Patent analysis

Last updated

Patent analysis is the process of analyzing the texts of patent disclosures and other information (such as priority dates, filing and issuance countries, patent maintenance payments, patent citations, patent infringement actions etc.) from the patent lifecycle. Patent analysis is used to obtain deeper insights into different technologies and innovation. Other terms are sometimes used as synonyms for patent analytics: patent landscape, patent mapping, or cartography.[ citation needed ] However, there is no harmonized terminology in different languages, including in French and Spanish. Patent analytics encompasses the analysis of patent data, analysis of the scientific literature, data cleaning, text mining, machine learning, geographic mapping, and data visualisation. [1]

Contents

Patent analytics is used in industry and increasingly[ as of? ] explored by the public sector to take informed decisions related to prioritization and investments in R&D, IP portfolio management, commercialization of technology, and research collaborations among others. [2] [3]

Patent analysis tools and methods have traditionally[ when? ] been done using spreadsheet-based data analysis methods, such as SQL. However, since ca. 2020 the field of patent analysis has witnessed a convergence of traditional patent analytics with data science, machine learning, semantic technologies, and artificial intelligence [4] along with a surge in available tools that are being applied to patent visualization. [5] There has also been an increase in open-source software, tools [6] and datasets [7] being used for patent analytics, as well as the use of techniques, such as machine learning, for different tasks. [8] Some tools [9] propose semi-automated production of visualizations, dashboards or reports. Terabytes of patent information from many patent offices is available on-line for free from INPADOC or espacenet or Patentscope. Many developers of big data software, such as Google Patents, The Lens, Clarivate Analytics, ip.com, Derwent World Patents Index, and Questel-Orbit, use these free and other patent databases to test the capabilities of their own data analysis software.[ citation needed ]

Types of patent analysis and reports

Different types of patent analyses can be performed based on the need and the questions to be answered and each type of analysis leads to different associated reports. A patentability or prior art search report provides information on whether a new invention is eligible for patent protection, along with information on what are the closest prior arts. This analysis helps patent attorneys draft broad and appropriate claims for the new invention. The patentability search may include both patent and non-patent literature. A freedom-to-operate search report helps organizations decide if they have the clearance to launch a new product without infringing on anyone else’s patent rights. This is specific to only one jurisdiction, and multiple searches for each jurisdiction may have to be performed if an organization is interested in obtaining clearance for product launch in different countries.

Patent landscape reports

Patent landscape reports (PLRs) are another example of a report produced by performing patent analysis.

For users in industry, they are used as a decision-making mechanism (patent portfolio management, R&D investment and prioritisation, technology transfer, etc.). Such reports are typically confidential and not publicly available. They are costly and commissioned or developed to support specific decision-making processes and are considered business intelligence.

In the public sector, the providers of patent landscape reports are the national patent offices or research institutes that prepare reports on subjects of general interest, for a specific need, or to provide landscaping services to the public. Patent landscape reports are used by the public sector to raise awareness, with public institutions increasingly finding ways to facilitate and validate their policy decisions in ways that are similar to private sector decisions. [5]

Some public and private entities make patent landscape reports or patent analytics reports publicly available, including patent offices. An example of a searchable database of such reports is World Intellectual Property Organization's PATENTSCOPE database that facilitates patent landscape reports by other organizations. [10] One or several state of the art or prior art patent search reports form the basis of these patent landscape reports. Different fields of patent documents and other structured information are analyzed using statistical, analytical, and comparative methods to identify patterns, understand IP strategies and trends in technology areas in question. The results of the analysis are presented using a combination of narrative and different type of visualizations.

Patent landscape reports are sometimes confused with different products serving different purposes, such as a freedom-to-operate (FTO) analysis which has a different scope and is based on an FTO search; technology bulletins, technology watches/technology alerts, or even specific type of visualizations. [11]

Patent analysis methodology

There are currently[ as of? ] very few methodological resources describing the steps and tasks involved in patent analytics. [12] Typically patent analytics teams work with R&D departments, patent attorneys, with related information feeding into IP, corporate and business strategy decisions. [5]

In general, patent analytics and patent landscape report creation involves the following stages: [5]

  1. Defining the topic and project scope,
  2. The patent search that leads to obtaining patent data,
  3. Data cleaning and normalization,
  4. Data analysis and visualization,
  5. Narrative and storytelling when drafting the report, and
  6. Dissemination and distribution of the analysis.

Patent analytics is an iterative process which often requires rescoping of the project and adaptation based on the findings during the process. There are different tools which can be used for analytics, some embedded in patent databases, others more general data manipulation, visualization and analytics tools, including commercial and open source tools. [5]

Further reading

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">World Intellectual Property Organization</span> Specialised agency of the United Nations

The World Intellectual Property Organization is one of the 15 specialized agencies of the United Nations (UN). Pursuant to the 1967 Convention Establishing the World Intellectual Property Organization, WIPO was created to promote and protect intellectual property (IP) across the world by cooperating with countries as well as international organizations. It began operations on 26 April 1970 when the convention entered into force. The current Director General is Singaporean Daren Tang, former head of the Intellectual Property Office of Singapore, who began his term on 1 October 2020.

Business intelligence (BI) consists of strategies and technologies used by enterprises for the data analysis and management of business information. Common functions of BI technologies include reporting, online analytical processing, analytics, dashboard development, data mining, process mining, complex event processing, business performance management, benchmarking, text mining, predictive analytics, and prescriptive analytics.

Technology transfer (TT), also called transfer of technology (TOT), is the process of transferring (disseminating) technology from the person or organization that owns or holds it to another person or organization, in an attempt to transform inventions and scientific outcomes into new products and services that benefit society. Technology transfer is closely related to knowledge transfer.

Text mining, text data mining (TDM) or text analytics is the process of deriving high-quality information from text. It involves "the discovery by computer of new, previously unknown information, by automatically extracting information from different written resources." Written resources may include websites, books, emails, reviews, and articles. High-quality information is typically obtained by devising patterns and trends by means such as statistical pattern learning. According to Hotho et al. (2005) we can distinguish between three different perspectives of text mining: information extraction, data mining, and a knowledge discovery in databases (KDD) process. Text mining usually involves the process of structuring the input text, deriving patterns within the structured data, and finally evaluation and interpretation of the output. 'High quality' in text mining usually refers to some combination of relevance, novelty, and interest. Typical text mining tasks include text categorization, text clustering, concept/entity extraction, production of granular taxonomies, sentiment analysis, document summarization, and entity relation modeling.

Prior art is a concept in patent law used to determine the patentability of an invention, in particular whether an invention meets the novelty and the inventive step or non-obviousness criteria for patentability. In most systems of patent law, prior art is generally defined as anything that is made available, or disclosed, to the public that might be relevant to a patent's claim before the effective filing date of a patent application for an invention. However, notable differences exist in how prior art is specifically defined under different national, regional, and international patent systems.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Data management</span> Disciplines related to managing data as a resource

Data management comprises all disciplines related to handling data as a valuable resource, it is the practice of managing an organization's data so it can be analyzed for decision making.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cambia (non-profit organization)</span>

Cambia is an Australian-based global non-profit social enterprise focusing on open science, biology, innovation system reform and intellectual property. Its projects include The Lens, formerly known as Patent Lens, and the Biological Innovation for Open Society Initiative.

Web analytics is the measurement, collection, analysis, and reporting of web data to understand and optimize web usage. Web analytics is not just a process for measuring web traffic but can be used as a tool for business and market research and assess and improve website effectiveness. Web analytics applications can also help companies measure the results of traditional print or broadcast advertising campaigns. It can be used to estimate how traffic to a website changes after launching a new advertising campaign. Web analytics provides information about the number of visitors to a website and the number of page views, or creates user behavior profiles. It helps gauge traffic and popularity trends, which is useful for market research.

In computer information systems, a dashboard is a type of graphical user interface which often provides at-a-glance views of data relevant to a particular objective or process through a combination of visualizations and summary information. In other usage, "dashboard" is another name for "progress report" or "report" and is considered a form of data visualization.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Google Patents</span> Search engine from Google that indexes patents and patent applications

Google Patents is a search engine from Google that indexes patents and patent applications.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">The Lens</span>

The Lens, formerly called Patent Lens, is a free searcheable online patent and scholarly literature database, provided by Cambia, an Australia-based non-profit organization. The Lens has been hailed as the “most comprehensive scholarly literature database, that exceeds in its width and depth two leading commercial databases combined”. The Lens is an agglomeration database, that takes bibliometric data from other databases and combines them into one, deduplicated and with a powerful unified search syntax.

World Intellectual Property Indicators (WIPI) is an annual statistical report published by the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO). The publication provides an overview of the activity in the areas of patents, utility models, trademarks, industrial designs, microorganisms, plant variety protection, geographical indications and the creative economy.

Patent visualisation is an application of information visualisation. The number of patents has been increasing, encouraging companies to consider intellectual property as a part of their strategy. Patent visualisation, like patent mapping, is used to quickly view a patent portfolio.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Social media analytics</span> Process of gathering and analyzing data from social media networks

Social media analytics or social media monitoring is the process of gathering and analyzing data from social networks such as Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, or Twitter. A part of social media analytics is called social media monitoring or social listening. It is commonly used by marketers to track online conversations about products and companies. One author defined it as "the art and science of extracting valuable hidden insights from vast amounts of semi-structured and unstructured social media data to enable informed and insightful decision-making."

An intelligence engine is a type of enterprise information management that combines business rule management, predictive, and prescriptive analytics to form a unified information access platform that provides real-time intelligence through search technologies, dashboards and/or existing business infrastructure. Intelligence Engines are process and/or business problem specific, resulting in industry and/or function-specific marketing trademarks associated with them. They can be differentiated from enterprise resource planning (ERP) software in that intelligence engines include organization-level business rules and proactive decision management functionality.

Linkurious is a software company specialized in graph-based technology for various use cases such as financial crime, intelligence, cybersecurity, supply chain management or data governance.

The Global Brand Database is a free-of-charge comprehensive online database developed and maintained by the World Intellectual Property Organization. It is a global resource for trademark information, providing users access to a vast collection of international trademark records. The database offers valuable insights and search tools to assist trademark owners, professionals, and researchers protect and managing trademarks worldwide. It helps in trademark clearance searches, brand monitoring and enforcement activities, potential conflicts identification, tracking trademark applications tracking and registrations, and taking necessary legal actions to safeguard intellectual property rights. Researchers and policy-makers also use the database by accessing trademark data for analysis, policy development, and academic research.

The Global Design Database is a comprehensive online database developed and maintained by the World Intellectual Property Organization. It serves as a global resource for industrial designs, providing users access to a vast collection of international design records promoting transparency, efficiency, and accessibility in the design system. The database offers valuable tools and search functionalities to assist designers, researchers, intellectual property professionals, and policy-makers in exploring industrial designs worldwide, tracking design registrations, finding potential conflicts, giving access to design data for analysis, policy development, and academic research.

PATENTSCOPE is a global patent database and search system developed and maintained by the World Intellectual Property Organization. It provides free and open access to a vast collection of international patent documents, including patent applications, granted patents, and related technical information.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">PolyAnalytik</span> Canadian contract research organization

PolyAnalytik Inc. is a Canadian contract research organization, headquartered in London, Ontario, Established in 2007, PolyAnalytik specializing in the analysis of polymers, bio-polymers & small molecules, offering a wide range of services including pre-clinical studies, bio-processing, and purification. The organization serves diverse industries such as pharmaceuticals, biotechnology, biomedical, medical devices, food and agriculture, regulatory agencies, and environmental sciences.

References

  1. ↑ Oldham, Paul. Chapter 1 Introduction | The WIPO Patent Analytics Handbook.
  2. ↑ Ernst, Holger (2003-09-01). "Patent information for strategic technology management". World Patent Information. 25 (3): 233–242. doi:10.1016/S0172-2190(03)00077-2. ISSN   0172-2190.
  3. ↑ Analytics, WIPO Patent (2020-07-14), wipo-analytics/presentations , retrieved 2021-12-30
  4. ↑ University, Carnegie Mellon. "About - Center for AI and Patent Analysis - Carnegie Mellon University". www.cmu.edu. Retrieved 2021-12-30.
  5. 1 2 3 4 5 Kitsara, Irene (29 January 2018). "Stages, Tasks, Workflow and Tools in the preparation of Patent Landscape Reports". WIPO Github. Retrieved 30 December 2021.
  6. ↑ "An Overview of Patent Analytics Tools - Paul Oldham's Analytics Blog". www.pauloldham.net. Retrieved 2021-12-30.
  7. ↑ de Rassenfosse, Gaétan; Kozak, Jan; Seliger, Florian (6 November 2019). "Geocoding of worldwide patent data". Scientific Data. 6 (1): 260. Bibcode:2019NatSD...6..260D. doi:10.1038/s41597-019-0264-6. PMC   6834584 . PMID   31695047.
  8. ↑ WIPO. "WIPO Manual on Open Source Tools for Patent Analytics". www.wipo.int. doi:10.34667/tind.28980 . Retrieved 2021-12-30.
  9. ↑ "The Lens - Free & Open Patent and Scholarly Search". The Lens - Free & Open Patent and Scholarly Search. Retrieved 2022-11-30.
  10. ↑ "Patent Landscape Reports by Other Organizations". www.wipo.int. Retrieved 2022-12-01.
  11. ↑ Trippe, Anthony (2015). "Guidelines for Preparing Patent Landscape Reports" (PDF). WIPO. Retrieved 30 December 2021.
  12. ↑ "WIPO Patent Analytics: WIPO Analytics". WIPO Patent Analytics. Retrieved 2021-12-30.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.