The growing business handbook : inspiration and advice ... - Sparkler

54 Ideas and innovation
3 A patent may have died for many reasons, eg its 20-year life has ended, it’s
been revoked due to evidence put forward against its validity, failure to pay
renewal fees, etc. However, there are certain situations where a patent can be
reinstated and certain inventions can get extended protection beyond 20 years
via supplementary protection certificates (SPCs), eg pharmaceutical inventions.
The above information can give companies access to the latest technological
innovations, market trends and the companies that have control over areas of
particular technologies.
If a patent relates to a product of interest, a company can discover the owner and
see whether the patent is granted and in force.
Searching patents
There are a large number of patent databases available to carry out different levels of
patent searching and analysis. The best places to start a search would be Espacenet or
the SIP databases and Google. These allow free searching to be carried out by using
keywords, classifications and company names.
Any patents found through these databases may not give the full picture because
each patent may have many patent family members, eg a UK patent may have other
patents connected to it via countries outside the UK such as Germany, France and the
US. These family members would need to be found for each patent. There may also be
multiple patents relating to different aspects of a particular product.
Once all the patents have been found, eg for a particular company, the results can
be displayed based on the number of patents for subject matter, countries, publication
dates, etc. These can be displayed as a patent map or landscape, which show trends
and how patents may be linked.
Making decisions based on patent information
Patent information, maps or landscapes can provide vital strategic information to
companies:
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Trends for a particular technology, ie the number of patent applications for a
particular subject matter over time.
Potentially identify the next generation of products your competitors are
developing.
The companies most active within a particular field (and when they were most
active).
The countries that have granted patents for particular technologies (these give
a good indication of where the best markets are for a particular product).
Partnerships between companies working on a technological area.