How can you easily find patents in your field?

1 Define your scope

Before you start searching for patents, you need to define the scope of your inquiry. What is the problem you are trying to solve, the product you are developing, or the technology you are interested in? What are the keywords, concepts, and synonyms that describe your topic? What are the criteria for selecting or excluding patents, such as date, country, status, or classification? By defining your scope, you can narrow down your search and avoid irrelevant results.

2 Use patent databases

The next step in researching patents is to use patent databases to find and access patents in your field. There are many options available online, some of which are free and some of which require a subscription or a fee. The most popular and comprehensive patent databases include Espacenet, maintained by the European Patent Office (EPO) and covering over 120 million patents from more than 100 countries and regions; Google Patents, powered by Google and covering over 130 million patents from more than 20 patent offices with machine translations and prior art search; Patentscope, provided by the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) with over 90 million patent documents from more than 50 patent offices plus machine translations and analytics; and Derwent Innovation, owned by Clarivate with over 100 million patents from more than 50 patent offices, plus human-curated abstracts, titles, and classifications.

3 Apply search strategies

To locate pertinent patents in your area, you need to apply certain search strategies to refine and enhance your results. Common search strategies include Boolean operators such as AND, OR, and NOT, which can help you combine or exclude keywords or phrases. Additionally, proximity operators like NEAR can help you find keywords or phrases that are close together. Wildcards and truncations are also beneficial; for example, the symbol * can be used to search for variations of a keyword or phrase, such as biodegrad* for biodegradable, biodegradation, biodegradability, etc. All of these strategies can help you find the relevant patents you need.

4 Analyze and evaluate patents

Once you have found some patents that match your scope, it is essential to analyze and evaluate them to determine their relevance, quality, and novelty. Claims are statements that define the scope and protection of the patent and are usually located at the end of the document. They can be used to understand the main features and limitations of the invention. Citations are references to other patents or publications related to the patent, typically located at the beginning or end of the document. Analyzing these can reveal prior art and subsequent developments of the invention. Additionally, analyzing inventors and assignees - names and affiliations of people or organizations involved in the patent, usually located at the beginning - can uncover key players and competitors in your field.

5 Use patent analysis tools

To facilitate and enhance your patent analysis and evaluation, you can use some patent analysis tools that can make visualizing, comparing, and summarizing patents in your field easier. PatentInspiration is a free tool that enables you to create charts, graphs, maps, and networks based on various patent data. PatentSight is a paid tool that can calculate and compare different patent metrics. PatentReader is a free tool that allows you to generate and read summaries of patent documents. Utilizing these tips and tools can make finding patents in your field simpler. Moreover, patents can provide you with valuable insights and inspiration for your R&D projects, helping you stay ahead of the curve in your domain.

6 Here’s what else to consider

This is a space to share examples, stories, or insights that don’t fit into any of the previous sections. What else would you like to add?