Monty Hyams (1918-2013): Patent Information Pioneer home intro derwent personal downloads links


Year: 1955
The Problem:
Belgium publishes news of inventions much earlier than other countries -- something not yet widely appreciated.

But there are only single copies of these patent documents, in Flemish or French, and they can only be inspected in person during a short working day.


Monty's Solution:

He begins trips from London to the Brussels Patent Office, where he abstracts chemical patents during all the hours available.

At first people wonder 'why Belgium'? But newspaper publicity for some of the inventions reported soon leads to an uptake in subscriptions.

Now Monty's business, Derwent, really starts to take off.
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