25 years back: 25 years on

Abstract Before looking at the future of patent information, the author first surveys the previous 25 years of major relevant developments and the predictions that were made about that period. He concludes that many of the main changes were in effect sudden discontinuities in the development processes, so were inherently difficult to predict. Often they resulted from the coming together of two major, but independent, elements. So for the future he cautions that firm predictions may founder, but suggests some current and possible future developments that might bring about further major changes.