Born in The Hague in 1949, The Netherlands, Mr. Piet van Zanten studied Physics at the Dordrecht Technical University (HTS). In 1969 he started his career at Philips Research in Eindhoven. After twelve years of research in the area of displays he fulfilled several functions within the Philips Product Divisions. In 1987 he joined Philips Intellectual Property & Standards (IP&S) as a Patent Searcher. In 1998 he was appointed as manager of the Search Department. As per 2001 Mr. van Zanten is active in his actual function as Patent Information Specialist. In this function he is responsible for activities related to patent statistics and for the dissemination of patent information within Philips.