2. Outline
Background
Patent Application & Evaluation
Business-Relevant Competing Applicant Data
Stakeholders
Data Sources
Relevant Data
Country of Applicants
Commercial Potential
Monopoly Power
Patent Portfolio
Competitor Monitoring
Competing Applicants’ Data Representation
Back Office
Data Search Representation
Data Representation
Conclusion
3. Background: Definitions
A Patent: the right granted to an inventor -for a specific period
of time- that forbids any other party from making, using or
selling his invention without his permission (EPO).
A patent is a negative right
Patent Applicant: entity who requests the ownership of a patent
via a written request.
4. Background: Motivation & Assumptions
Motivation
Provide visual aids and decision making basis to decision
makers
Assumptions
Difference between European patent system and that of other
countries rather trivial.
Stakeholders are mainly investors
Discard patent examiners perspective (matter of scope)
5. Patent Application & Evaluation
Applicants fill patent application documents and provide
endorsing documents
Application evaluation takes place
By Patent Examiners
Final Decision communicated to the patent applicant
Grant, Rejection or suspension
6. Stakeholders of Patent Applicant Information
Patent Examiners are rather interested in the intellectual
property aspect of the patent
Business stakeholders:
Firms interested in investing in new technologies/markets
Contribution to background checks on potential partners
Track competition
7. Patent Applicants’ Data Sources
Not easy.
Patent Databases hold limited information about patent
applicants (e.g. name, address, date… etc.)
Use them as a starting point for research
Large Firm Listing Databases (eg. IBISWorld)
Interesting business information.
No direct mapping to the applicants
Best Practice:
Investigate patent business-relevant information
Combine results with data about patent applicants from external data
sources
8. Business-Relevant Data About Applicants
1. Country of Applicants
2. Commercial Potential
3. Monopoly Power
4. Patent Portfolio
5. Competitor Monitoring
9. 1. Country of Applicant
Use country of competing patent applicants to compare
patent systems for a cost-benefit analysis
Patent fees
Flow of returns
Is it economically viable to invest in the patents the applicants are
holding (or apply for)?
10. 2. Commercial Potential
Potential: ability or intent to commercialize the subject of
the patents at hand
How profitable is the commercialization of the invention/idea?
Applicants holding a patent for fairly long can be a proof
of its commercial value
11. 3. Monopoly Power
Does the fact that competing applicants hold some patents
imply that these applicants own the exclusive right to
monopolize the concerned inventions?
Frequency of Patent Renewal
Owning a patent and frequently renewing it tells a lot about the
patentee.
12. 4. Patent Portfolio
Approach revolves around what patent applicants & what
they intend to do with it.
Patent Portfolio Diversification
Many patents of poor value vs. few patents of high value
Patents in dead fields vs. patents in promising fields
Therefore, stakeholders can infer:
Diversification Strategies
Investment interests
Competitive Potential
13. 5. Competitor Monitoring
Strategic Management
Track the competing applicants’ pool of patents and react
accordingly
Holger Ernst (2003), Beisheim Graduate School:
Use of indicators for monitoring competitors by assessing
their patenting strategy
By extension define the key aspects and motivations
that drive their investment decisions.
14. Important Patenting Indicators for Competitor
Monitoring
Patent information for strategic technology management, Ernst, H. 2003
15. Data Representation: A concept
Back Office
Cloud Computing Technology
Consider Cost
Use Data Mining Algorithms
16. Data Search & Representation Process
Filter Search
Display
Results
17. Data Search & Display Process Explained
Selecting the search filter
By Patent Applicant’s Name
By Country
By Field of Business
By Inventors
Perform Search Algorithms
Build a Model
Clustering, classification, data analytics algorithms…
18. Data Search & Display Process Explained
Display of Results
19. Conclusion
Gathering relevant data from a business perspective is not
a trivial task
Requires analysis & business background
Already existing DBs do not explicitly hand in the information
Future Work Suggestions
Data Repositories holding patent applicants data
20. References
Alcácer, J., Gittelman, M., & Sampat, B. (2009). Applicant and examiner citations in u.s. patents: An
overview and analysis. Research Policy.
Epo - glossary. (2012, 12 20). Retrieved from http://www.epo.org/service-support/glossary.html.
Ernst, H. (2003). Patent information for strategic technology management. World Patent Information,
25(2003), 233-242. Retrieved from http://www.journals.elsevier.com/worldpatent-information .European
Patent Office. (2012). Glossary. Retrieved June 10, 2013, from: http://www.epo.org/service-
support/glossary.html#p.
European Patent Office. (2013). European patents and the grant procedure. Retrieved from
http://www.epo.org/service-support/publications/procedure/european-patents.html.
Hsieh, C. (2012, 11 13). Patent value assessment and commercialization strategy. Retrieved from
http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0040162512002405.
Kelly, E.T., & Shear, T.E. (2003). A Researcher’s Guide to Patents. Plant Physiology, 132,1127-1130.
Lanjouw, J. O., Pakes, A., & Putnam, J. (1998). How to count patents and value intellectual property. The
Journal Of Industrial Economics, XLVI(4), 405-432.
Pakes, A. (1986). Patents as options: Some Estimates of the Value of holding European Patent stocks.
Econometrica, 54(4), 755-784. Retrieved from
http://www.jstor.org/discover/10.2307/1912835?uid=2&uid=4&sid=21102433476691.
Pitkethly, R. (1997, March). The valuation of patents : A review of patent valuation methods with
consideration of option based methods and the potential for further research. Retrieved from
http://users.ox.ac.uk/~mast0140/EJWP0599.pdf.
Webster, E., & H.Jensen, P. (2011). Do Patents Matter For Commercialization?. Journal of Law And
Economics, 54(2), 431-453. Retrieved from
http://www.jstor.org/discover/10.1086/658487?uid=2&uid=4&sid=21102433428181.
