khorsandian, President of Technology & Patent Research (TPR) International, Ms. Lucy Akers, related that: “Through his dedication and commitment to the patent information industry, Dr. Kallas has catalyzed the continual improvements we see in patent information, such as within the INPADOC database of legal status events, this having earned Peter the title of “Mr. Legal Status”.
Both before and during his Chairmanship of the PDG’s IMPACT committee since 1998, Peter Kallas has been instrumental in driving improvements for the standardization of information, e.g. working with WIPO to resolve issues such as the collection of legal status data on PCT applications entering or not entering the national (regional) phase prior to sending to INPAPOC, as well as many other quality-related initiatives. Mr. Angel Lopez Solanas, Head of the Standards Section at WIPO, is quoted as saying that “Dr. Kallas has significantly contributed to a greater harmonization of practices in the patent global infrastructure, as well as to the improvement of data quality and the enhancement of access to patent information.”
Peter Kallas studied chemistry at Heidelberg University. After obtaining his doctorate, he joined BASF’s Patent Department in 1989. In 1990 he moved to the BASF Group Information Centre. In the course of his work he has been involved with the impact of patent law on patent office publications and with the ways and means by which patent information is handled by commercial services. The International Selection Board recognizes Peter’s role working over many years to improve access to patent information globally through his active involvement and service to the patent information community.
Dr. Kallas has been a significant contributing speaker and facilitator at patent information conferences, presenting on topics ranging from open patent services of the EPO and GPTO; review and evaluation of EPO information; Chinese patent data; IPC reform; etc.
The IPI Award was established in 2000 to recognize key individuals whose dedication has had a significant and lasting impact on patent information. Sponsor TPR International is a world-leading search firm with 20 years of expertise in successfully completing thousands of patent searching projects in all areas of technology.
For further information, visit www.IPI-Award.com, or contact TPR at +1 (858) 592 9084.
