Usually information related to patents was searched only for the purpose of drafting patent applications. But this trend has changed from the past few years. Patents are now critical instruments which would give any business entity an edge over the others. Due to technological advancement it is now very easy to access the informational sources and determine the new advancements in the field of patents. The knowledge and awareness of the emerging technology and inventions is critical to have an edge over your competitors today.
Competitive Intelligence is the organized way of collecting and analyzing information about competitors and using it to make decisions. Patents are now regarded as one of the major sources of industrial and competitive information. Patent analysis can be significant in understanding and forecasting the growth in the competitive technology setting in an industry. Qualitative and quantitative are two ways of analyzing patent information. The qualitative method involves reading the entire patent document and classifying the technical information as required. Quantitative analysis involves Statistical processing. The most crucial part of patent intelligence after patent analysis is patent mapping. Patent mapping, is a technique that uses patent information to create a graphical or physical representation of the relevant art pertaining to a particular technology area, which can be used to illustrate a competitor's relative patent strength. Intelligence such as this may allow a corporation to plan research efforts strategically, evaluate the strength of its patent portfolio relative to its competitors, and identify potential licensing opportunities.
Competitive intelligence studies may include Patent Landscape that assess the potential market opportunity ,IP due diligence that analyse patent databases ,White Space Analysis or Gap Analysis that helps to determine the areas with growth opportunity where R&D requires more investment , licensing studies that identifies potential infringers of an invention/ technology and determines to whom the patent can be licensed. All this will help in gaining competitive insights and understanding recent growth opportunities thereby enabling to take major decision regarding product development, patent filings, R&D planning and strategic development.
The patent information can be easily obtained by accessing online patent databases like USPTO, EPO, JPO, Surf IP, SIP, Fresh patents, Patents online, etc. Delphion, Dialog, Micopat, etc. are different paid databases.
We blend business with law. Our team of attorney's at Biz and Legis has an in-depth knowledge of patent law and they also have a keen eye for spotting opportunities. This enviable blend of business and law gives us an edge over our competition. Our technical knowledge helps us to screen important inventions and our business insight helps us to prioritize these screened inventions to maximize your business gains.