Editing Mini–mental state examination (section)

==Copyright issues==
The MMSE was first published in 1975 as an appendix to an article written by Marshal F. Folstein, Susan Folstein, and [[Paul R. McHugh]].<ref name=Folstein/> It was published in Volume 12 of the ''Journal of Psychiatric Research'', published by Pergamon Press. While the MMSE was attached as an appendix to the article, the [[copyright]] ownership of the MMSE (to the extent that it contains copyrightable content<ref name=grimmelmann/>) remained with the three authors. Pergamon Press was subsequently taken over by [[Elsevier]], who also took over copyright of the ''Journal of Psychiatric Research''.<ref>{{cite web | publisher=Elsevier | url=http://www.elsevier.com/framework_aboutus/pdfs/historyofelsevier.pdf | title=History of Elsevier | access-date=2010-10-29 | url-status=dead | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090117212223/http://www.elsevier.com/framework_aboutus/pdfs/historyofelsevier.pdf | archive-date=2009-01-17 }}</ref>

The authors later transferred all their [[intellectual property]] rights, including the copyright of the MMSE, to MiniMental registering the transfer with the U.S. Copyright Office on June 8, 2000.<ref>{{cite book | author1-last =Folstein MF  | author1-first =Folstein SE | author2-last =McHugh | author2-first = PR| editor-link2 =Paul R. McHugh | date =2000-06-08 | title =Mini-mental status : a practical method for grading the cognitive state of patients for the clinician }} Patent number [http://cocatalog.loc.gov/cgi-bin/Pwebrecon.cgi?v1=2&ti=1,2&Search_Arg=mini%20mental&Search_Code=TALL&CNT=25&PID=5Hcjshh2TnuAK7UsR2lrGKxtEZH2&SEQ=20101020113441&SID=4 TX0005228282]</ref> In March 2001, MiniMental entered into an exclusive agreement with Psychological Assessment Resources granting PAR the exclusive rights to publish, license, and manage all intellectual property rights to the MMSE in all media and languages in the world.<ref>[http://cocatalog.loc.gov/cgi-bin/Pwebrecon.cgi?v1=1&ti=1,1&Search%5FArg=mmse&Search%5FCode=TALL&CNT=25&PID=EM6zLaFlEKsUaHEOVZOBRuGdNRAL&SEQ=20101020113204&SID=2 U.S. Copyright Office record #2]</ref> Despite the many free versions of the test that are available on the internet, PAR claims that the official version is copyrighted and must be ordered only through it.<ref name=powsner>{{cite journal |author=Powsner S, Powsner D |title=Cognition, copyright, and the classroom |journal=The American Journal of Psychiatry |volume=162 |issue=3 |pages=627–8 |year=2005 |pmid=15741491 |doi=10.1176/appi.ajp.162.3.627-a |last2=Powsner }}</ref><ref>{{cite web | title=Mini-Mental Status Examination. Psychological Assessment Resources, Inc. | url=http://www.minimental.com/ | access-date=2006-06-22 | url-status=dead | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060627004052/http://www.minimental.com/ | archive-date=2006-06-27 }}</ref> At least one legal expert has claimed that PAR's copyright claims are weak.<ref name=grimmelmann>{{cite web|url=http://laboratorium.net/archive/2011/12/29/how_copyright_is_like_cognitive_impairment|author=James Grimmelmann|title=How Copyright Is Like Cognitive Impairment}}</ref> The enforcement of copyright on the MMSE has been compared to the phenomenon of "stealth" or "[[Submarine patent|submarine]]" [[patent]]s, in which a patent applicant waited until an invention gained widespread popularity before allowing the patent to issue, and only then commenced enforcement. Such applications are no longer possible, given changes in patent law.<ref name=powsner/> The enforcement of the copyright has led to researchers looking for alternative strategies in assessing cognition.<ref>{{cite journal |author=Holsinger T, Deveau J, Boustani M, Williams JW |title=Does this patient have dementia? |journal=JAMA |volume=297 |issue=21 |pages=2391–404 |date=June 2007 |pmid=17551132 |doi=10.1001/jama.297.21.2391 |last2=Deveau |last3=Boustani |last4=Williams Jr }}</ref>

PAR have also asserted their copyright against an alternative diagnostic test, "Sweet 16", which was designed to avoid the copyright issues surrounding the MMSE. Sweet 16 was a 16-item assessment developed and validated by Tamara Fong and published in March 2011; like the MMSE it included orientation and three-object recall. Assertion of copyright forced the removal of this test from the Internet.<ref>{{cite journal |author1=John C. Newman, M.D. |author2=Robin Feldman, J.D. |author-link2=Robin Feldman |title=Copyright and Open Access at the Bedside |journal=NEJM |volume=365 |issue=26 |pages=2447–2449 |date=December 2011 |doi=10.1056/NEJMp1110652|pmid=22204721 }}</ref>