Degrees of Patent Analysis: Which Approach to Use and When?  

Technical patent analysis (not legal) is a valuable tool for decision-making, for companies, inventors, universities and even investors. The approach used to gather and analyze patent data heavily influences the type and quality of data and how it can be utilized. Determining the correct patent analysis approach can be difficult, particularly since getting high quality data can require ample resources (e.g. time, manpower, tools). Depending on the purpose of the search, stakeholders involved, and other factors, certain approaches may be more appropriate for specific circumstances. The three main approaches for patent analysis are:

• Online Inquiry: An online inquiry can lead to a quick answer regarding a particular data field of interest. For example, if you are trying to determine who the inventors are on a patent, a simple Google® search of the patent number will provide a quick and easy answer. This type of inquiry should be used when the type of inquiry is seeking basic information about a patent (e.g., inventors, assignees, number of claims, etc.) Tools such as Freepatents.com, the USPTO, esp@cenet, etc. are appropriate for these searches.



• “Broad Sweep” Search: A “broad sweep” search is used to take a high-level view of an industry space or do a first pass assessment of a heavily populated IP space. The data obtained in this type of search is used as a tool to provide additional guidance and direction on where more focused searching should be performed. In this case, the depth of a search may include loosely defined search parameters such as searching all jurisdictions (e.g., US, EP, WO, JP, KR, CN, IN, etc.), a broader timeframe (e.g., 1970 – present), and an arrangement of broader keywords and/or search strings. This type of search is mainly electronic, i.e. analysis is based directly on the output of the search strings without any manual manipulation. (Note: ipCapital calls this type of search ipMining®.)



• Targeted Search: A targeted search is typically used to answer a set of pre-determined business issues or capture data needed to make business decisions. Here, the business issues provide the focus for the search, including interest areas, competitors, inventors, and other parameters such as jurisdiction and timeframe. This approach creates a high quality, business-focused dataset, which is a critical input for developing a data-driven IP strategy for a particular product or industry space. Notably, data in a Targeted Search is human-screened for relevancy and categorized by one or more custom fields to foster important insights into space. (Note: ipCapital calls this type of search ipAnalytics®.)

Good preparation for a patent search can lead to successful and effective patent analysis, whereas the lack of preparation can lead to the disappointed stakeholders, missed IP opportunities, or wasted time. We have found that there are nine key factors that control the decision around what type of patent search is needed.

1. Purpose: Am I looking for a quick answer to my questions or I am searching for answers to business issues?
2. Stakeholder: Who will the results be shared with and what influence and/or interest do they have on my search?
3. Focus & Scope: What are the characteristics of the space I am searching and how broadly do I need to search?
4. Resources: What resources are available and appropriate, including time, people, tools, and funding?
5. Assistance: Can I do this search on my own or do I need expert assistance?
6. Depth: How thoroughly do I need to search to find what I need?
7. Data Capture: Will I need this information just this once or again in the future? Am I disseminating the data to others?
8. Quality: Does the data need to be approximate or certain?
9. Output: How will the results be documented and communicated?

So how do you decide which patent analysis approach is needed or understand the tradeoffs of using one approach over another? The table below provides an easy-to-use guide for choosing the right patent search approach for your circumstances, using the nine key factors.

Degrees of Technical Patent Analysis: Decision Making Tool