LEXIS-NEXIS Continues to Build Complete Intellectual Property Solution.

MINNEAPOLIS--(BUSINESS WIRE)--June 8, 1999--

Feature enhancements and content additions, like Japanese

Patent Abstracts, Strengthen the LEXIS(R)-NEXIS(R) Intellectual

Property Content Collection

Minneapolis is the site of The Special Libraries Association's

90th Annual Conference

LEXIS-NEXIS furthered its effort to take a leadership position in intellectual property content when it announced today feature enhancements and content additions to the LEXIS(R)-NEXIS(R) Intellectual Property Solutions offering.

The latest intellectual property enhancements include: -0-

--   The continued development of international content with the
     addition of Japanese Patent Abstracts;
--   The creation of Group Patent Files for comprehensive patent
     searching;
--   The integration of intellectual property materials through Patent
     Reference Linking;
--   The addition of new, flat-rate subscription pricing programs; and
--   The addition of images of interest to intellectual property
     practitioners coming to LEXIS(R)-NEXIS(R) Universe, the company's
     Web product for business professionals, later this summer.

"These enhancements demonstrate our commitment to help corporate researchers to be more productive and effective, as well as to significantly enhance the practice of intellectual property law," said Tim Davies, chief operating officer of the NEXIS division of LEXIS-NEXIS, "And, of course, we've now also created advantages over competitive offerings. The integrity and currentness of our intellectual property materials provides our customers with the confidence to base important business decisions."

As part of LEXIS-NEXIS' complete solution, it offers a team of specialized sales consultants in the Intellectual Property Solutions Group, who are consultative experts. Combined with the company's unsurpassed 24-hour/7 days-a-week Customer Service and technical consultants for on-site assistance, LEXIS-NEXIS offers much more than a collection of content that is unparalleled in its breadth of coverage, ease of use and value-added enhancements.

Recently, LEXIS-NEXIS added Patent Abstracts from Japan to its collection of patent files and images from the U.S. and Europe. PCT (Patents Cooperation Treaty) patents and applications will be added to the LEXIS(R)-NEXIS(R) services later this year.

Offered in a file called JPAT, the Japanese Patent abstracts are based on the print version of Patent Abstracts of Japan (PAJ). Currently, no full-text, online source of these patents exists in the English language.

The PAJ consists of English language, bibliographic data and short summarized text (abstracts) of published, unexamined (KOKAI) patent applications, together with one main drawing. The Japan Patent Information Organization, which supplies this information, was founded as a nonprofit corporation in 1985 by reorganizing Japatic (the Japan Patent Information Center) and the patent information services of JIII (Japan Institute of Invention and Innovation) in order to serve the increasing external demands for patent information and cope with the rapidly developing information-oriented era. The JPAT file provides comprehensive English-language access to Japanese unexamined patent applications covering all technologies. The product covers patents in four major fields: -0-

1)   MECHANICAL (tools, vehicles, machines, engines, components);

2)   CHEMICAL (organic, inorganic, medical, biochemical, food
     chemistry, metallurgy, chemical apparatus and processes);

3)   ELECTRICAL (semiconductors, circuitry, electric machines,
     communications, radiation technology); and

4)   PHYSICAL (computing, information storage, measuring and testing,
     photography, optics).

Approximately 80% of the world's patents are filed in the patent offices of the U. S., Europe or Japan. Two new files offered by LEXIS-NEXIS (ALLPAT and INTPAT) offer users an efficient way to monitor emerging technologies in all of these countries by combining information from several patent sources. The ALLPAT file will include: -0-

--   Patents filed with or granted by the European Patent Office from
     1978 (EPOPAT)
--   Patents granted by the United States Patent and Trademark Office
     from 1971 (ALL)
--   Patent Abstracts of Japan from 1976 (JPAT)

In addition, LEXIS-NEXIS has added Patent Reference Linking capabilities to key patent sources such as Federal Cases, Patent and Trademark Office decisions and Chisum on Patents by Matthew Bender. This new linking feature is exclusive to LEXIS-NEXIS and provides an integrated, easy to use environment for professionals.

Later this summer LEXIS-NEXIS will add the ability to access images via its LEXIS-NEXIS Universe Web product for business. LEXIS-NEXIS has offered images, such as patent drawing sheets, since 1995. Intellectual property images can be used to filter an answer set, analyze possibly relevant materials or to integrate relevant drawing sheets into work products.

Corporate Legal departments, Research and Development Groups, Corporate Information Centers, as well as Intellectual Property Law departments use intellectual property materials online as part of their everyday work.

LEXIS(R)-NEXIS(R) Universe is the company's latest Web product for business professionals. A customizable Web productivity tool, LEXIS-NEXIS Universe provides quick and easy access to the reliable and authoritative sources of the vast LEXIS-NEXIS information warehouse and draws upon the company's 20+ years of expertise in search engine precision.

LEXIS-NEXIS Universe can be customized for different professionals' needs within the corporation by selecting from a large variety of content "bundles." By slicing the nearly 25,000 sources of the LEXIS-NEXIS services into unique packages, this Web product fulfills the daily information requirements of corporate functions such as strategic planning, marketing, sales, public relations, information technology and business development. The versatile LEXIS-NEXIS Universe delivers deep search and current awareness capabilities to the desktop in a one-stop, enterprise-wide information solution.

Corporate decision makers rely on LEXIS-NEXIS, via the Web or dial-up software, to stay current, gain insights and maintain a competitive edge. Providing access to thousands of worldwide newspapers, magazines, trade journals, industry newsletters, financial data, public records, legislative records, data on companies and their executives -- makes the LEXIS-NEXIS service an indispensable tool for gathering competitive intelligence and providing accurate answers to business questions. LEXIS-NEXIS adds millions of documents each week to over 2 billion documents online. The NEXIS(R) service alone offers more than 18,800 sources of news and business information and is unmatched in depth and breadth of information.

LEXIS-NEXIS is a trusted name in decision-support information and services in the legal, business and government markets. The company helps a variety of professionals collect, manage and use information more productively. LEXIS-NEXIS (www.lexis-nexis.com) is a division of Reed Elsevier Inc., and a member of the Reed Elsevier plc group (www.reed-elsevier.com).