Instructions

Instructions For Using Edison
  1. Setting up a Test Account
  2. Establishing a Formal Account, Access to the Edison Authorization Form
  3. Log In to the Secure Server
  4. Generate a Report of All Your Inventions in the NIH Database
  5. Making corrections or Additions to the NIH Database
  6. Call for HELP
Special Instructions for Organizations that have Large Databases
  1. Access to the Description of the Edison Integrator Format
  2. Access to Client Software
  3. Transmission of Data Using the Client Software

Instructions For Using Edison

Setting up a Test Account

In preparation for using Edison to report inventions electronically, we recommend that you create a test account on the test server and begin "playing" with the system. Listed below are a few pointers that are oftentimes overlooked, and which thereby lead to an unsuccessful login.

Once you feel comfortable with the system and are familiar with the location of the different fields of required information, you can then proceed to request authorization to use the secured production server. It is in this fully secured environment where you can review historical invention information NIH has collected for your organization over the years as well as submit confidential information on inventions, patents, and utilization.

Establishing a Formal Account, Access to the Edison Authorization Form

To establish a formal account on the Edison system, each grantee organization must submit information necessary to put security measures in place. The information submitted must be for the designated administrator of the account. The administrator's account gives the designee, and only the designee, the authority to 1) add and take off users and 2) generate weekly or monthly audit reports on office actions that have taken place in Edison. The information on the authorization form will also be used when sending all official correspondence from this office. For this reason, we strongly suggest that the administrator of the account be someone with authority for invention reporting. The administrator can add additional users once the account is set up.

To submit this information, you can go to the following URL and enter data:

http://era.info.nih.gov/Edison/request.html

In some versions of Netscape, you cannot print the contents of "forms", like the contents of the fields on this screen. In others you can. In still others, if you print a form you lose the information you entered -- the form reverts to the original, empty format. To find out which version you have, before clicking the gray Done button that sends the information to NIH, you may wish to print the information you just entered. To print, go up to the top tool bar, click File, then click Print. You should be aware, though, that by doing this you might lose the information you just entered. Be sure to keep your authorization information in a secured location.

Someone from NIH will call you to confirm your request for authorization. Then you will receive an e-mail message indicating your 7 digit institution code and some brief instructions on how to proceed with logging onto the secure Edison system.

Log In to the Secure Server

While in the Edison Home Page, click on the first green login button at the bottom of the page to access the secure production server. Once in the Security Checkpoint, login with your 7 digit institution code and the user name and password submitted in the authorization form. Be reminded that user name and password are case sensitive. Be sure to type it EXACTLY as submitted in the authorization form.

If you have successfully logged in, you will be told to change your password. Follow the directions to change your password. After you change your password, you will be in the Main Menu, where there are four major options: Messages, Search and Modify, New Inventions, and Reports.

Generate a Report of All Your Inventions in the NIH Database

Prior to submitting any new data to Edison, we strongly recommend that you generate a report of all the invention disclosures in the NIH database to cross-reference with what you have in your database or on file as being NIH-funded inventions. To do this click on Reports. Within the Generate Reports page, click on Invention Disclosure Reports. Do not click on any Sort buttons. Just click the gray Generate Report button below. At this time, you may wish to print the information on the screens for easier cross-referencing. To do this, click File which is on the top bar of your screen, then click Print.

If the number of disclosures on file at NIH is too large to print, you may wish to download a comma- or tab-delimited report. Scroll down the Generate Reports page to Advanced Options. Click whether you want a comma or tab delimited report and other preferences listed. Finally, click the gray Generate Report button when you have indicated all of your preferences. You will be asked what you want to do with this file, or for the name of the file. You want to save it, and you want to name it something you will remember so you can get back to it. After reviewing the report, you may want to consider adding missing data or revise records that contain errors.

Making Corrections or Additions to the NIH Database

To make corrections to information that is already in the NIH database, go back to the Main Menu or a menu bar and click Search and Modify. Then click Modify Existing Invention. The most expedient way to retrieve an invention in need of modification is to search by EIR number or by your docket number. Type the docket or EIR number in the appropriate field, than click Send Query. If the retrieved EIR is what you were looking for, click on the blue EIR number and you will be in the appropriate invention disclosure to make modification.

Call for HELP

If you are having any problems, please feel free to call us at (301) 435-1986.

Special Instructions for Organizations that have Large Databases

To accommodate organizations with a large database of invention information, Edison will permit grantee organizations to submit information directly from their database system to the Edison without having to key the data using the Web Browser.

Access to the Description of the Edison Integrator Format

The computer-to-computer bulk transfer of data requires that the grantee organization's database administrator or technical support specialist format the data destined for Edison in a specific way. The description of the software that we will be making available for this use, as well as the format of the data, is provided at:

http://era.info.nih.gov/Edison/HowTo/descript.html

Access to Client Software

In order to transmit formatted records you must have our client software. This software is available for users with Unix®, Windows®, Macintosh®, or VMS platforms. Any of these versions may be downloaded to your system from the Web at:

http://era.info.nih.gov/Edison/IT-Distribution/

The Unix and VMS versions may need to be compiled on your platform. On the Windows and Macintosh versions, running the execution file that is downloaded will establish a "window" that is used to transmit the file containing database records. Prior to transmission, security information must be entered, including institution code, user name, password, and a private DES key code used to encrypt the transmitted data.

Of these unique identifiers, the institution code will be established when the user applies for user authorization (see above: Establishing a Formal Account, Access to the Edison Authorization Form). However, you must create a "Talker User" to transmit the information. To do this, click on the "Administrative User Control" button on the Main Menu once you have logged into Edison. On this screen, click on "Create Talker User." You will be asked to input a username, password, and IP address for the talker user. At this time, a 32-character private DES key will be generated and displayed. If you don't mind typing in this key every time, you can now use the Internet Talker client program as below. If you don't want to type this in, and don't mind some loss of security, you can download an "ini" file containing any of the information you want -- that is, it can contain the username, password, key, and grantee code, or any subset of these. To generate an ini file, go to the Administrative User Control screen and select "Generate INI file". When you are asked what you want to name the ini file and where you want to store it, name it "talker.ini" and store it in the same directory where your talker client resides. Once this private key (and other information) resides in an "ini" file on your computer, the requirement for input of the private key in the client software will be automatically met.

Transmission of Data Using the Client Software

With the client software installed, and the data to be transmitted in the proper format within a file on your system's hard drive, all you need to do is open the client, specify the unique identifiers and the location of the file to be sent, and the client compresses the file, encrypts it, authenticates the user and the Edison server, and transmits the file.

Once the data is transmitted, Edison will carry out data validity checks and notify you, via e-mail, of the status of receipt of the information. The notification will identify any errors encountered, noting them by field name. Given the fact that the e-mail transmission is not encrypted, however, the acknowledgment will not include any contents of respective data fields.

In general, if you have any suggestions or questions about this or any document on Edison, please contact us at 301-435-1986 or via email at edison@od.nih.gov.

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