Searching the Patent Databases

Copyright 2013. Werner Deichmann Juan. Project Manager Adiuvo Investments Sp. z o.o.

Getting started. What databases?

Free patent databases:
WIPO Patentscope: WIPO stands for World Intellectual Property Organization. The database has access to the PCT issued patents and patent applications. Machine translation available EPO Espacenet: The European Patent Office has the best collection of free tools for patent search. Espacenet has access to the PCT database and other databases like INPADOC, etc. . Machine translation available. They also have a complex training program, starting with an assistant UPRP - Public, it has got a register of all the polish patents. It is difficult to check polish patents using international search engines (no abstract, claims, sometimes not even the patent) Free Patents Online: Easy to use for the novice, it has an excellent patent coverage and good advanced options

Getting started. What databases?

Commercial patent databases: Global Patent Index (GPI): The cheapest option, combines the coverage of Espacenet with the detailed search capabilities of a commercial database Boliven. Cambridge Intelligence. It hosts a searchable online database of over 100 million scientific documents (60% patents). Easy to use and provides some useful statistic analysis. PatBase. Relies on the EPO-produced INPADOC/DOCDB family file for bibliographic information, and the EPO's BNS image database for worldwide patent document images Thomson Innovation: The company possesses an array of patent search and analysis tools with the widest database that makes it the best online resources provider and also the most expensive.

Left: Patbase results window and a market research graphic Down: Patent landscape ellaborated with Thomnson Innovation

Choose database

Search options

Difference with IPC

Patentscope advanced and field combination allow to conduct more complicated searches based on a quite typical syntax: boleean terms (and, or, not), proximity search (near), and parenthesis grouping: (diagnosis OR cancer) AND microarray is not the same as diagnosis OR (cancer AND microarray) http://patentscope.wipo.int/search/en/he lp/querySyntaxHelp.jsf Field combination is my favourite option because it gives an account of the search results. I never read when the number is above 300. WIPO does not group family members so a 300 hundred result will give many patents with identical applicants, title, inventors that are issued in different countries. It gets down to 100 or less.

Exercise
Try to find a patent (the first if it is possible) of a denaturat stable homo-oligomeric protein composed of 12 monomers that remains stable up to 110C and it is also detergent and protease resistant

A small exercise
In patentscope, go to combination fields, write down in the Front page field urea*, in the next field select in the combo boxes AND English abstract, then write cancer OR tumor OR tumour How many results are there? How many of those results use the word tumour? And, how many tumor? Which companies work for the five most prolific inventors?

Patent Information Services for Experts

Global patent Index

What is GPI
A cumulative database updated on a weekly basis (every Friday at 12.00 CET) included into the Patent information services package. Includes all bibliographic data coming from DOCDB. Patent documents supplied to the EPO by over 80 countries

What can I use GPI for?

The GPI database has been designed to enhance access to DOCDB. worldwide state-of-the-art searches. GPI contains the bibliographic data of more than 75 million patent publications supplied to the EPO by over 80 patent authorities, allowing you to perform detailed technical and commercial searches. worldwide patent watches. GPI provides search facilities to restrict the scope of your search to the most recent publications, letting you carry out detailed technical and commercial searches at weekly level INPADOC legal status information

Access the GPI

Access the GPI

https://data.epo.org/expert-services/start.html

Into the GPI

Into the GPI

Search Criteria Difference with the free searchers

Espacenet has a limit of 10 search terms per field. The other searchers have either lower limits or allow only to AND, OR operators Patentscope has a very complete search form but no family filters and poor statistical analysis tools. Free patents online has got an excellent coverage of US, WO/PCT, EP patents but bad access to images, no statistical analysis and no downloading of result lists (at least for free) GPI allows to filter the results by family representatives (it can greatly reduce the number of patents in the result list), and to download it to perform statistical analisys . The amount of operators and conditions of search (show only family representatives, look for patents which cite certain prior art, etc) makes it the most versatile tool.

Search Criteria (main categories)

GPI-Easy Search
Easy search provides very simple tools, as the NUM tool that will look for the number we introduce in any field as Application number, Publication, Priority date, etc These tools usually give up much noise and except WORD they are rarely used

GPI-Simple Search

GPI-Detailed Search

Search fields
GPI offers more than 100 different search criteria in the following fields:
standard patent bibliographic data Abstracts citations (patent literature, non-patent literature NPL) International Patent Classification (IPC) classifications allocated by the EPO (ECLA, ICO) classifications allocated by national offices simple patent families (documents having exactly the same priority picture)

Searching the patents

The search window is now displayed. In the query edit zone enter manually a short Boolean query, e.g. ABEN OR TIEN = laser AND beam AND (IPC = G11B OR H01L) to retrieve all documents having an English abstract (ABEN) or English title (TIEN) containing the words "laser" and "beam" limited to IPC classes G11B or H01L, and click the Search button to run your first search: Once the search result is displayed, click the Result button to go to the result . window, or refine your search:

Searching the patents

Initiate the search

Display the results

GPI exercise
Search in either title or abstract patents that concern the use of urea for cancer treatment or diagnosis (if no GPI search in European patent applications microarra* in title or abstract and IPC A61* or C12* or G01N) How many patent families GPI finds? In the upper middle section of the GPI window click on Go to statistics, click on the greatest cake portion, then on the longest bar. Which company has most of the patents?

E-learning module
https://ecourses.epo.org/wbts/gpi_en/index.html

What is a patent family

In april of 1998 two polish chemists sent the documents describing their new process for the preparation of amlodipine benzesulphonate (for hypertension and chronic stable angina) to UPRP. The documents were received the 9 of april and were later published as the patent application PL325757A1 According to PCT requirement of filling to them the application no more than one year after initial filling they received the patent documents the 8th of april of 1999 PCT gave them a very positive ISR so they decided to go ahead with the patenting process in a few countries where the patent received national numbers and codes all of them with the same applicant, same priority and same IPC codes: AT302187T, AU3061399A, CN1122023C, DE69926704D1....

How GPI calculates families

Any document with the same applicant, IPC classification and priority date belongs to the same family.

A personal strategty
Keyword calibration
If you have already a patent application or granted patent and the task is to look for related patents then the first search must contain that patent in the results list. Searching through the results list find two, three or more very representative patents and use them to calibrate further searches. Further searches must contain all the patents selected in previous searches by their high representativeness.

Urease to treat cancer

If we are interested in learning everything what we can about the product patented through PCT as WO2004009112A1- USE OF UREASE FOR INHIBITING CANCER CELL GROWTH we can try just finding any possibly related patents WORD = urea* and (cancer* OR tumor* OR tumour*) and (treat* OR diagnos*) Our patent is in second position what is a good signal That gives us 341 families. There is a lot to read there, we can restrict it by adding PRD>20070101 what gives us, how many families? What about if instead of limiting the priority date, we just change urea* by urease

Recommendations before getting hands-on the report

In order to approach the subject of our study I recommend
A first week of intensive reading to be up-to-date While reading trying to know the general patent panorama The second week speak with the customer and get acquianted with the details of the project Read more and start a real search