PREFACE

Patent search and analysis is an important skill required for engineers and lawyers alike. It is
often the first step to know whether a given research work/output is novel. In the recent
decades, patent search has become an integral part of R&D units, academic institutes and
industry. The search and analysis of patents has gained such prominence that there are
numerous companies and firms with dedicated teams to conduct different types of patent
search. Today, patent literature has reached the stage of being an integral part of literature
search in research and development in academia and industry. The development of software
tools has also fostered the growth in databases and analytical tools to provide support for
different type of patent search, retrieval and analysis.
The idea of a Patent search and analysis work book was borne out of the need to
develop practical skills in patent search and analysis for students of LL.B Hons. in IP law
program and for training of women scientists in patent search under the DST Women Scientist
Program in IPR in our School. The development of this book started in the year 2008 with the
preparation of fifty exercises for carrying out patent search from different technology areas. By
2010, around 100 exercises were created. This work book is aimed to be a practical guide to
those interested in patent search and analysis. To this end, this is the first of its kind. Heartfelt
gratitude to Prof. N.L. Mitra, Advisor, Rajiv Gandhi School of IP Law for his encouragement
and emphasizing on the need to build techno-legal understanding. The encouragement of
colleagues from the School is also gratefully acknowledged. The efforts of Tripti, Mahasweta
Sengupta, Sucharita Ghosh in the preparation of patent exercises are acknowledged. Readers
are suggested to give feedback so that this book can be developed further.

July 2019 M.Padmavati

1
 CONTENTS
1. Patent Documents – Nature and Scope
1.1 Patent Anatomy- How to read a patent document
1.2 Bibliographic Data and Technical Data
2. Introduction to Patent Search
2.1 Purpose of Patent Search
2.2 Historical aspects of Patent Search
2.3 Harmonization of Patent system and its impact on Patent Search
3. Fundamentals of Patent Search
3.1 Databases for search
3.2. Simple search
3.2.1 Keyword search
3.3 Classification search
3.3.1 International Patent Classification
3.3.2. European Patent Classification
3.3.3 United States Patent Classification
3.3.4 Japanese File Index Classification
3.3.5 Cooperative Patent Classification
3.4. Combination search
4. Types of Patent Search
4.1 Patentability Search
4.2 Validity Search/Invalidity Search
4.3 Freedom to Operate Search
4.4 Patent Landscape Search
5. Analytical Tools for Patent Analysis
6. Solved Model patent search exercises
7. Patent exercises

2
 Chapter 1
Patent Documents – Nature and Scope

Technological progress involves the development of new processes and products. Intellectual
Property may be claimed over such new processes or products. One form of intellectual
property rights that are predominantly relevant in relation to technology are patents. Subject to
the conditions as provided under the relevant patent laws new products and processes or both
can be claimed in patents. Patents are monopoly rights given to inventions.

Patents differ from other forms of IP in terms of the nature, scope and duration. Post the
TRIPS Agreement in 1995, IP became a global obligation and member countries needed to
adopt the minimum standards laid down for IP. The developing countries and the least
developed countries were given a transition period to adopt it in their national legislations. India
amended its existing IP laws and enacted new legislations for some IP forms in order to be
compliant with the TRIPS Agreement. The Patents Act 1970 was amended thrice to bring it in
compliance with the Agreement. The duration of a patent grant is for 20 years from the date of
filing. A country’s ability to innovate is known from its innovation index. The number of patent
filings is one of the indicators for the level of innovation of a country. Patent documents are
vital sources of information in relation to a given technology area. They represent solutions that
inventors propose in relation to the problems of the prior art. Reading patent documents is vital
at various stages of research and development, whether it is an institution or a company.

1.1 Patent Anatomy -How to read a patent document

Patents are techno-legal documents and are a major source of information in relation to a
technology area. A significant amount of the literature in relation to developments in a
technology is found in patents. Publication of patent documents provides an opportunity to
identify developments in relation to an area. The development of databases has facilitated
retrieval of patent documents and specific information from different parts of a patent. The
cover page of a patent provides the basic details. A patent document contains bibliographic
data and technical data.

1.2 Bibliographic Data and Technical Data

3
Bibliographic data in relation of patents helps in understanding details related to applicant,
inventor, type of document, status of the patent, the date of filing and grant and the jurisdiction
covered. The development of the internationally agreed Numbers for the Identification of
bibliographic data (INID) codes has led to the systematic classification of each category/section
of a patent document. The norms for representing each aspect of the bibliographic data are
harmonized between the patent offices. It helps in easy retrieval of patent documents and helps
the examiner in search. Each invention is classified as per country codes or IPC system which
helps in identifying the invention category. Examples of marked categories in relation to the
front page of patent documents from different countries are shown below in Figs 1 to 4.

Fig 1. Front page of a US Patent

4
Fig 2. Front page of a European Patent

Fig 3. Front Page of a PCT publication

5
 Fig 4. Front page of an Indian Patent

Technical data in relation to an invention indicates the technical details of an invention. In the
front page of the document, the title of the invention and abstract provide the first insight into
the relevant technical area of the invention. Every patent document is organized into several
different technical categories that provide a systematic understanding of the patent. The
background of the invention section provides an idea of the prior art and what are problems
that exist in relation to a product or process. The background usually concludes with the
purpose of how the invention solves the problem(s) in the prior art. The ‘Summary of the
invention’ is a mirror image of the claims of a patent. The detailed description of the drawings
and the invention provide the elaborate details of the structural and functional components of
the invention (Fig 5). The various embodiments described in the detailed description provide
the several working ways of the invention. The description should be adequate and enable a
person to make and use the invention. Further, the preferred or the optimal working of the
invention will need to be disclosed in some jurisdictions. Written description requirement,
enablement and best mode are the general disclosure norms in relation to patents. Depending
on the technology art group, there are specific norms that need to be met in relation to patent

6
specification. At least one drawing must be disclosed for a provisional patent application in
case of a mechanical invention. As per the requirements of the Budapest treaty details of the
origin of the biological material and its conditions of growth must be mentioned in a complete
specification disclosing an invention based on bioresource. The claims in the patent document
represent the property right in relation to the invention. The claims define the scope of the
invention and demarcate the metes and bounds of the property. The essential features of the
invention are found in the independent claims of a patent. Claims are read in light of the
specification and to that extent they need to be written in a logical hierarchy. The first
independent claim of the patent is the least restrictive in nature. The elements in a claim must
be named and clear to understand. The structural and the functional details of the elements
must be disclosed clearly and concise. Where necessary structural and functional cooperation
must be shown.

Fig 5. Different technical details of a patent document

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 Chapter 2
Introduction to Patent Search
Patents form an important body of information for search. Patent documents can be accessed
from the patent offices in paper form/CD form or in a searchable database. Patent search is an
integral part of any R&D. Novelty of any research work can be assessed by knowing whether
such a work is already available in a patent document or in non-patent literature. The patent
system incentivizes the inventor to disclose research findings (i.e., public disclosure) in
exchange of a private reward of a grant of a patent. Unlike in the earlier times, today patent
search has gained such importance that it is a dedicated activity. Patent professionals at some
time or the other in their career conduct patent search. IP Cells in institutions and in companies
carry out patent search for various purposes. The value of patent search can be manifold and
it is relevant for early as well as late phase of product development.

2.1 Purpose of Patent Search

There are various purposes for why one conducts a patent search. It is often the very first to
determine whether the research work carried out is novel or not. To this end, it helps to
determine how the invention is different from the prior art. The purpose of a patent search can
be identified from understanding why the need for a patent search arises (Fig 6). For instance,
it may be done as a part of a normal business process, defend a portfolio, as a part of a short
term or a long term strategy in business, determine whether an invention is novel or not, as a
part of a negotiation meeting etc., The search can be a preliminary one or a detailed one
depending on what kind of information is required in relation to a search. There are different
types of searches undertaken depending on the purpose for search. The different types of
patent search are discussed in the later part of this workbook. Decisions in relation to research,
business strategy, IP portfolio and business outlook will be based on report prepared after
patent search and analysis. Hence, acquiring skills in relation to patent search and analysis is
no longer only an academic activity but a distinct profession.

8
 Gain insight into new
Determine how to
licensing opportunities To decrease the risk of
direct future R&D
/ M&A / patent litigation
investments
Collaboration

Enhance your existing

capability to manage Strategic Research and To predict future
protect and exploit Technology Planning behavior
patent portfolio

New products for

market

Fig. 6. Purpose for patent search

2.2 Historical aspects of Patent Search

The need for submission of elaborate specifications in relation to invention and examination
led to the development of the administrative system for patent grants. The need for a separate
administrative body led to the setting up of the patent offices and patent commissioners were
appointed. The development of country classification codes, printing of patent documents and
making them available for public access, publication of an official gazette of the patents form
the early form of public access to patents. Extensive cataloging facilities in the form of libraries
were developed by many patent offices. The developments in software enabled the availability
of microfilms and CDs on patents. Search facilities were made available for the patent office
so that those interested could go and physically inspect patent documents. With the
development of the internet technologies and database architecture, patent documents began
to be available online. This provided an easy way of locating patents across different patent
office using the online search of patent databases. Most patent offices have databases for
search for different aspects of patents. Digital revolution has impacted the storage and
dissemination of patent information. The development of the INID codes, International Patent
Classification (IPC) has harmonized the way patents are represented across jurisdictions.

9
2.3 Harmonization of Patent system and its impact on Patent Search
In the early days of the patent system, applicants found it burdensome to file and prosecute
application in national patent office due to different requirements in the respective patent laws
and guidelines. There is a wide difference in submission requirements such as forms
applicable, classification system for patents etc., Post the TRIPS agreement, harmonization of
the procedural aspects of patents was attempted under the Patent Law Treaty for the
development of uniform norms in relation to filing. Increased need of applicants to file patents
in different countries necessitated the need to harmonise patent office examination practices.
The Trilateral examination practice was a means of harmonizing the examination practices and
work sharing between USPTO, EPO and JPO. The development of the IP5 group is a further
attempt to harmonise practices across other patent offices. The development of the PCT
system (under the PCT treaty) marked an important development that aided global patent filing.
By filing a PCT application in a national patent office, the applicant can get the benefit of
preserving priority and the application is treated as automatically filed in several countries on
the same date without the need to pay filing fee to individual patent offices. This is the important
advantage that facilitated patent applicants to prefer the PCT mode of filing. It further
harmonized practices in relation to search and examination of patents. The developments in
software applications has also led to the harmonization of documentation methods and storage
and access of patent information. The need for development of a uniform technology based
classification under the Strasbourg Convention led to International Patent Classification
System. Bilateral arrangements between patent offices have also led to harmonization of
practices. For instance, the EPO and USPTO have jointly developed the Cooperative Patent
Classification system which was adopted in 2013. These developments influence patent search
from the point of view of understanding how patent documents are classified, reclassified and
can be accessed.

10
 Chapter 3
Fundamentals of Patent Search
As a beginner in patent search the simple search option helps in building awareness on patent
search by doing a search based on one or two fields of search. The simple search mechanism
involves search by patent number, inventor name, assignee name, date, citation and legal
status. Patent offices that support online search for patents provide options of both the simple
search and advanced search for patents. Advanced search for patents offers the ability to
combine different fields together to perform search. For instance, Title and abstract, Title,
abstract and Independent claims etc., many patent databases also support user entry of
customized queries for conducting search. User defined queries for search provides a platform
for professional patent searchers to explore the relationships between different types of patent
data. With the provision of personal folders of work space in some patent databases, users can
retrieve different events of search and manage work.

Keyword searches form a part of the simple search wherein the literal match of the keywords
is searched in a given patent database. The use of Boolean operators (the words such as AND,
OR, NOT or AND NOT) as conjunctions helps to combine or exclude a given set of words. This
helps in developing a focused search and saves time in screening irrelevant hits. Classification
search enables search based on different technology domains. Combination search involves
the use of keyword and classification codes for conducting patent search.

Some databases provide specialized tools for search such as biological sequence
search, structure search and image search that help the user identify extended information in
a given area.

3.1 Databases for search

Information about existing patents and published patent applications can be found in a
number of places, including libraries, government registries and subscriber databases. There
are public sector database services and private sector database services as shown in the
figure 7.

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 Fig. 7. Overview of the databases for patent search
Depending on the purpose of patent search, a given database can be selected. There are some
important things to keep in mind while selecting a database for search such as database
coverage, updating schedule, analysis support, search options etc.

3.2. Simple search

3.2.1. Keyword search
Keyword search is used as most basic extraction process to retrieve patent information.
Generally patent documents include many acronyms and new terminology. Patent applications
demands many words that are synonyms and technically equivalent words that describe the
search topic compare to normal web search.

A keyword search is performed by using one or more search keywords to query in bibliographic
data, indexed data, and abstract and full text data in a patent database. The process of word
selection plays a significant role in keyword search method. While selecting keywords related
to the search subject matter, searcher should consider the functional aspects along with
structural aspects of the invention. For each such aspect, keywords should contain their
synonyms and alternate or equivalent technical words (Fig 8).

12
Selecting Steps for keyword search:

Use of related words for search vocabulary

Use of broader terms

Use of narrower terms

Concept (dif f erent Synonym/Equivalent OR Synonym/Equivalent OR Synonym/Equivalent

structural and
f unctional aspects)
Concept 1

AND

Concept 2

AND

Concept 3

AND

Concept 4

Fig 8. Steps in Keyword search

Keyword searching is often aided by special operators such as boolean operators to broaden
and narrow the search and proximity operators that specify the order between two words and
the maximum allowed distance that should exist between them. Different types of operators
can be used depending on database. Widely known boolean operators and proximity

13
operators include as shown in Table 1.

Operator Meaning

Boolean Operators

OR + Grouping operator Broaden search retrieve results containing any of the

keywords
AND Combining operator Retrieve results containing all of the keywords

NOT Excluding operator Retrieve results that don’t contain the term following it

Wildcard Operators

$ * Open truncation String of characters of any length

? Limited truncation Zero or one character

“” Compound search Retrieves documents with the compound words

() Parenthesis Combining keywords with different Boolean

operators

Table 1. Use of operators for search

Limitations for keyword search:

 Differnet detail levels of patent descriptions

 Inaccurate terminology
 Differnt official languages.

To overcome these keyword search drawbacks patent classification search is used. Different
patent offices have developed different patent classification systems.

3.3. Classification Search

Classification codes are created and maintained by each patenting authority for the purposes
of organizing patent and applications according to their technical application, structural
features, intended use, or the resulting product produced by a process. The major classification
systems in use worldwide include the International Patent Classification (IPC) system, the
European Classification (ECLA) system, the United States patent classification (USPC)
system, and the Japanese File Index and F-Term (FI/F-Term) classification system (Table 2).

14
 Major Patent Classifications Authority Divisions

International Patent Classification (IPC) The World Intellectual Property 70000

Organization (WIPO)

European Patent Classification (ECLA) and In European Patent Office (EPO) 160000
Computer Only (ICO)

US Patent Classification (US Class) United States Patent and Trademark 150000
Office (USPTO)

F-Index (derived from IPC) and F-term Japanese Patent Office (JPO) 190000

Cooperative Patent Classification (CPC) EPO and USPTO 250000

Table 2. Classification systems

Patent classifications, or taxonomies, generally come in the form of a hierarchy of categories:

the top level includes very broad categories of inventions, so the number of top categories is
very small. The second level includes more narrow categories, the third level even more precise
categories, and so on (Fig 9)

Section

Class

Subclass

Group

SubGroup

Fig. 9. Hierarchy in IPC codes

15
3.3.1. International Patent Classification (IPC)

The international Patent Classification (IPC) is a hierarchical patent classification system

created under the Strasbourg Agreement (1971) and updated on a regular basis by a
committee of Experts, consisting of representatives of the contracting states of that Agreement
with observers from other organizations, such as the European Patent Office. The Strasbourg
Agreement is of a number of treaties administered by the World Intellectual Property
Organization (WIPO).

Patent publications from all of the contracting states (and others) are each assigned
at least one classification term indicating the subject to which the invention relates and may
also be assigned further classification & indexing terms to give further details of the content.

For the first seven editions of the IPC, the classification was updated approximately
every five years. From the eighth edition, which came into force Jan 1, 2006, the classification
has been divided into “core” & advanced levels. The Core Level goes from Section down to
Main Group, with some technical sub-groups. The Advanced Level contains all the sub-groups
of the IPC.

The IPC divides technology into eight sections with approximately 70,000 subdivisions.
Each subdivision has a symbol consisting of Arabic numerals and letters of the Latin alphabet.

A patent examiner assigns a classification to the patent application or other document at the
most detailed level which is applicable to its contents.

16
The basic structure of an IPC system is the hierarchical classification with 8 major sections (A-
H) as shown in Table 3

IPC Sections

A Human Necessities

B Performing Operations, Transporting

C Chemistry, Metallurgy

D Textiles, Paper

E Fixed Constructions

F Mechanical Engineering, Lighting, Heating, Weapons

G Physics

H Electricity

Table 3. IPC codes

Each classification term consists of a symbol such as A01B 1/24 (which represents “hand tools
for treating meadows or lawns in agriculture”) and described as shown in the Table 4 below.

17
 IPC Symbol • Description

Section (Alphabet) A • Human Necessities

Class (Two Digit Number) • Agriculture; forestry; animal husbandry;

A01 trapping; fishing

• Soil working in agriculture or forestry; parts,

Subclass A01B details, or accessories of agricultural machines
or implements, in general

Group (1 to 3 Digit
• Hand tools
Number) A01B 1/00

Sub Group (atleast 2 digit

• For treating meadows or lawns
Number) A01B 1/24

Table 4. Subgroup level classification for a given IPC section

3.3.2. European Patent Classification (ECLA)

The European Patent Office created a more precise variant of the IPC, assigning it to
all of the patents in the Examiner search files. ECLA codes do not appear on printed patents,
but they are added to some databases.

The ECLA taxonomy is worth mentioning in addition to the IPC because it is a kind of
extension of the IPC: It is identical to the IPC down to Main Group level, but it is more detailed
at Sub-Group level, where it contains 160,000 categories, thus allowing for a finer-grain
classification.

3.3.3 United States Patent Classification (USPC)

The USPC is a system for organizing all US. patent documents into relatively small collections
based on common subject matter. Each subject matter division in the USPC includes a major
component called a class and a minor component called a subclass. A class generally
describes one technology from another. Subclasses describe processes, structural features,

18
and functional features of the subject matter encompassed within the scope of a class. A USPC
classification uniquely identifies around 450 classes and one of the more than 150,000
subclasses (Fig 10).

A class/subclass pair of identifiers uniquely identifies a subclass within a class.

USPC • Description
Symbol

Class 2/456 • Human Necessities

Subclass • Body cover

456

Fig 10. USPC classification system

3.3.4. Japanese File Index Classification

FI terms are a system of refinements to the IPC, applied by the Japanese Patent Of-Office
(JPO) to Japanese patent documents. The JPO also applies supplementary indexing terms,
called F-terms, in addition to IPC and FI classifications, to assist in searching Japanese patent
documents. F-terms are created by combining multiple File Index subdivisions into broader
“themes”.

The file index or FI is the internal classification used by the JPO. It consists of an IPC subclass
followed by a three digit IPC subdivision symbol. These IPC-subdivision symbols are special
to FI classes and are structured hierarchically. Optionally, a `file discrimination symbol' in the
form of a letter can be added.

Example of FI:

G 06 F 9/00, 320A

IPC Subdivision symbol File discrimination symbol

3.3.5. Cooperative Patent Classification (CPC)

19
The Cooperative Patent Classification (CPC) system, in force from 1 January 2013, is a
bilateral system which has been jointly developed by the EPO and the USPTO to harmonize
their classification systems (ECLA, ICO and USPC respectively) into a single system based on
the International Patent Classification (IPC) structure and includes three classifications: ECLA,
ICO and USPC. The CPC system is administered by the World Intellectual Property
Organization (WIPO), a specialized agency of the United Nations, and is the only patent
classification system used by all patent offices. Combining the best classification practices of
the two offices, it allows searchers to retrieve relevant prior art efficiently. However, while the
IPC has 70 000 entries and ECLA 160 000, the CPC has more than 250 000, making it much
more precise.

CPC Sections

A Human Necessities

B Performing Operations, Transporting

C Chemistry, Metallurgy

D Textiles, Paper

E Fixed Constructions

F Mechanical Engineering

G Physics

H Electricity

Y Emerging Cross-Sectional Technologies

Table 5. CPC classification system

The Y section: tagging and Y10S

20
 General tagging of new technological developments or of cross-sectional technologies
spanning over several sections of the IPC and includes 6 subclasses and ~7 300 symbols

Example:

– Y02: Climate change mitigation technologies (CCMT)

– Y04: Smart grids

– Y10S: Including technical subjects covered by former USPC cross-reference art collections
and Digests are included

Expected benefits of CPC

 Enhance examination efficiency;

 Improve access to more documents from patent offices around the world;
 Improve navigation and understanding of a single classification system;
 Facilitate worksharing on patent applications filed in multiple IP offices;
 Improve consistency of classified search results across IP Offices; and
 Provide adaptive and actively maintained classification schemes.

Limitations for Classification search:

For identifying patents related to cross-disciplinary or integrated technologies or products that

are emerging and cannot be clearly defined through patent classes or no definite related patent
class exists in the patent system. There is always a degree of subjectivity in the allocation of
these codes by patent examiners; different patent examiners (for examples in different patent
office’s) can allocate different IPC codes to very similar inventions.

3.4. Combination Search

To overcome individual drawbacks of keyword and classification searches the combination

search of both is preferred.

21
 Fig.11. Combination search system

Public Sector Databases

Indian Patent office
Website: www.ipindia.nic.in
Indian Granted Patents and Published patent application can be searched

 All Keywords are considered as case-insensitive by search engine

 Search result displays the Patent that are digitized & published u/s 43(2)
 Data of Granted Patents is available since 1912
 Full details including Complete Specification, original documents & Patent e-register are
available for Patent application filed 1/1/1995 onwards

22
 Fig 12. Indian Patent office database

US Patent Office (USPTO):

Website: www. uspto.gov
 The USPTO houses full text for patents issued from 1976 to the present
 The Search is not case sensitive.
 When a search query has been entered, the search results and a hit list of 50 most recent
patents will be displayed

23
 Fig. 13. USPTO Patent Search
USPTO supports search in both the quick search as well as advanced search modes
 Quick Search
 Advanced Search
 Patent Number Search

Quick Search

 The quick search page allows you to search the US Patent Full Text Database using two-term
Quick search queries.
 Allows you to carry out a simple search using a keyword, an inventor or a company name

24
 Select a year or range of years to search from the Select years to search drop down menu.
 Enter a term in the text entry boxs labeled Term 1 and Term 2
 Select which field to apply to Term 1 & 2 by using the Field 1 and Field 2 drop down menu
located to the right of the Term 1 & 2box.
 Select a Quick Operator (AND, OR, or ANDNOT) from the menu located between the two
Term boxes

 Hit the Search button

Note; if you want to search for a single term, skip entry boxes term2

The features available for Quick search are:

 Two term Quick Expressions
 Field Range Searching
 Right Truncation
 Stopwords

Boolean Logic
operator
AND Retrieves results containing at least one of
given search terms
OR Retrieves results containing all of given
search terms.
NOT Exclude records that are not relevant to
given search by placing the NOT operator
in front of the relevant search term

Example 1
Optical AND Fiber

25
Enter optical word in the Term1 box, fiber in the Term 2 box & select AND from the operator
menu, retrieved result list contains documents which contain both the word Optical AND
Fiber anywhere in the document.

Example 2
Magnetic OR seal
Enter Magnetic in the Term 1 box, seal in the Term 2 box, and select OR from the operator
menu, retrieved result list contains documents which contain either the word automobile or
the word motorcycle anywhere in the document.

Example 3
Submersible ANDNOT Pump
Enter submersible in the Term 1 box, pump in the Term 2 box, & select ANDNOT in the
operator menu, retrieved result list contains documents which contain the word submersible
anywhere in the document but do not contain the word pump anywhere in the document.

26
Search by Field Searching

The Quick Search Page allows to search individual fields within patents. You can find a list of
all indexed fields in the menu to the right of the Term 1 and Term 2 Text Entry boxes.

To narrow your search to hits occurring within a single field, select which field you wish to
search from the Field drop-down menu. If you do not select a field, the search will default to 'All
Fields.' If you need help searching in a particular field, see the Field Search Help Page.

Example 1

If you are looking for something patented by an inventor named Hadani and you know it had
something to do with Telecommunication, first select "All years" to search from the Select years
to search drop-down menu. Enter Hadani in the Term 1 box, then select Inventor Name from
the Field 1 menu to the right of the Term 1 box. Then, type Telecommunication in the Term 2
box, select All Fields from the Field 2 menu to the right of the Term 2 box (since you are not
sure in which field telecommunication might appear), and select AND from the Operator menu.
Hit the Search button. Patent number 10,355,887 is retrieved.

Example 2

If you already know the patent number (10,355,887) and year of application (2019) and want
to display that patent Number, enter 10,355,887 in the Term 1 box and leave the Term 2 box
empty. Select Patent number from the Field 1 menu to the right of the Term 1 box, click on the
Select years to search drop-down menu, select a range which includes the year 2019 from the
list, then hit the Search button.

Search by Phrase Searching:

27
 A group of words enclosed in quotation marks (“ ”) will be treated as a single search term. If
you were searching for the phrase Angle encoder rather than angle or encoder, you would use:
“angle encoder”.

Note: that you cannot truncate within a phrase that is enclosed in quotation marks.

Date Range Searching

You can specify a range of dates you are interested in searching rather than having to specify
a certain day or month to narrow your search. This feature is only available in date fields, such
as Issue Date and Application Date. This is done by using the -> operator between two dates.

Example

Term 1: 11/1/1997->5/12/1998 Field 1: Issue Date

This query would return all patents in the database which were issued any day on or after Nov.
1, 1997, and before or on May 12, 1998. If your range covers all of the patents issued in a
particular year, you will get faster results by selecting just that year from the Select years to
search menu instead of searching all of the dates in that year as a range.

Note: The selected year(s) must match the range of years you are searching.

Both dates in your query must be properly formatted for your search to work. See the help
entries on Issue Date and Application Date for details.

28
 Search by Right truncation:

 The Boolean Search Page supports right truncation in queries. This allows you to use a
wildcard ($) on the right side of a search term, to retrieve words that begin with a certain string.
If you are searching in a specific field, the string must be at least 3 characters in length. If you
are not searching in a specific field, the string must be at least 4 characters in length. You
cannot truncate within a phrase that is enclosed in quotation marks, for example searching
AN/’’general mot $” will result in an error.

Example

elect$

If you search for elect$, you will retrieve a large number of hits, as anything with words starting
with elect anywhere in their text will be retrieved. Words like ‘electric’, ‘electrical’, ‘electricity’,
‘electronics’, election’, ‘electoral’ would all match. To reduce the number of hits retrieved, you
may want to truncate on a longer string. For example, if you are only interested in applications
dealing with electrical, you might truncate as follows:

electr$

Be aware that the default search will search every word in every application in the year(s) you
specify. This can result in very large number of hits. It may be preferable to begin by limiting
your search to the title or abstract fields.

Example:

Comput$

If you search for Comput$ you will retrieve computer, computing, computerize, computation,
computerization etc.

29
 Search by Stopwords:

 Stopwords are terms that appear so frequently in document text that they lose their usefulness
as search terms. Although they are not indexed as search terms, they will be displayed in your
search results.

Advanced Search

Search by Advance Search Method:

 The Advance Search page allows you to make a query of the US Published Application Full
Text Database using command line search syntax. There are 3 steps to submit a query using
the Manual Search page.
1. Select a year or range of years to search from the Select years to search drop down menu
2. Type your search statement into the Text Entry box marked Query
3. Hit the Search button

The Advanced Search Page provides the greatest flexibility for complex searches of the
Published Application database. These features include:
30
 Nested Boolean Expressions
 Field Searching
 Phrase Searching
 Date Range Searching
 Right Truncation
 Stopwords

Search by Nested Boolean Expressions:

 You can use the Manual search page to create and execute Boolean searches with more than
two search terms that use the Boolean operators (OR, AND, ANDNOT). Along with these
operators, you can use parentheses to further clarify your search statement. In the absence of
parentheses, all operators associate from left to right.

Example 1

Cancer AND (treatment OR therapy)

If you enter this query, you will retrieve a list of all applications which contain both the terms
cancer & either treatment or therapy somewhere in the document.

Example 2

tribology OR (surface AND modif$)

This query would return applications containing either the word tribology OR both the words.

Example 3

needle ANDNOT ((record AND player) OR sewing)

This complex query generates a list of hits that contain the word needle, but does not contain
any references to sewing. In addition, none of the hits would contain the combination of record
AND player.

Search by Field Searching:

 The Advance Search Page allows you to search individual fields found within documents. You
can find a list of all indexed fields in the table on the bottom of the page. The full names for
31
each field are given on the right of the column and the corresponding field code is listed on the
left.

To narrow your search to hits occurring within a single field, precede your search
term with the field code, followed by a forward slash (/). If you do not select a specific field, the
text of the entire document will be searched. If you need help with field searching, see the Field
Searching Help Page.

Example 1

IN/ Hadani

This will search for the word Hadani within the Inventors Name field of the database.
Occurrences of the search term anywhere else on the front page will be ignored.

Example 2

CCL/270/31

This query searches for the Class/Subclass 270/31, and will return a list of all applications
assigned to that class.

32
 Example 3

AN/Litens AND TTL/decoupler

As this example demonstrates, you can mix field searching with Boolean searching. This query
would retrieve a list of hits which contain Litens in the Assignee Name field, and the word
decoupler in the Published Application Title.

Search by Phrase Searching:

 A group of words enclosed in quotation marks (’’) will be treated as a single search term. This
allows you to search for a multiword phrase rather than specifying each word as a separate
term.

Note: you cannot truncate within a phrase that is enclosed in quotation marks.

Example 1

“bowling balls”

Searching on this phrase would return a list of all the documents which have the phrase bowling
balls anywhere within the indexed text.

Example 2

AN/ “International Business Machines”

33
 This query would find all occurrences of the phrase International Business Machines within the
Assignee Name field.

Search by Date range:

 You can specify a range of dates you are interested in searching, rather than having to specify
a certain day or month to narrow your search. This feature is only available in date fields, such
as issue Date & Application Date. This is done by using the operator between two dates.

Example

isd/11/1/2001 5/12/2002

This query would return all applications in the data base which were published any day on or
after NOV 1, 2001, & before or on MAY 12, 2002. If your range covers all of the applications
published in a particular year, you will get faster results by selecting just that year instead of
searching all of the dates in that year as a range.

34
 Both dates in your query must be properly formatted for your search to work. See the help
entries on Publication Date & Application Date for details.

Search by Right Truncation:

 The Advance Search Page supports right truncation in queries. This allows you to use a
wildcard on the right side of a search term, to retrieve words that begin with a certain string. If
you are searching in a specific field, the string must be at least 3 characters in length. If you
are not searching in a specific field, he string must be at least 4 characters in length.

Example
micro$
This query would return a large number of hits, since it would retrieve applications that contain
the words microsoft, microfilm, microprocessor, microfluide or microfluidics etc. To reduce the
number of hits retrieved, you may want to truncate on a longer string. For example, if you are
only interested in applications dealing with microfluidics, you might truncate as follows:
microfluid*$ to eliminate other fields.

Search by Patent Number:

 The Patent Number Search Page allows you to search for patents by their number. While you
can search for patent numbers in other ways, this page is designed to simplify one of the most
common types of searching. To use the page
1. Type the patent number or numbers into the box. If you can include more than one number,
they should be separated by a space. It is not necessary to include commas or to capitalize the
prefix.
2. Hit the Search button

The database will be searched for all the numbers you provide, and a list of the documents
matching your query will be returned, with the most recent ones first. Since the database only
includes data for patents issued from 1976 to date, any patents numbers which fall outside of
this time period will not turn up in a search. A list of all the patent numbers in the database is
available on the Database Contents page.

European Patent Office (EPO):

35
 Website: www. epo.org/espacenet

 Espacenet offers free access to more than 100 million patent documents worldwide from the
year 1836.
 The database contains patent family information, telling you if similar patents have been
claimed in other countries
 Choose your keywords carefully and remember that the applicant or translator may have used
other expressions or spellings
 Some documents do not have translated titles or abstracts. For this reason, you will not find
them using keywords, but have to use other search criteria such as classification.
 Enter your search terms in lower case. The search engine will find both upper and lower case
occurrences of the terms.
 If you want to search for phrases, enclose them in quotation marks
 In the worldwide database, keywords must be entered in English
 Diacritical characters(umlauts & accents) are not supported when searching in the worldwide
database, so please enter your search terms without them

Boolean Logic
operator
AND Retrieves results containing at least one of
given search terms
OR Retrieves results containing all of given
search terms.
NOT Exclude records that are not relevant to
given search by placing the NOT operator
in front of the relevant search term

 You will get optimum results by searching using a combination of the IPC/ECLA & abstract
fields.

Types of Searches in EPO:

Search by Smart Search:

36
 The smart search box lets you enter either simple single word or multi word searches, or more
complex search commands
 All you have to do is to enter a word or words describing the type of invention you are looking
for and click on search. Alternatively, you can type in the number of a patent document, the
name of an inventor or company or the date or year of a patent document
 For more experienced users, smart search also accepts command line searches. The query
language that smart search understands is CQL (Contextual Query Language).

Fig. 14. EPO search system

Search by Advance Search:

 Can be used if you want to combine various search terms. For example, you can search for
patent documents from a particular year and country that have specific words in their title or
abstract.

37
 Search by Number Search:

 Is a quick way to get a patent document when you know the publication, application or priority
number.

Search by Classification Search:

 Is the option to use if you are interested in finding all the patent publications in a particular
technical area- a powerful tool used by professional patent searchers, it can take a bit of time
to get used to, but it is usually worth the effort.

38
Chinese Patent Office:

Website: english.sipo.gov.cn/

Fig. 15. Chinese Patent search system

39
Two databases are included: Invention and Utility Model. At least one database must be
selected before searching. Users can select the database through the check box. Multi-
selection is supported.

This field supports post-wildcard search and logic search.

Wildcard operator Logic

* AND
+ OR
- NOT

Example: 1303967

This field is a date type field and supports post-wildcard search. The word "to" is used to
connect two dates (the former date should be earlier than the latter one) to indicate a search
during this period.

Date Formats Example

yyyy 2005
yyyymm 201001
yyyymmdd 20120102

Example: 20120102 to 20141011

This field supports post-wildcard search and logic search.

Example: 00102942; 001029

40
This field is a date type field and supports post-wildcard search. The word "to" is used to
connect two dates (the former date should be earlier than the latter one) to indicate a search
during this period.

This field supports full text search and logic search.

Wildcard operator Logic

* AND
+ OR
- NOT
() Higher operation
priority

A " \ " must be added before terms in order to transfer meaning manually if the search
expressions contain system characters, such as " * ", " + ", " - ", " ( ", " ) ", " % ", " ? ", " \ " and
" ' ". The maximum length of search expression is no more than 200 letters (including the
Boolean operators). If words are separated by blanks, it will be considered as a phrase in the
title.

Example: (therapy+treatment)*cancer

This field supports post-wildcard search and logic search.

Example: A61; A61K9; A61K9/00

This field supports full text search and logic search

41
Example: pfizer; martin; pfizer*product

This field supports full text search and logic search.

Example: Robert; Xiao*Ming*Tao

This field supports full text search and logic search.

Example: Zhang

This field supports an accurate search of a number which stands for a patent agency code.
Logic search is also supported. The patent agency codes can be found in SIPO website.

Example: 11240

This field supports full text search and logic search.

Example: US; JP*2000

This field supports an accurate search of a number or two letters which stand for a province
or country code. Logic search is also supported.

Example: 11; US

42
In structured search, When you search in more than one search fields, default logical
combination relationship in different search field is logic "AND". In combination search input
box, users can use search field code and logical operator to set up new logical search
expression.

Example:
1. In Publication Date (B) field, Input: 2000 to 2007
2. In Title (E) field, Input: aspirin
3. In Abstract (F) field, Input: aspirin
4. In IPC (G) filed, Input: A61K9
5. In combination search input box, Input: B*(E+F)*G
6. Click search button.

WIPO
http://www.wipo.int/patentscope/en/
WIPO offers free online access to all international patent applications within the framework of
the PCT and their related documents and patent collections from National and Regional Offices
through its PATENTSCOPE search service:
http://www.wipo.int/edocs/pubdocs/en/patents/434/wipo_pub_l434_08.pdf

43
 Click on Access the
PATENTSCOPE database

Fig. 16. Patentscope database for Patent search

There are 4 ways to conduct a search using PATENTSCOPE Search service. Those
options can be selected from the SEARCH menu as indicated below.

The SIMPLE SEARCH interface is the default interface.

44
 WO Publication

You can use the SIMPLE SEARCH interface to search for:

• A specific number
• An individual, an inventor, an applicant, etc
• A company whether it is for personal interest, for merging and/or acquisition purposes
or to keep track of the work of a competitor
• An IPC code
• A specific date
• A subject matter expressed with simple keywords, a concept that is very specific in
order to have a limited number of results

There are 8 predefined search fields available, each defining different search criteria:
1. FRONT PAGE: the search criteria you entered in this field will be searched in the front
page of the document.
2. ANY FIELD: the search criteria you entered in this field will be searched in any fields
of the document.
3. FULL-TEXT: enter your query in this field if you are interested in full-text.
4. ENGLISH TEXT: the search criteria you entered in this field will be searched in texts
in English.
5. ID/NUMBER: enter publication number, filing number, etc.
45
6. IPC: enter any International Patent Classification code.
7. NAMES: enter your search in this field to look for the name of an inventor, an
applicant, a company, etc.
8. DATES: enter any date in this field such as filing date, publication date, etc.

Advanced Search
The ADVANCED SEARCH is the PATENTSCOPE expert search interface that can be
used to create complex search queries using an unlimited number of terms.

The PATENTSCOPE search service offers a wide range of operators that can be used
to combine search terms, including Boolean operators, proximity operators, and range
operators. Using these operators can allow you to customize your results. It also allows
you to use wildcard operators to search for variants of terms based on a common stem,
or root. For more information about operators available in the PATENTSCOPE search
service, take a look at: https://patentscope.wipo.int/search/en/help/querySyntaxHelp.jsf

To use the ADVANCED SEARCH interface:

1. Enter keywords/Boolean expression/field codes etc. Please read the Annex section
of this guide or go to the HELP menu on the search interface select HOW TO SEARCH
and then QUERY SYNTAX) for a complete list of Boolean expressions and FIELDS
DEFINITION;
2. Select the language in which you would like to perform the search. 13 languages are
available;
3. Select the collection/s you are interested in using the SPECIFY button.

Field Combination
The FIELD COMBINATION interface can be used to structure a more targeted search
using specific search criteria in any search fields (eg. title, abstract, description, etc.)
can be performed using this interface.

46
 WO Publication

The FIELD COMBINATION SEARCH, a list of preset search fields that can be combined
according to the users’ needs, should be used to search different concepts such as:
• a date and an inventor
• an inventor and a company, etc.

47
 To use the Field Combination interface:
1. Select the field/s of interest using the arrow of the drop-down menu
2. Use the AND/OR boxes to add or include fields
3. If you would like to add more fields or remove one or more fields, please click
on:
4. Select the language in which you would like to perform the search: 13 languages
are available
5. Select the collection/s you are interested in using the SPECIFY button.

Japan Patent Office:

https://www.j-platpat.inpit.go.jp/web/all/top/BTmTopEnglishPage

Machine translated publications are available in the Japan Platform for Patent
Information (J-PlatPat) database free of charge. Please access the J-PlatPat at the
following URL.
https://www.j-platpat.inpit.go.jp/web/all/top/BTmTopEnglishPage (External link)
In addition to machine translated publications, there are English abstracts of published
unexamined patent applications, named “the Patent Abstracts of Japan (PAJ)”, which are also
available on the J-PlatPat. The PAJ is a collection of abstracts of unexamined patent
applications published in or after 1976 and includes bibliographic information of applications.
The PAJs are prepared for publications of unexamined patent applications, but not for
publications of unexamined PCT applications that have entered into the national phase of
Japan.
To access machine translated publications, please follow the instructions below.
1. Access the J-PlatPat main page by clicking on the following URL.
https://www.j-platpat.inpit.go.jp/web/all/top/BTmTopEnglishPage(External link)

48
 Fig. 17. Japanese Patent Office Search
2. Next, click on the “Patent & Utility Model Number Search” link.

49
 3. To conduct keyword search click on the “Patent/Utility Model Search” link.

Global patent index (GPI)

50
GPI is an advanced tool for searching the EPO's worldwide bibliographic and legal status
patent data.
GPI is an online tool that enables you to perform expert patent searches.
Register for your two-month free trial by going to www.epo.org/gpi Once you have received
your login name and password by email, click on the Open Global patent index button at
www.epo.org/gpi, log in and select Global patent index from the list of databases. The
interface can see as shown in the screenshot below.

The Search window is displayed and its four boxes enable you to:
• Criteria box: Navigate the list of search criteria to identify and select the criteria you need for
your searches.
• Index box: Browse the contents of the database for a search criterion selected in the Criteria
box, e.g. for identifying possible variations of an applicant's name or a title/abstract keyword.
• Query box: Create queries, run searches, save/load queries.
• History box: Browse your search history and re-use history entries in your queries. The
history content is also used for saving queries.
To proceed, type your search query in the Query box, using any search criteria and terms
you require and
Combining them with the required operators (Boolean, proximity, arithmetic) or wildcards.
To help you build your query, the following features are available:

>the operator toolbar (simply clicking on an icon will

place it in your query)

51
>the Criteria box to find the right search criteria (you can double-click or drag and drop the
search criteria to place them in the Query box)
>the Index box to check the spelling, variations and formats of search terms (you can
double-click or drag and drop the search term to place it in the Query box)
>the History box to check the correct formulation of your queries and combine any past
queries (e.g. $54 andnot $57)
>the option of saving queries on your own computer and reloading them, e.g. for regular
monitoring.

ONCE YOU HAVE ENTERED YOUR SEARCH QUERY , CLICK ON . THE NUMBER OF RETRIEVED
DOCUMENTS THEN APPEARS AT THE TOP OF THE QUERY BOX, AND YOU CAN LOOK AT YOUR RESULTS
BY CLICKING ON .

Results

52
You can customise how you display or download your results. Click on "Preferences", then on
"Result list content".

Check boxes to add new columns to the result list: for display or for download/print. The
result list will appear showing the data you have selected.
If you only want to see one patent per family in the result list, use the "Family filter" when you
search
53
 Examples of search criteria
Search
Description Example
criteria
FIND All data FIND = wind and energy and F03D7/00
NUM = "EP 00 102 3744"
NUM All kinds of patent numbers NUM = EP20000120374
NUM = 00120374
All indexed title/abstract words in
WORD WORD = argon and (reinigung or purifi*)
all languages
TIEN All indexed title words in English TIEN = nanocomposite*
All indexed abstract words in
ABEN ABEN = laser +1W beam
English
NAME = "FROMONT GAELLE"
NAME All inventors/applicants
NAME = FROMONT and GAELLE
PUC Publication country code PUC = CH or FR or DE or EP or GB or US or WO
PUN Publication number PUN = JP1922738C
PUK Publication kind code PUK = B1
PUD = 2000*
PUD Publication date PUD [2000-01-01, 2000-12-31]
PUD >= 01/01/2000 and PUD <= 31/12/2000
IPC = "A01 B1/02"
IPC IPC (all editions) IPC = A01B1/02
IPC = A01B000102
CPC Cooperative Patent Classification CPC = C08K3/00 or C08L101/00
JPFT F-terms JPFT = 2G045/AA13 or 2G045/AA25
INV = "GONIDEC PATRICK"
INV Inventor's name
INV = RICHARD /2W RENSBURG
INVC Inventor's country of residence INVC = JP
APP Applicant's name APP = HISPANOSUIZA or "HISPANO SUIZA"
APPC Applicant's country of residence APPC = ES
CCAT Citation category CCAT = X or Y andnot (P or E or D or A or L or O or T)
CPOP Patent cited in opposition phase CPOP = WO8503893A1
DLE = "20090226" Use the DLE index to select the most recent date for
DLE Date of last exchange
patent monitoring in the current week
STA = C
STA = A
STA Document status
Use in combination with DLE e.g. to select only the new publications
added in the current week (C stands for "created", A for "amended")
Boolean operators
AND, OR, NOT By default (but customisable): OR between
terms of a given criterion or between criteria;
54
 AND between queries. Left takes precedence
over right.
Proximity operators
+xW word1 at maximum x word(s) from word2 in
that order
/xW word1 at maximum x word(s) from word2 in
any order
Arithmetic operators
= equal to
<= less than or equal to
>= greater than or equal to
[] date range
() brackets to force the order of operations
Truncation (left, middle and right truncation allowed)
* stands for zero or more characters
# stands for one mandatory character
String search
"" search for exact expression

Remembering the key points indicated below are necessary for conducting a patent search
 What is the client’s request in relation to search?
 What is the period of search?
 Whether keyword or classification or both is needed for the search?
 What field of search need to be considered?
 What is the scope and coverage of the search?

55
 Chapter 4
Types of Patent Search
Patent search is prerequisite step in patenting procedure as well as essential work in
conjunction with many business activities, including research, manufacturing, marketing, etc.
Patent search is to search and analyze relevant patents in product development step or prior
to patent application process so that you can make sure the patentability of your invention and
get current technology information and future trend of specific technology area. Also, it helps
you to avoid a duplicated research and to invest your money to safe market having no legal
problems related to patent.

Fig. 18 Purpose of patent search

4.1. Patentability Search

Patentability search is also known as novelty search and is conducted prior to filing of a patent
application. It helps a patent attorney or agent to determine whether a given invention is actually
novel and potentially patentable. The relevance of patent or non-patent literature would be
considered for the assessment. The most universal requirement for patentability is novelty. The
object of a “Novelty Search” is to determine the (lack of) novelty of a claimed invention. The
search seeks to determine if anyone has already disclosed the inventive concept in a publicly
available work anywhere in the world before a date determined to be critical. So the process
includes a thorough search of the prior art available in worldwide patent databases, scientific
publications and business information. In order to receive a patent, the invention must be novel,
not obvious, and have industrial applicability.

Thus, patentability search is performed to ensure that the subject matter of the invention
is not disclosed or claimed or published or used anywhere else in the world. By conducting
56
 patentability search one can easily map the state-of-the-art technology and understand
whether their invention is novel or can fulfill the criteria of patentability. On the other hand, it
has an important function of informing the product developer to avoid issues of infringement of
an existing patent. To those inventors who are engaged in research and development it helps
in understanding the problem to be solved in the art and experiment such that it would be
suitable for the patentability criteria. The applicant can determine whether or not to file a patent
application. This will save on R& D expenditure, attorney fees and governmental fee required
for filing a patent application that is not novel. An evaluation of the commercial potential is done
by considering the factors such as commercial viability of an invention, nature of the problem
solved, potential applications, market size, potential licensing opportunities, funding/venture
opportunities.

The patentability search has the following advantages

 Easy identification or understanding of the state-of-the-art technology and thereby minimizing

research time.
 Helps a product developer to be free from anticipated infringement suits.
 Helps an inventor to modify his ideas to be suitable for the patentability criteria.
 Helps an applicant determine whether to go with patent application or to save application fee.
 Helps an examiner to determine patentability of applications and a patentee to assess the
strength of patents.

It is important also to keep in mind the limitations of a patentability search. No prior art search
should ever be considered to be definitive. Computerized patent searches usually contain only
issued patents for limited number of years. Unavailability of articles, published reports may not
be uncovered during a search. Issues in translations, misclassifications, data omissions and
errors may pose limitations. Foreign patent applications are not published until 18 months after
filing. Therefore, it is possible that these documents exist but it is often impossible to learn of
their existence until after an application is filed.

 How to do a patentability search?

 Identify the subject matter and prepare keywords for search ( product/process)
57
 Determining features for search such as, Country of search, Timeline, Data type (i.e.,
applied or granted patent prior art)
 Searching through patent (for technology) and non-patent (for product) literature
database
 Identifying key-features
 Developing search strategy and conducting the search
 Identifying relevant prior art of search
 Screening and analysis
 Preparation of a patentability assessment report

58
Patentability search report model:
Invention proposal

Title:
This invention proposes -----

Methodology

Patent and non-patent searches were conducted in databases such as Questal orbit, Thomson Innovation and
Compendex.

Findings

There are / are no patents/patent applications similar to the invention proposal which is given above. Related patent
documents are given below:

Patents

1. Hyperlinked Patent Publication No:

Title:
Abstract:
2. Hyperlinked Patent Publication No:
Title:
Abstract:
3. Hyperlinked Patent Publication No:
Title:
Abstract:
4. Hyperlinked Patent Publication No:
Title:
Abstract:
---
----
Non Patent Literature

5. Title:
Abstract:
6. Title:
Abstract:
---
---
Conclusion

Based on the search in various patent and non-patent databases, it is observed that there are / are no patent
documents similar to the above mentioned invention proposal. Thus, the proposed invention is found to be / be not
novel and hence potentially / not patentable

4.2. Validity Search/Invalidity Search

The purpose of this type of search is to determine the existence of any prior art proving that
the claimed subject matter of a ‘target’ patent was either not novel or obvious to a person skilled
in the art at the priority date of the patent. A validity search can be seen as an a posteriori
patentability search. Validity search is also done in a threatened litigation scenario relating to
infringement of a patent and the defendant needs to nullify the plaintiff’s patent. A validity
search also proves useful during licensing discussions as it is important to assess the value
and strength of a patent before buying a license for its use. A validity search may be thought
59
 of as an exhaustive patentability search that has been conducted after publication of the patent
application or issuance of the patent. With this search, the claims are validated against all prior
art.

A validity search is a search that is determined by the selected claims of an issued

patent. Validity searches might be required for a number of reasons. Sometimes, the validity
of a patent is brought up during litigations. A validity opinion evaluates an existing patent and
assesses whether the patent is enforceable, particularly in view of the entire prior art that should
have been considered during examination of a patentability search. A validity opinion typically
takes the form of a written report describing the scope of the claimed product or process,
examining the patents found in the search, including product mapping.

This type of search can be part of a due diligence exercise of a patentee to avoid issues
of invalidity of claims. A validity search also helps with the valuation of a patent. If the searcher
discovers closely related prior art that may cast doubt on the validity of the subject patent, the
patent may be considered “weak”. On the other hand, if the search does not discover these
other documents, the subject patent may be considered “strong”. This kind of investigation
plays an important role when licensing agreements or other royalties are being negotiated
between the subject patent holder and a third party interested in practicing its claimed subject
matter.

There are several advantages of validity search:

 Arguments and proof can be gained for opposition proceedings or annulments, by which the
novelty or inventive step of a patent could be challenged.
 Prior to licensing deals or other business investment with a patentee, the strength of the patent
can be determined.
 Validating own patent helps you to decide whether to take legal action against any infringement
action.
 Helps to keep track of competitors in situations of alleged infringement.

There are limitations of a validity search:

 Validity search will involve claim interpretation as it is performed on patents that have already
been examined and allowed. A broad interpretation of the allowed claims is necessary to find
further relevant art. It is absolutely essential for the searcher to give the selected claims the

60
 broadest reasonable interpretation. To define the scope of a validity search usually requires a
strong understanding of the current state of the technology field. The use of analogous
technology sometimes may be useful to interpret claims.
 Another consideration in validity searching is determining the search date. This is important as
anticipating prior art search is dependent on the determination of a cut-off date. There are a
number of legal concerns that dictate what cutoff date should be used for a validity search.
 A patent validity search is the most exhaustive search that can be undertaken may need to be
continuously done. Hence, it may be tedious and may actually involve a huge number of
patents especially if the approach is to invalidate a competitors’ portfolio.

 How to perform a validity search?

 Check if the patent is inactive and if annuity payment is done or not
 Identify the file wrapper information of the patent, which shows the complete objections and
arguments between the applicant and the examiner at patent office, as well as any
amendments that resulted in from the prosecution. These amendments depict the strengths
or weaknesses of the claims that were made by the examiner that forced the applicant to
argue or amend.
 Conduct patent and non-patent literature search to find relevant references before the filing
date of the patent(s) in question.
 Examine and compare the search results with the issued claims, and prepare a claim chart
to show the matches between the claims in question and the scope of the uncovered
references. Check whether the claims “read on”, or are obvious or are anticipated based on
the prior art.

61
Invalidity Search Report Model:
Subject Patent:

Claim of Interest:

Filing date / the earliest priority date:

Starting points:
• Known prior art
• Prior art published anywhere
• The concepts of novelty and inventive step

Description of the given patent:

The patent titled ------

Key Features of the Invention:

1. ----
2. ----
3. ----

Search strategy:
IPC/US/CPC/F terms:
Keywords:
Databases:
Narrowing the search
Eliminating the false drops
Results Index: Best hits (relevant/related/interesting)
Backward-Forward citation analysis for patents relevant/related patents

Result 1 Patent No: Title

Check important dates:
Assignee:
IPC:
Search Report / File wrapper:
Description of prior art:
Backward-Forward citations:
Claim Mapping Result 1
Subject Patent No. Result 1 Patent No.
Title Title
Filing date / the earliest priority date Filing date / the earliest priority date
Claim 1 Relevant information
Claim 2 Relevant information
Claim 3 Relevant information

Result 2 Patent No:

Check important dates:
IPC:
Search Report / File wrapper:
Description of prior art:
Backward-Forward citations:
Claim Mapping Result 2
Subject Patent No. Result 2 Patent No.
Title Title
Filing date / the earliest priority date Filing date / the earliest priority date
Claim 1 Relevant information
Claim 2 Relevant information
Claim 3 Relevant information

Result 3 Patent No:

Check important dates:
IPC:
Search Report / File wrapper:
Description of prior art:
Backward-Forward citations:
Claim Mapping Result 3
Subject Patent No. Result 3 Patent No.
Title Title
Filing date / the earliest priority date Filing date / the earliest priority date
Claim 1 Relevant information
Claim 2 Relevant information
Claim 3 Relevant information

62
 Result 4 Patent No:
Check important dates:
IPC:
Search Report / File wrapper:
Description of prior art:
Backward-Forward citations:
Claim Mapping Result 4
Subject Patent No. Result 4 Patent No.
Title Title
Filing date / the earliest priority date Filing date / the earliest priority date
Claim 1 Relevant information
Claim 2 Relevant information
Claim 3 Relevant information

Result 5 Patent No:---

Non Patent Literature

6. Title:
Abstract:
7. Title:
Abstract:
---
---

Observation: The above discussed patents disclose….

The given Patent is a mere combination of one or more prior art patents and lacks novelty in terms --------- and lacks novelty.

4.3. Freedom to Operate Search

Clearance search is also known as “right to use” or “freedom to operate” search. It is used to
determine whether a party has “clearance” to make, use, and sell an inventive concept.
Clearance is established when a patent has not been infringed or has otherwise expired.

Clearance search is needed prior to bringing a product to market. This helps an

organization avoid alleged infringement when making, using, or selling a product or process.
Clearance searches and Infringement searches both seek to ensure that new or planned
product can be brought to market without fear of litigation from patent holders. However, an
infringement search limits itself to enforceable patents (or pending applications) solely in the
country where you plan to market the product. A clearance search is wider as it seeks to
establish where in the world the product could be marketed without infringing unexpired
patents. So a clearance search can be seen as a combination of a patentability search & an
infringement search.

 How to conduct a clearance search?

 Granted patents (expired & unexpired)
 Published patent applications
 Non-patent literature

63
 The advantages of clearance search are:
 For identifying if the product or proposed product violates already existing rights
 Clarifies as to which countries possibly rights apply
 Saves on cost as unnecessary investments in production and marketing can be avoided

There are limitations to clearance search

 Limited by information/database
 Limited by market information

 How to perform a clearance search?

 Identification of client’s purpose and collecting necessary patent documents.
 Background study
 Reading the claims and finding key aspects claimed in the invention
 Query building using various keywords obtained from background/key aspects
 Patent searching in databases
 Using priority date as filter
 Finding patents whose claims infringe upon the patent provided
 Categorize patents according to relevance
 Marking and matching relevant claim portions mapped as well as patent drawings

64
Clearance Search Report Model:

Objective

To evaluate f reedom to operate on manuf acturing processes & machines f or ------

Scope and methodology

The scope relating to the above mentioned invention involves searches carried out in dif f erent databases f or both patents and non-patent literature.

Search strategy

Search Matrix:

Concept1 Concept2 Concept3 Concept4

Synonym1 Manuf act*
Synonym2 Produc*
Synonym3 making
Synonym4 Prepar*

Product comparison valid patents

Af ter screening the patent search results, the f ollowing ----- valid patents are studied in detail

Product aspect Relevant Patent1 Relevant Patent2 Relevant Patent3

Element1 Claim 1 Claim 5 Claim 13 & dependent Claim 17

Element2 Claim 4 Claim 4

Relevant Patent
Relevant Patent 2 Relevant Patent 3
Product 1
aspect
Claim 13 and dependent Claim
Claim 1 Claim 4 Claim 5 Claim 4
17
Element 1 √ √ √ √
Element 2 √ √
Element 3 √
Element 4
Element 5 √ √

Based on the above comparison, we believe that, there is no patent in-f orce with the similar aspects of said--------.

Assumptions

We assumed that a product of ------------------------------

Observations

With respect to manuf acture of product------, our observations are as f ollows.

Prior art discloses dif ferent methods f or manuf acturing dif ferent types of ------. Around x patent applications disclose ----- manuf acturing equipment. y patent
applications disclose ----- manuf acturing processes in which CNxxxxxx discloses method f or preparing ------and CNxxxxxxx discloses a ------ and preparation
method.

Recommendations

Based on the prior art inf ormation, we believe------

Conclusions

Based on the present study and considering the above assumptions we believe that------ has f reedom to practice / no f reedom to operate.

65
 4.4. Patent Landscape Search
A patent landscape search is an extension of the state of the art patent search which is
represented in the form of a visual landscape or map.

Patent landscape reports describe the patent situation for a specific technology in a
given country, region or at the global level. The search usually starts with a state of the art
search for the technology of interest in suitable patent databases. The results of the search
are then analyzed to answer specific questions, e.g., to identify patenting activity (who is
doing what? what is filed where?) or pattern of innovations (innovation trends, diversity of
solutions for a technical problem, collaborations). An essential component of each patent
landscape report is the visualization of these results. The analysis is focused on the research
area given by the client. A patent landscape analysis shows the white space in the research
area, IP trends to identify the extent of growth or fall of patents.

Patent landscapes can therefore be useful for policy discussions, strategic research
planning or technology transfer. However, they provide only a snapshot of the patenting
situation at a certain point in time. In a wider sense, some patent landscape reports may
analyze the validity of patents by referring to legal status data and thereby form a basis for
freedom to operate analysis as an offshoot. It can also identify potential patent portfolios for
acquisitions, existing or potential infringers to be pursued, and potential technology to be
exploited. Typically, the results of a patent landscape search includes a graphical
representation of how large number of patents relate to each other, based on various search
fields, such as keywords, citations, applicants, patent classifications etc., A patent landscape
reveals past and present activities of various entities in a given area of technology.

There are many advantages of a patent landscape search

 Monitor markets of interest

 Determine which patents are now in the public domain
 Identify the competitor presence in certain areas
 Identify the rapidity of innovation in a given area
 Determine what other technologies competitors are working on
 Identify gaps in research and development
 Monitor R&D trends worldwide
 Determine which patents are most valuable and are lead patents
66
 Identify licensing opportunities

There are limitations of a patent landscape search

A landscape analysis does not report what areas give rights to commercialize. It identifies
only where competitors have excluded others from making or selling a product. There may be
additional aspects that need to be studied.

 How to perform a patent landscape search report?

 Identification of client’s purpose
 Study the technology/market
 Identify the concepts and group the focus areas
 Query building using various keywords obtained from background/concepts
 Patent searching in database requested by client
 Preparing the layout of the report
 Review with client for corrections/suggestions on query and final delivery format
 Starting the patent landscape search and analysis
 Finding IP trends according to year/assignee/technology/category and combinations
 Finishing analysis and updating tables/graphs/drawings
 Keep sight of regulatory aspects (for biotech and pharma)
 Key finding and gap analysis
 Non patent literature search and overlay
 Final delivery of the report

67
Patent landscape search report model

Title__________

Contents
• Patent literature
• Non patent literature
• Conclusions & recommendations

Patent literature
• Search strategy
• Patent filing Trend
• Geographical Distribution
• Assignee wise Distribution
• Technology Trend
• Top Inventors
• Key areas & Collaborations

Non patent literature

• Publication trends
• Geographical Distribution
• Research Collaborations

Patent literature
Search strategy

Patent search strategy on ----

Database:

Keywords:

IPC/CPC Code:

US Codes:

Japan F terms:

Search period:

Results: Patent search was conducted in database by using keywords and IPC/CPC codes/ JP F-terms/ US classification codes ---------
and it resulted in -------patent families.

Patent literature

68
Non Patent literature

69
70
 Chapter 5
Analytical Tools for Patent Analysis

Analysis of patents is a necessary step following the search for patents. Depending on the type
of patent search undertaken the analysis would differ. Analysis of patents could be done to
obtain qualitative as well as quantitative information. The development of software tools has
not only enhanced the ability to search but also analyse patents. A host of tools are available
to conduct patent data analysis.

An example of the search and analysis of patents using GPI is shown below
Global Patent Index

Go to the link for Patent search

Go
to Result and Click:

71
Result list:

Click on ‘Statistics’:

72
Go to simple Statistics:

Select Parameters:

73
Select Applicant:

Select Calculate:
Result:

74
Click on Cited applicant:

Select Priority country:

75
Results;

Select Statistics, select ‘Cross reference’:

76
Selected Parameters: Priority, applicant:
Click then Calculate:

Result:

77
Change parameter to Priority, IPC:

Change display options to ‘Diameter proportional to value’:

78
Select the Publication and enter years:
Select also applicant:

Result:

79
‘Tile’ view”

“Cascade” view:

80
Translate option:

Click on translate:

81
Choose Japanese:

Click on Search to come back to the basic window:

82
An example of patent search and analysis using the LENS tool is shown below.
LENS Patent Tool:
Click on Our Software and select ‘Patents’:

Start the Structured search and enter the keyword with relevant field options:
Search field: Title +Abstract+ Claims
Search term: ASIC “Application Specific Integrated Circuit”
IPC: H
Dates: 14th July 2014 to 14th July 2019
Type: Granted patents
Stemming on

83
Click on Analysis:

Analysis:

84
85
New Scholar Search:

86
Search for ASIC “Applied…”
Field chosen as below:

Result:

87
Click on ‘Graphical Analysis’:

Analysis:

88
Sequence search
PatSeq Data:

89
Click on the graph at any location to identify the year. Click on year 2019 to know the
document data in relation to sequences present for the year 2019.

Result:

Accessing sequence information:

90
Click on ‘Sequence’: There are 12 sequences.
Result:

Making notes for sequences:

Select the Notes in the Menu:

91
Click on notes and the notes window will open up. Click on ‘Make notes’ option to prepare
notes on the sequence

PatSeq Text:

92
Search for sequences for Rice and/or Maize:

93
PatSeqAnalyser:

Choose genome: Rice

PatSeq Explorer:

94
PatSeq Finder:

Using the following sequence to search under PatSeq:

Copy the following sequence into the query window:
MGSLSCSIIHLVLILQLQTFFVFSQNIRNGSVPVGESLTASESQQISSSWRSPSGDFAFG
FRKIQPNDGFTLSIWFDKISDKTIVWHAQAVNTTTGLVPNGSKVTLTADGGLVIADPRGQ
ELWRALSGGSVSRGRFTDDGNFVLFRDGSEDSDEVLWSSFENPTDTLLPNQNIEVGRNLS
SRRTETSFKKGRFSLRLEDDGNLQLHSLNAETASESDIYSQYYESNTNDPNNPGIQLVFN
QSGEIYVLQRNNSRFVVKDRDPDFSIAAPFYISTGFLLSTIIPKEARRIVGGCLLGLCRD
NMCSPDDALGNMACGYNNICSLGNNKRPKCECPERFVLKDPSNEYGDCLPDFEMQTCRPE
NQTANSDVNLYEFITLEKTNWPFGDYESYANYDEERCKASCLSDCLCAAVIFGTNRDLKC
WKKKFPLSHGERSPRGDSDTFIKVRNRSIADVPVTGNRAKKLDWLIIACSVLLGTSAFVI
FDTSCSYRKTKKSKNMMKNQARDIGRTTATTTANELNLRVFTYGELAEATRDFTEELGRG
AFGIVYKGYLEVAGGSEVTVAVKKLDRLDLDNEKEFKNEVKVIGQIHHKNLVRLIGFCNE
GQSQMIVYEFLPQGTLANFLFRRPRPSWEDRKNIAVAIARGILYLHEECSEQIIHCDIKP
QNILLDEYYTPRISDFGLAKLLLMNQTYTLTNIRGTKGYVAPEWFRNSPITSKVDVYSYG
VMLLEIVCCKKAVDLEDNVILINWAYDCFRQGRLEDLTEDDSEAMNDMETVERYVKIAIW
CIQEEHGMRPNMRNVTQMLEGVIQVFDPPNPSPYSTFTWSDESLSSDPVSLV

95
Set it to protein dB, blast, 50 hits and click on search:

Search running:

Results:

96
PatSeqAnalyser:

97
PatSeq text:
Search for ‘Receptor like kinase’ in rice:

Results of Search:

Too large hits. So specific kinase should be looked for

98
Query again with name:

Results:

PatCite:
Search:

99
 1. Select Export the patent…
2. Input ‘US6988188B2’
3. Name the file: ASIC

Results:

100
Click on ‘Analysis’:

Click on ‘Network’

101
Non patent literature citations:

102
The QUTM tool:

103
Educational Institutions:

Comparison by Educational Institution:

104
Technology Field of use:

Click on specific field of use to get information:

105
Institution patent portfolio:
Click on Institution Name and then click on draft patent portfolio:

Result:

106
Patent Portfolio:

Analysis:

107
 Chapter 6
Solved Model patent search exercises
A few solved patent search exercises are provided below for the benefit of the students.
These model exercises will be useful to understand how to initiate the patent search, screen
and analyse the results.
Exercise 1:
Search for granted patents related to leather processing and manufacture for the past
10 years in case of India, Germany and USA.
a. Draw a pie chart with the percentage distribution of patents for the three
countries.
b. Identify which year has maximum granted patents in all of these countries
c. Identify major assignees for each country
d. Identify top 10 inventors for each country

Solution for Exercise 1:

Objective:
To study patent activities in leather processing and manufacture technology for the
past 10 yearsin case of India, Germany and USA
Methodology:
The patent search methodology undertaken for the creation of a collection of patent
documents that accurately describe the leather processing and manufacture landscape using
the three primary fundamental steps are:
 Selection of data sources and patent coverage
 Understanding and selection of appropriate patent classifications
 Understanding and selection of appropriate terminology related to the subject matter
Data Sources:
The study uses the Questel orbit, a database of patent applications and granted patents from
50 patent jurisdictions around the world.
The database includes the following patent classifications for accurate and comprehensive
record retrieval:
o US Patent Classification
o Cooperative Patent Classification (CPC)
o International Patent Classification (IPC)

108
o Japanese File Index (FI) and F Terms
Collection Collation Method:
The following steps were used to create and then refine the search methodology:
1. Creation of search strings including specific terminology with which to interrogate
thedatabase for leather processing and manufacture technology related patent documents;
2. Analysis of the results to identify key classifications (IPC, Cooperative Patent Classification
and Japanese F-Terms);
3. Iteration of the search utilizing relevant classification terms to provide a more
comprehensive dataset;
4. Analysis of the dataset to identify regions of off-topic subject matter;
5. Further iteration of the search to remove off-topic subject matter to the extent possible;
6. Finalization of the search string.
The usage of keyword and classification search strings for the creation of discrete technology
datasets in patents and literature databases is a standard best practice for information
science, informatics and bibliographic data of this type.
The following patent classifications and keywords were identified in the course of the search
creation procedure.
Identified classifications of relevance:
IPC/CPC Code:C14C: treating skins, hides or leather with chemicals, enzymes or micro-
organisms, e.g. tanning, impregnating or finishing; apparatus therefor; compositions for
tanning
US Code:008147: fluid treatment (processes for the treatment of textile fibers of fabrics,
hides, skins and leather); 69: leather manufactures
Japanese F-Term:4F056:Treatment and processing of natural fur or leather
The procedure for the identification of these classifications primarily concerned statistical
analysis of returned patent datasets using defined terminology concerning leather processing
and manufacture, and initial reviews of highly relevant codes.
Keywords:
Leather or skin
Processing or treatment or production or manufacture
Search period:
January 01, 2004 to November 23, 2015.
Search string creation and quality control

109
 The creation of the search string was performed iteratively, with the results of each
generation of search string reviewed and evaluated to inform and tailor the search to become
more accurate.
As each search string is created, the results are sampled and reviewed for relevancy, and
keywords and classifications amended as appropriate. Further, the results of each string are
data mined for further key terms of interest, synonyms and alphanumeric technology
classification codes of relevance, which are then incorporated in revised search strings. This
process is repeated until revisions perform only minor variations in results. At this point, the
search string is locked in its configuration.
Final search strategy:
The finalized search was constructed using the following elements.
1. Classification-only search, IPC/CPC Codes, US Codes and Japanese F-Terms, unrestricted
by keywords [Search 1]
2. Keyword search restricted by specific classification codes, Japanese F-Terms and IPC/CPC
Codes [Search 2]
3. A full keyword search, with no restriction by classification [Search 3]
Results:
Patent search was conducted in Questal Orbit byusing keywords and IPC codes/ JP F-terms/
US classification codes/ CPC codes on leather processing and manufacture and it resulted in
22630 patent families.
Above results are restricted by search period “January 01, 2004 to November 23, 2015” and
retrieved around 2934 patent families as shown by pie-diagram below.

110
 Distribution of patent applications on leather processing and manufacture in last ten years
Around 2181 patent applications are alive and 748 patent applications are dead as shown in
the pie chart above. Out of these 2181 patents, the legal status of 1208 patent applications is
granted and 973 patent applications are in pending.
(Note: A patent family is a set of either patent applications or publications taken in multiple
countries to protect a single invention by a common inventor(s) and then patented in more
than one country. A first application is made in one country – the priority – and is then
extended to other offices.)

111
 Distribution of patent applications based on publication country
Maximum number of patent applications are filed and published in China followed by WO
(i.ePCT applications), USA, Europe and Japan.
A PCT application is generally filed when an applicant wishes toprotect its technology
globally. However, these “applications” are never granted as there is no concept of a global
patent. Thus, the PCT route serves as a means for filing patents in other countries whereby
upon entering each country the application will have to undergo the grant process as
according to the country’s laws.
Around 13% patent applications are filed and published on leather processing and
manufacture in USA, 6.8% in Germany and followed by 4% in India.

112
 Chronological distribution of patent applications granted in countries USA, Germany and
India.
In USA maximum number of patent application’s legal status is granted in 2013 (i.e 35) on
leather processing and manufacture in last ten years. In Germany maximum number of
patent application’s legal status is granted in 2009 (i.e 27), whereas in India maximum
number of patent application’s legal status is granted in 2013 (i.e 14).
Note: The data is insufficient for the year 2015 as shown in the diagram with red boards as
the search is restricted till 23rd November 2015 in Questel orbit.
Major Assignees who are filed maximum patent applications in countries USA, Germany and
India are shown in below diagram.

113
 Top Assignee wise distribution based on patent information in USA, Germany and India in
last ten years
BASF is a common top major assignee who has filed the maximum patent applications in all
of these three countries. Also Clariant and Lanxess have found their presence in major
assignees list in USA, Germany and India. In India, government research organization
Council of Scientific & Industrial Research (CSIR) is found as second major assignee in filing
patent applications on leather processing and manufacture.
Top inventors whose names found in patent applications in countries USA, Germany and
India are as shown in Tables below.
No. Of Patent
Top Inventors in USA
Families
Hueffer Stephan (BASF) 14
Gamarino Roberta (BASF) 10
TrimarcoLicia(Clariant) 10
Reineking Claus (Clariant) 9
Quaglierini Maurizio (Clariant) 8
Gisler Markus (Clariant) 7
Nusser Rainer (Clariant) 7
Schaefer Philipp (Clariant) 6

114
Pedersen Kurt (BASF) 6
ScherrGuenter(4M Globe ) 6
Hedegaard Jens (BASF) 6
Danisch Peter (Dansk Mink Papir) 6
Wolf Gerhard (BASF) 5

No. Of Patent
Top Inventors in Germany
Families
Hueffer Stephan (BASF) 15
Klueglein Matthias (BASF) 8
Kleban Martin (Lanxess) 8
Schaefer Philipp (BASF, Lanxess) 7
Pabst Gunther (BASF) 7
ReinersJuergen(BASF) 7
Reese Oliver (BASF) 6
ScherrGuenter(BASF) 6
Wolf Gerhard (BASF) 6
Danisch Peter (BASF) 6
Erhardt Rainer (BASF) 5
Maurer Tobias (Evonik Goldschmidt) 4

No. Of Patent
Top Inventors in India
Families
Hueffer Stephan (BASF) 10
Gamarino Roberta (BASF) 6
TrimarcoLicia (Clariant) 6
SaravanabhavanSubramani (Clariant) 6
Nair BalachandranUnni(Council Of Scientific & 6
Industrial Research)
Mukherjee Goutam(National Research Centre On 5
Mithun)
Reineking Claus (Clariant) 5
RamasamiThirumalachari(Council Of Scientific & 5
Industrial Research)
ChellappaMuralidharan(Council Of Scientific & 4
Industrial Research)
ChakrabortySanjoy(National Research Centre On 4
Mithun)
Quaglierini Maurizio (Clariant) 4
GarnierSebastien(BASF) 4
Glocknitzer Franz (BASF) 4

115
TrimarcoLicia, Reineking Claus, QuaglieriniMaurizio,Gisler Markus, Nusser Rainer, and
Schaefer Philipp of Clariant are top inventors found in patent applicationsfocusing on Non-
metal tanning.
Nair BalachandranUnniofCouncilOf Scientific & Industrial Research is filing patent
applications mainly on Bio-tanning process.
Mukherjee GoutamofNational Research Centre OnMithun is filing patent applications mainly
on Chrome tanning process.
Hedegaard Jens of BASF is filing patent applications on Drying aggregate for the drying of
the leather.
Pedersen Kurt of BASF is filing patent applications on Leather processing apparatus.

Exercise 2:
Identify the total number of published European patents that Vodafone has. What arethe key
areas of the patents? Does Vodafone have patents in US and Australia? Perform a search
using QPat. Identify if there are any joint assignees. Summarize the patent register
information for EP2351248.

Solution for Exercise-2:

Patent search strategy on Vodafone
Assignee:Vodafone
Search period:
No restriction on search period.
Results:
Patent search in Questal Orbit was conducted by using Assignee as Vodafone. Also, a patent
search was conducted using Vodafone (parent company) and its subsidiaries as many
patents were filed in the name of Vodafone. We retrieved 2292 published patent families.

116
 Vodafone patent portfolio and legal status
Vodafone has 1338, 771 and 110 published patent families in Europe, USA and Australia
respectively as shown in above diagram.

117
 No. Of
Patent
Familie
s

Gr
ay
ar
ea

Earliest Priority Year

Chronological distributionof Vodafone portfolio based on patent information

Vodafone has filed maximum number of patent applications in 2004. Gray area shown in the
diagram indicates the data is insufficient to decide on, due to 18 th month publication period
(this is because of an eighteen month lag for the publication of patent applications filed and
hence remains in their “secretive period”).
.

118
 IPC distribution based on patent information
Major patent application are filed under H04W (Wireless Communication Networks) followed
by H04L (Transmission Of Digital Information) and H04M (Telephonic Communication).
(Note: One patent application can have more than one IPC codes. IPC codes from individual
patent applications are considered for the IPC distribution chart)

Geographical distribution based on patent information

Vodafone has filed maximum patent applications in Germany followed by Great Britain and
WO (i.e PCT applications).

119
 Co-Assignee distribution based on patent information
Vodafone has maximum patent applications filed with Mannesmann as joint assignee
followed by ATX Europe.
The patents register information for EP2351248 is retrieved from European patent office
register (i.e
https://register.epo.org/application?number=EP09785660)

EP2351248- Channel Quality Measurement In Relay Systems

Status Request for examination was made

Database last updated on 29.09.2015

Most recent event 18.09.2015 Change - classification published

on 21.10.2015 [2015/43]

18.09.2015 Change - classification published

on 21.10.2015 [2015/43]

18.09.2015 Change - German title published

on 21.10.2015 [2015/43]

Applicant(s) For all designated states

Vodafone Group PLC

120
 Vodafone House, The Connection Newbury
Berkshire RG14 2FN / GB

[2011/31]

Inventor(s) 01 / BHAT, Prakash

Faraday House The Conection
Newbury Berkshire RG14 2FN / GB

[2011/31]

Representative(s) Boult Wade Tennant

Verulam Gardens
70 Gray's Inn Road
London WC1X 8BT / GB

[N/P]

Application 09785660.3 17.09.2009

number, filing
date
[2011/31]

WO2009GB51210

Priority number, GB20080016992 17.09.2008 Original published format: GB 0816992

date

[2011/31]

Filing language EN

Procedural EN
language

Publication Type: A1 Application with search report

No.: WO2010032053

Date: 25.03.2010

121
 Language: EN

[2010/12]

Type: A1 Application with search report

No.: EP2351248

Date: 03.08.2011

Language: EN

The application has been published by WIPO in one of the EPO official
languages on 25.03.2010

[2011/31]

International and International EP 25.03.2010

Supplementary search report -
search report(s) published on:

Classification International: H04B7/155, H04B7/26, [2015/43]

H04L5/00, H04L25/02

Designated AT, BE, BG, CH, CY, CZ, DE, DK, EE, ES, FI, FR, GB, GR, HR, H
contracting U, IE, IS, IT,
states
LI, LT, LU, LV, MC, MK, MT, NL, NO, PL, PT, RO, SE, SI, SK, SM
, TR [2011/31]

Title German: MESSUNG DER [2015/43]

KANALQUALITÄT IN
RELAY-SYSTEMEN

English: CHANNEL QUALITY [2011/31]

MEASUREMENT IN
RELAY SYSTEMS

122
 French: MESURE DE QUALITÉ [2011/31]
DE VOIE DANS DES
SYSTÈMES DE RELAIS

Entry into 18.04.2011 National basic fee paid

regional phase

18.04.2011 Designation fee(s) paid

18.04.2011 Examination fee paid

Examination 18.04.2011 Examination requested [2011/31]

procedure

25.11.2011 Amendment by applicant (claims and/or description)

Divisional The date of the Examining Division's first communication in respect of the
application(s) earliest application
for which a communication has been issued is 02.10.2015

Fees paid Renewal fee

14.11.2011 Renewal fee patent year 03

27.12.2012 Renewal fee patent year 04

27.09.2013 Renewal fee patent year 05

26.09.2014 Renewal fee patent year 06

Penalty fee

Additional fee for renewal fee

30.09.2011 03 M06 Fee paid on 14.11.2011

30.09.2012 04 M06 Fee paid on 27.12.2012

123
Cited in International [XY]US2007153758
search

[Y]US2006187852

124
Exercise 3:
Nanocellulose, is a material composed of nanosized cellulose fibrils with a high aspect ratio
(length to width ratio). It is pseudo-plastic and exhibits the property of certain gels or fluids
that are thick (viscous) under normal conditions, but flow (become thin, less viscous) over
time when shaken, agitated, or otherwise stressed. When the shearing forces are removed
the gel regains much of its original state. The fibrils are isolated from any cellulose containing
source including wood-based fibers (pulp fibers) through high-pressure, high temperature and
high velocity impact homogenization.
One of the most popular methods for the cellulose nanomaterial production uses chemical
treatments such as acid hydrolysis. The initiation of the hydrolysis pathways starts with the
hydrolytic cleavage of the glycosidic bonds in the amorphous regions, generating individual
crystallites.
Identify the patents on Cellulose Nanoparticle Production by Acid Hydrolysis in US, China
and Patentscope.

Solution for Exercise-3:

Patent search strategy on Cellulose Nanoparticle Production by Acid Hydrolysis
Keywords:
(cellulose OR cellulose crystal OR cellulose nanocrystal OR celluloe whisker OR cellulose
microcrystal OR celluloenanowhisker OR nanocrystal cellulose OR cellulose nano-whisker
OR cellulose nano-crystal OR nano-crystal cellulose OR cellulose micro-crystal OR cellulose
microfibril OR microfibril cellulose OR cellulose nanofibril OR nanofibril cellulose OR micro-
fibril cellulose OR nano-fibril cellulose OR cellulose micro-fibril OR cellulose nano-fibril OR
cellulose nanofiber OR nanocellulose OR cellulose nanoparticle OR nano-cellulose OR
nanoparticl cellulose OR nano-cellulose OR cellulose nanofiller OR cellulose nano-fiber OR
cellulose nanoparticleOR cellulose nano-fill OR nano-particlecellulose)
Acidic hydrolysis or hydrochloric acid hydrolysis or acidolysis or sulfuric acid hydrolysis or
hydrolysis or acid dissociation or enzymatic hydrolysis or hydrochloric acid or sulfuric acid or
acid concentration
IPC/CPC Code:
D21C : Production of cellulose by removing non-cellulose substances from cellulose-
containing materials; regeneration of pulping liquors; apparatus therefor
C08L : Compositions of macromolecular compounds
B82Y : Specific uses or applications of nano-structures; measurement or analysis of nano-
structures; manufacture or treatment of nano-structures
Results
Patent search in Questal Orbit was conducted byusing keywords and IPC codes on Cellulose
nanoparticle production by acid hydrolysis and it resulted in 438 patent families.
125
126
 Distribution patent applications based on their legal status on Cellulose nano-particle
production by Acid hydrolysis

Geographical distribution based on patent information

Maximum number of patent applications are filed and published in China followed by USA,
WO (i.e PCT applications), Europe and Japan.

127
 Chronological distribution based on patent information
The patent filing trend shows increase from 1999 onwards. Maximum number of patent
applications is filed in 2013.Gray area shown in the diagram indicates the data is insufficient
to decide on, due to 18th month publication period.

128
Exercise 4:
Find out all keyboard inventions from the organization APPLE for the past 5 years using
QPat. Identify the technology trends associated with the development of keyboard and
prepare a summary. Identify the total number of granted patents and their legal status

Solution for Exercise 4:

Patent search strategy on leather processing and manufacture
Keywords:
Keyboard OR Keypad OR input device
IPC/CPC Code:
G06F-003/000 OR G06F-003/02 OR G06F-003/023 OR H03M 11/00
Assignee: Apple
Search period:
January 01, 2010 to November 23, 2015.
Results
Patent search in Questal Orbit was conducted by using keywords and IPC/CPC codes/ JP F-
terms/ US classification codes, assignee apple and restricted by search period “January 01,
2010 to November 23, 2015” and retrieved around 322 patent families as shown by pie-
diagram below.

Apples’ patent portfolio in last five years and their legal status on keyboard
Out of these 322 patent applications 321 patent applications are alive and 230 patent
applications are granted.

129
 Distribution of International patent classification codesbased on patent information
Patent Classifications Codes are allocated based on the technology the patent application
discloses. A study of Apples’ keyboard patent filings reveals that G06F-003/048Interaction
techniques based on graphical user interfaces,G06F-003/041Digitizers, G06F-003/02Input
arrangements using manually operated switches, e.g. using keyboards or dials and G06F-
003/0488 interactions using a touch-screen or digitizer are the most commonly assigned
code.
(Note: One patent application can have more than one IPC codes. IPC codes from individual
patent applications are considered for the IPC distribution chart)

130
 Apples’ International Patent Classification trends for keyboard technologies.

Exercise 5:
How many patent applications and granted patents does Google have? Are there any joint
assignees for its patents, if so, who are they and whatthe technologies that are covered by
such inventions are? Identify the application to granted patent ratio for US patents of Google
using QPat

Solution for Exercise-5:

Patent search strategy on Vodafone
Assignee:Google
Search period:
No restriction on search period.
Results:
Patent search in Questal Orbit was conducted by using Assignee as Google. Also, a patent
search was conducted using Google (parent company) and its subsidiaries as many patents
were filed in the name of Google. We retrieved 21857 published patent families.

131
 Distribution of Googles’ Patent Portfolio
Out of these 21857 patents, 20521 patent applications are in forced and 1333 patent
applications are dead.

Distribution of top co-assignees with Google based on patent information

Google has filed maximum number of patent applications i.e 7132 jointly with Motorola
focusing on radio transmission systems and wireless communication networks.

132
 Motorola
H04B-007 1163 IPC Code Definition
H04B-007 Radio transmission systems
H04B-001 1025
H04B-001 Details of transmission system
H04L-012 1000 H04L-012 Data switching networks

H04M-001 H04M-001 Substation equipment f or telephonic communication

793
IPC Code

Arrangements, apparatus, circuits or systems f or transmission of

H04L-029 digital inf ormation
H04L-029 697

Services or f acilities specially adapted f or wireless communication

H04W-004 628 H04W-004 networks

H04N-007 540 H04N-007 Television systems

H04W-088 Devices specially adapted f or wireless communication networks

H04W-088 525
G06F-003 Interface arrangements f or transf erring data
G06F-003 435 Arrangements for detecting or preventing errors in the inf ormation
H04L-001 received
H04L-001 430

0 500 1000 1500 2000

No. of Patent Families

IBM

G06F-017 121 IPC Code Definition

Digital computing or data processing equipment or
H01L-021 109 G06F-017 methods, specially adapted f or specific functions

Apparatus or local circuits f or mosaic printer telegraph

G06F-009 105 H01L-021 systems

G06F-009 Arrangements f or control unit

G06F-012 100
Accessing, addressing or allocating within memory
IPC Code

G06F-012 systems or architectures

G06F-015 82
G06F-015 Digital computers in general
G06F-013 74
Interconnection of , or transf er of inf ormation or other
G06F-013 signals between, memories, input/output devices or
H04L-012 58 central processing units

H04L-012 Data switching networks

G06F-003 54
G06F-003 Interf ace arrangements for transf erring data
G06F-011 50 G06F-011 Error detection; Error correction; Monitoring

H01L-027 Modulated-carrier systems

H01L-027 38

0 50 100 150 200

No. of Patent Families

Google has joint patent applications with IBM mainly focusing on data processing
equipment’s and control units.

133
 General Instrument

H04N-007 280

H04N-021 145
IPC Code Definition
H04N-007 Television systems
H04L-029 119
H04N-021 Selective content distribution f or Television
Arrangements, apparatus, circuits or systems f or transmission
H04L-009 94 H04L-029
of digital information
IPC Code

H04L-009 Arrangements f or secret or secure communication

H04N-005 88
H04N-005 Details of television systems
H04L-012 Data switching networks
H04L-012 87
G06F-021 Security arrangements f or protecting computers, components
thereof , programs or data against unauthorised activity
G06F-021 58 Methods or arrangements f or coding, decoding, compressing or
H04N-019
decompressing digital video signals

H04N-019 52 G06F-015 Digital computers in general

H04J-003 Time-division multiplex systems

G06F-015 40

H04J-003 29

0 100 200 300 400

No. of Patent Families

Google has joint patent applications with General Instruments mainly on television systems
and transmission of digital information.

Hitachi

G06F-003 171
IPC Code Definition
G06F-012 157 G06F-003 Interf ace arrangements f or transf erring data
Accessing, addressing or allocating within memory systems or
G06F-012
G06F-013 96 architectures

Interconnection of , or transfer of inf ormation or other signals

G06F-013 between, memories, input/output devices or central
G06F-011 72
processing units
IPC Code

G06F-015 46 G06F-011 Error detection; Error correction; Monitoring

G06F-015 Digital computers in general

H04L-029 36 Arrangements, apparatus, circuits or systems f or

H04L-029
transmission of digital inf ormation

H04L-012 32 H04L-012 Data switching networks

Digital computing or data processing equipment or methods,
G06F-017
specially adapted f or specific functions
G06F-017 31
G06F-001 Electric digital data processing details

G06F-001 20 Security arrangements f or protecting computers, components

G06F-021 thereof , programs or data against unauthorised activity

G06F-021 16

0 100 200 300 400

No. of Patent Families

Google has joint patent applications with Hitachi on interconnection for transferring data and
monitoring.

134
 Silverbrook Research

IPC Code Definition

H04N-001 69
H04N-001 Scanning, transmission or reproduction of
documents
B41J-002 57 Typewriters or selective printing mechanisms
B41J-002 characterised by the printing or marking process f or
which they are designed
H04N-005 56
H04N-005 Details of television systems
Typewriters or selective printing or marking
B41J-003 47 B41J-003 mechanisms characterised by the purpose f or which
IPC Code

they are constructed

G06K-019 40 G06K-019 Record carriers f or use with machines and with at
least a part designed to carry digital markings
G06K-007 Methods or arrangements f or sensing record carriers
G06K-007 39
B41J-011 Devices or arrangements f or supporting or handling
copy material in sheet or web f orm
B41J-011 37
Devices or arrangements specially adapted f or
B41J-015 supporting or handling copy material in continuous
B41J-015 34 f orm, e.g. web
Security arrangements f or protecting computers,
G06F-021 components thereof, programs or data against
G06F-021 34 unauthorised activity

G06K-001 Methods or arrangements f or marking the record

G06K-001 33 carrier in digital f ashion

0 50 100 150 200

No. of Patent Families

Google has joint patent applications with Silverbrook Research scanning, transmission or
reproduction of documents and printing mechanisms and processes

Google has filed 21272 patent applications in USA. Out of these 21272, 20028 patent
applications are alive and 1244 are dead. The legal status of alive patent applications is
shown in the above diagram i.e 16154 patent applications is granted and 3874 patent
applications is in pending. Google is maintaining huge portfolio.

Exercise-6

135
Identify the patent applications and granted patents at the Delhi patent office on
colony stimulating factor from the IPO website. Identify the status of application
number 870/DELNP/2006. When was the certificate issued for this application?

Solution for Exercise-6:

Patent search strategy on colony stimulating factor
Keywords:
"colony stimulating factor" or "colony-stimulating factor" or csf
IPC/CPC Code:
A61K38/00 or C07K14/53 or C07K14/535 or A61K38/19 or C12P21/02 or C12N15/09 or
C12N15/27
Search period:
January 01, 1912 to November 23, 2015 (Application Date (National))
Filing office:
Del
Results
Patent search was conducted in IPO website (i.ehttp://ipindiaservices.gov.in/publicsearch/)
byusing keywords and IPC codes on colony stimulating factor and it resulted in 211patent
applications.

Distribution of Patent applications and granted patents published at the Delhi patent office on
colony stimulating factor

211 patent applications are filed at the Delhi patent office out of which 202 patent applications
are alive and 163 are granted.

136
Status of application number 870/DELNP/2006

The certificate issued for this application is on 11/06/2009

137
Exercise-7
The search for alternatives to existing energy technologies such as nuclear power,
hydroelectric power and the combustion of fossil fuels has become more and more important
in the light of volatile fossil fuel prices and supply, accelerated exploitation of natural
resources, and ecological concerns.For many decades, nuclear fusion has been believed to
make a significant contribution to meet the energy needs of tomorrow. In Nuclear physics,
nuclear fusion is a nuclear reaction in which two or more atomic nuclei join together, or “fuse”,
to form a single heavier nucleus.
Draw a graph for each of the following companies showing the distribution of application and
grants of patents from 1990to 2000
Hitachi, Toshiba, Mitsubishi, Kawasaki, Siemens, General Electric

Solution for Exercise-7:

Patent search strategy on Nuclear fusion
Keywords:
Nuclear fusion
IPC/CPC Code:
G21B-001/00 OR H05H-001/02 OR G21B-003/000
US patent classification codes:
376100000
Search period:
January 01, 1990 to December 31, 2000.
Results
Patent search was conducted in Questal Orbit byusing keywords and IPC/CPC codes/ US
classification codes on nuclear fusion and it resulted in 6135 patent families.
Above results are restricted by search period “January 01, 1990 to December 31, 2000” and
retrieved around 1518 patent families.
These results are further restricted byassignees and retrieved resultsare as follows:

Assignee Patent Families

Hitachi 183
Toshiba 283
Mitsubishi 118
Kawasaki 52
Siemens 3
General Electric

138
 Distribution of selected assignee’s patents and their legal status on nuclear fusion
The search period is “January 01, 1990 to December 31, 2000” since patent life is 20 years,
most of the patent results’ legal status shows dead and all alive patents are granted patents,
no pending applications are found.

139
Exercise-8:
In the year 2014 the Super major companies are considered to be the World’s five largest publicly
owned oil and gas companies are:
a. British Petroleum plc,
b. Chevron Corporation,
c. ExxonMobil Corporation,
d. Royal Dutch Shell plc
e. Total SA

a) Find out the top ten IPC Codes for each company.
b) Prepare a graph for total number of patent of each given company for the last ten years. Find
out maximum number of patent filing company and mark the company in a graph.
c) Identify the top 10 major inventors for each company.

Solution for Exercise-8:

Patent search strategy on oil and gas companies
Assignee:British Petroleum plc, Chevron Corporation, ExxonMobil Corporation, Royal Dutch
Shell plc and Total SA
Results:
Patent search in Questal Orbit was conducted by using Assignee as British Petroleum plc,
Chevron Corporation, ExxonMobil Corporation, Royal Dutch Shell plc and Total SA
separately. Also, a patent search was conducted using British Petroleum plc, Chevron
Corporation, ExxonMobil Corporation, Royal Dutch Shell plc and Total SA (parent company)
and its subsidiaries as many patents were filed in the name of these companies. We retrieved
published patent families as shown below.

British Petroleum 8738

Chevron 9382
ExxonMobil 31927
Shell 35401
Total 6786

Above results are further restricted by search period “January 01, 2005 to November 23,
2015” and retrievedpublishedpatent families as shown below

BP 30
Chevron 2072
ExxonMobil 3508
Shell 4236
Total 3358

Royal Dutch Shell plc has filed maximum patent applications in last ten years followed by
ExxonMobil. British Petroleum has no patent filings from 2012 as shown in diagrambelow.

140
141
 Patent filing trends by selected assignees in last ten years.

. Distribution
of Top IPC and Top Inventors by British petroleum based on patent information

142
Major patent applicationsby British petroleum are filed under C08F and C08L (formation and
composition of macromolecular compounds).

Distribution of Top IPC and Top Inventors by Chevron based on patent information
Major patent applicationsby Chevronare filed under C10G and C07C (Cracking and
production of hydrocarbon oils and acyclic and carbocyclic compounds).

143
 Distribution of Top IPC and Top Inventors by ExxonMobil based on patent information
Major patent applicationsby ExxonMobilare filed under C10G and C07C (Cracking and
production of hydrocarbon oils and acyclic and carbocyclic compounds).

144
 Distribution of Top IPC and Top Inventors by Shell based on patent information
Major patent applicationsby Shellare filed under C07C (acyclic and carbocyclic compounds)
and B01J (chemical and physical processes).

145
 Distribution of Top IPC and Top Inventors by Total based on patent information
Major patent applicationsby Totalare filed under C08F and C08L (formation and composition
of macromolecular compounds).

Exercise-9:

146
Identify from Orbit the patents from worldwide on proposing new technologies for
treating and recycling end-of-life batteries and related waste since last decade.
Top 10 Most Cited Patents citation analysis based on Countries.
Patents citation analysis based on assignee.
Patents citation analysis based on technology fields

Solution for Exercise-9:

Patent search strategy on treating and recycling end-of-life batteries and related waste
Keywords:
((recycle or recycling) AND (battery or batteries))
IPC/CPC Code:
H01M000652 OR H01M OR B09B OR C22B00700 OR Y02W03000 OR Y02W03050 OR
B03C0001 OR B09B0003 OR C08J0011
Japan F terms:
4D004AA23 OR 4K001
Search period:
January 01, 2004 to November 23, 2015.
Results
Patent search was conducted in Questal Orbit byusing keywords and IPC/CPC codes/ JP F-
terms/ US classification codes on treating and recycling end-of-life batteries and related
waste and it resulted in 2952 patent families.
Above results are furtherrestricted by search period “January 01, 2004 to November 23,
2015” and retrieved around 2095 patent families as shown by pie-diagram below.

147
The top cited patent on treating and recycling end-of-life batteries and related waste in last
ten years areCN101847763 (A) titled Comprehensive recovering method of waste lithium iron
phosphate battery, CN102208706 (A) titled Recycling treatment method of waste and old
lithium iron phosphate battery anode materials and FR2868603 (A1) titled Method for the
mixed recycling of lithium-based anode batteries and cells.

The
top cited assigneeson treating and recycling end-of-life batteries and related waste in last ten
years are UBE industries, Chery automobile, BYD and Toyota motor.

148
The top cited IPC codes on treating and recycling end-of-life batteries and related waste in
last ten years are H01M-010/54 (secondary cell Reclaiming serviceable parts of waste
accumulators), B09B-003/00 (Destroying solid waste or transforming solid waste into
something useful or harmless) and H01M-006/52 (Reclaiming serviceable parts of waste cells
or batteries).

149
150
151
152
Exercise-10:
The semiconductor industry has patents way back from 1980. This is a very unique
industry with different technology developments from digital to the Application Specific
Integrated circuits. Identify the patents published for the last ten years in ASIC in USPTO
and EPO.
Identify areas of importance in ASIC and classify the patents in that order
Plot a bar diagram for the total number of applications to grants for a given year
Identify the top ten assignees in case of USPTO and EPO.
Identify the relevant IPC categories applicable to ASIC technologies

Solution for Exercise-10

Patent search strategy on leather processing and manufacture
Keywords:
Application specific integrated circuit or asic
IPC/CPC Code:
G06F 17/50 OR H03K-019 OR G01R 31/00
US Code:
326 OR 716
Search period:
January 01, 2004 to November 23, 2015.
Results
Patent search was conducted in Questal Orbit by using keywords and IPC codes/ JP F-
terms/ US classification codes/ CPC codes on Application Specific Integrated circuitsand it
resulted in 15646 patent families.Above results arefurtherrestricted by search period “January
01, 2004 to November 23, 2015” and retrieved around 5194 patent families as shown below.

153
Distribution of patent filings and their legal status on Application specific integrated circuits in
last ten years

Distribution of top ten assignees in USA and Europe on Application specific integrated circuits
in last ten years
154
Intel, IBM, avago technologies and Qualcomm are top assignees in filling patent applications
in USA on Application specific integrated circuits in last ten years. Whereas Intel, Qualcomm,
Nokia and Microchip technologyare top assignees in filling patent applications in Europe on
Application specific integrated circuits in last ten years.

155
Distribution of areas of importance on Application specific integrated circuits based on IPCin
last ten years

156
 Chapter 7
Patent exercises
1. Identify the synonyms for recombinant insulin. Perform a search in the patent database of US, EP and India using
the search field title only, title +abstract and title+abstract+ claims. From this search identify the following
a) Draw a graph on the relevant hits obtained in each type of field search
b) From the total documents retrieved identify relevant retrieved hits, polymorphs, methods of use, process and
formulation for USPTO. Prepare a bar diagram.
c) Identify the top tem IPCs for polymorph and method of use category
d) Identify total number of patent applications and granted patents for the last decade in case of IPO and classify the
patents into relevant areas.

2. The semiconductor industry has patents way back from 1980. This is a very unique industry with different
technology developments from digital to the Application Specific Integrated circuits (ASIC). Identify the patents
published for the last ten years in ASIC in USPTO and EPO.
a) Identify areas of importance in ASIC and classify the patents in that order
b) Plot a bar diagram for the total number of applications to grants for a given year
c) Identify the top ten assignees in case of USPTO and EPO.
d) Identify the relevant IPC categories applicable to ASIC technologies

3. For the Avian Infleunza virus identify all the patents from USPTO and EPO for the last five years
a) Segregate the application and granted patent. Prepare a year wise graph for applications and granted patents for
both US and EU
b) For the granted patents prepare a histogram of the applicants
c) Identify the top ten IPCs for each country and plot a bar diagram showing the percentage representation. Identify
the main IPC.
d) Identify top ten assignees and top 10 inventors

4. Identify the recent review article on carbon nanotubes. Identify the general developments in technology related to
carbon nanotubes. Using keyword search identify all the relevant hits at USPTO, EPO and IPO on carbon
nanotubes for the last five years
a) For each country identify the major area of patenting in carbon nanotubes
b) Identify the top 10 assignees and top 10 inventors for each country
c) Prepare a patent landscape (either tree diagram or arrow diagram representing the major areas of innovation).
Circle the emerging areas.

5. India is one of the largest in use of low cost biomass gasifier. Biomass gasifiers have been successfully used in
some states. Perform a search at the IPO for applications and granted patents related to biomass gasifier in India
for the last 10 years
a) Plot year wise distribution of applications and granted patents. Explain the graph
b) Classify the patent applications and granted patents according the biomass gasifier type.
c) Identify the major assignees over the past five years. What is the percentage of academic inventions
d) Identify the emerging areas of innovations

6. Human papilloma virus (HPV) is the causal agent linked to cervical cancer in women and is on the rise in
developing countries. There are attempts at generating HPV vaccines. Based on a recent review article in this
area identify how many HPV strains are available. Perform a search at EPO, USPTO and IPO and AusPat on
HPV
a) Identify the relevant hits from the total number of hits.
b) Plot a bar diagram for inventions related to specific HPV strains for each individual database search
c) From the patents for each database identify the patents that have lapsed
d) Identify patents for the past two years in case of each database and identify the recent innovations

157
7. Search for inventions related to tea at the IPO for the last 10 years.
a) Plot a graph indicating year wise growth of applications and granted patents.
b) Identify total number of patents related to ‘process improvement’. Prepare a summary on the improvements in this
area. Indicate the emerging areas
c) Prepare a patent portfolio map for the major companies and academic institutions

8. Search for granted patents related to leather processing and manufacture for the past 10 years in case of India,
Germany and USA.
a) Draw a pie chart with the percentage distribution of patents for the three countries.
b) Identify which year has maximum granted patents in all of these countries
c) Identify major assignees for each country
d) Identify top 10 assignees and top 10 inventors for each country

9. From AusPat perform a search for patents related to ‘surgical needle’

a) Identify the total number of granted patents and the invention areas.
b) Identify the lapsed patents and the areas they represent
c) For the patent 2003279048 identify the examination details and prepare a summary

10. Using Global Patent Index (GPI) perform a search for all published applications since 2000 on Optical
Coherence tomography using the Title Abstract and Key content search
a) Plot the year wise growth in patents.
b) Identify how many of these have been granted.
c) Identify the top 10 inventors and top 10 assignees
d) What is the percentage of academic inventions and what areas do they represent

11. Using Patentscope perform a search for all published applications since 2000 on Optical Biosensors using
the Title Abstract and Key content search
a) Plot the year wise growth in patents.
b) Identify how many of these have been granted.
c) Identify the top 10 inventors and top 10 assignees
d) What is the percentage of academic inventions and what areas do they represent

12. Identify the patents on Magnetic resonance imaging from EPO for the last five years
a) Plot a bar diagram for country distribution of patents
b) For the US, identify the total number of applications and granted patents
c) Plot a year wise graph showing growth of applications for EU and identify the new areas of growth
d) Identify the top 10 assignees and top 10 inventors
e) Plot the development of inventions in the area of magnetic resonance imaging for the five years

13. Find out all keyboard inventions from the organization APPLE for the past 5 years using Patentscope.
Identify the technology trends associated with the development of keyboard and prepare a summary. Identify the
total number of granted patents and their legal status

14. Identify total number of published applications for Siemens in Europe from January 2011.
a) Identify the areas of the inventions and prepare a summary.
b) Identify if there are any joint assignees for the inventions. If so, identify the areas of work.

15. What are the technology trends in the development of electric car. Identify the patents related to electric
car from USPTO. List the major assignees and the areas. Prepare a summary of the trends in development of
electric car and the recent innovations.

16. Identify patents for the past five years on magnetic resonance imaging from EPO. List the major areas of
development. Prepare a tree diagram indicating the areas and the assignees.

17. Identify the patents related to biosensors for the past 10 years from Patentscope. List the total number of
inventions on optical biosensors. Plot year wise, assignee wise graphs.

158
18. Identify from Patentscope the patents from US, EU on maskless lithography. Identify the recent trends in
the application of this technology and the major companies worldwide. Plot year wise growth of patents in this
area for the last five years.

19. What are the types of nanomaterials used related to lithium ion batteries. Perform a search on AusPatand
categorise patents based on the different components of Lithium ion battery for which nanomaterials are being
developed.

20. Identify the trends in pacemaker technology for the past five years using USPTO. Categorise the patents
as per assignee, ratio of applications to granted patents in US. Prepare a portfolio map of the major invention
areas.

21. How many patent applications and granted patents does Google have? Are there any joint assignees for
its patents, If so, who are they and what are the technologies that are covered by such inventions. Identify the
application to granted patent ratio for US patents of Google using USPTO

22. Are there any applications in the past one year on utilisation of municipal waste for generation of biomass.
Identify from EPO the major assignees, major inventors and the top IPCs.

23. For the past 10 years identify the total number of applications and granted patents that Biocon has. Identify
the main areas claimed in its inventions. List the PCT applications and the areas claimed.

24. Identify the total number of published European patents that Vodafone has. What the keys areas of the
patents. Does Vodafone have patents in US and Australia. Perform a search using Espacenet. Identify if there
are any joint assignees. Summarise the patent register information for EP2351248.

25. Identify the total patent applications filed from 2007-2011 by Novartis at the Indian patent office. What are
the invention areas. What is the status of the application number 1001/DELNP/2007.

26. Identify inventions related to Mycophenolic acid during the past five years using USPTO. Which are the
companies working on producing better drugs with this. Are there any applications filed in India in relation to this
compound over the past five years.

27. Identify the patent applications and granted patents at the Delhi patent office on colony stimulating factor
from the IPO website. Identify the status of application number 870/DELNP/2006. When was the certificate issued
for this application.

28. Identify Indian patent applications and granted patents on irrigation sprinklers for the past ten years. Map
the major innovation areas. Identify the major assignees. Plot a graph for the application to granted patent ratio
for the ten years. Identify the total number of PCT applications. How many have been published among these.

29. Identify the number of applications and granted patents related to root canal treatment equipment from
EU and US for the past 5 years. Plot a graph for the application to granted patent ratio for the five years. Draw a
pie chart showing distribution of the areas of innovation. Identify the major assignees and the top IPCs.

30. Identify patents on digital pens from IPO. What is the total number of published applications and granted
patents. Who are the major assignees. Draw a pie chart showing distribution of areas of innovations. Plot a bar
diagram showing distribution based on country. Identify the major assignees for patents on digital pens.

31 .The search for alternatives to existing energy technologies such as nuclear power, hydroelectric power and
the combustion of fossil fuels has become more and more important in the light of volatile fossil fuel prices and
supply, accelerated exploitation of natural resources, and ecological concerns.

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 For many decades, nuclear fusion has been believed to make a significant contribution to meet the energy
needs of tomorrow. In Nuclear physics, nuclear fusion is a nuclear reaction in which two or more atomic nuclei
join together, or “fuse”, to form a single heavier nucleus.

a) Identify the patent classification codes with respect to nuclear fusion (ECLA &USClassification)
b) Using GPI draw a pie-chart of the distribution of patents in the field of nuclear fusion

32. The search for alternatives to existing energy technologies such as nuclear power, hydroelectric power and
the combustion of fossil fuels has become more and more important in the light of volatile fossil fuel prices and
supply, accelerated exploitation of natural resources, and ecological concerns.For many decades, nuclear fusion
has been believed to make a significant contribution to meet the energy needs of tomorrow. In Nuclear physics,
nuclear fusion is a nuclear reaction in which two or more atomic nuclei join together , or “fuse”, to form a single
heavier nucleus.

a) Draw a graph for each company showing the distribution of application and grants of patents from 2001 to 1990
using GPI

i) Hitachi
ii) Toshiba
iii) Mitsubishi
iv) Kawasaki
v) Siemens
vi) General Electric

33. The search for alternatives to existing energy technologies such as nuclear power, hydroelectric power and
the combustion of fossil fuels has become more and more important in the light of volatile fossil fuel prices and
supply, accelerated exploitation of natural resources, and ecological concerns. For many decades, nuclear fusion
has been believed to make a significant contribution to meet the energy needs of tomorrow. In Nuclear physics,
nuclear fusion is a nuclear reaction in which two or more atomic nuclei join together , or “fuse”, to form a single
heavier nucleus.

a) Draw a graph for each institution showing the distribution of application and grants of
patents from 2001 to 1990 using GPI

i) US Army
ii) University of California
iii) BBC
iv) Max Planck Gesellschaft

34. ‘Electronic business, commonly referred to as “e-business”, or an internet business, may be defined as the
application of information and communication technologies (ICT) in support of all the activities of business.

a) Identify IPC codes for Electronic Business Methods

b) Using PatentScope draw a pie chart of the distribution of patents in the field of electronic
business.

35. Electronic business, commonly referred to as “e-business”, or an internet business, may be defined as
the application of information and communication technologies (ICT) in support of all the activities of business.
a) Using Patentscopeidentifiy the data and draw a graph using Patentscopefor each company showing, grants of
patents worldwide
Microsoft Corporation
Philips
Siemens
A.C Properties
Sun Microsystems
Nokia
Oracle
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 Ericsson

36. ‘Electronic business, commonly referred to as “e-business”, or an internet business, may be defined as the
application of information and communication technologies (ICT) in support of all the activities of business.

a) Using Patentscopeidentifiy the data and draw a graph for the following country wise distribution of application
and grants of
patents
US
Europe
Japan
Australia
Canada

37.Electronic business, commonly referred to as “e-business”, or an internet business, may be defined as the
application of information and communication technologies (ICT) in support of all the activities of business.

a) Identify the distribution of patents relevant to electronic data interchange worldwide using GPI

38. Electronic business, commonly referred to as “e-business”, or an internet business, may be defined as
the application of information and communication technologies (ICT) in support of all the activities of business.
a) Identify the distribution of patents worldwide relevant to Computation /Transaction using USPTO

39. Nanocellulose, is a material composed of nanosized cellulose fibrils with a high aspect ratio (length to
width ratio). It is pseudo-plastic and exhibits the property of certain gels or fluidsthat are thick (viscous) under
normal conditions, but flow (become thin, less viscous) over time when shaken, agitated, or otherwise stressed.
When the shearing forces are removed the gel regains much of its original state. The fibrils are isolated from any
cellulose containing source including wood-based fibers (pulp fibers) through high-pressure, high temperature and
high velocity impact homogenization.

One of the most popular methods for the cellulose nanomaterial production uses chemical treatments such as
acid hydrolysis. The initiation of the hydrolysis pathways starts with the hydrolytic cleavage of the glycosidic bonds
in the amorphous regions, generating individual crystallites.

a) Identify the patents on Cellulose Nanoparticle Production by Acid Hydrolysis in US, China and Patentscope.

40. Nanocellulose, is a material composed of nanosized cellulose fibrils with a high aspect ratio (length to
width ratio). It is pseudo-plastic and exhibits the property of certain gels or fluids that are thick (viscous) under
normal conditions, but flow (become thin, less viscous) over time when shaken, agitated, or otherwise stressed.
When the shearing forces are removed the gel regains much of its original state. The fibrils are isolated from any
cellulose containing source including wood-based fibers (pulp fibers) through high-pressure, high temperature and
high velocity impact homogenization.

One of the methods for production of nanocellulose production is by enzymatic hydrolysis. Enzymatic hydrolysis
of kraft pulp cellulose which decomposes the cellulosic fibers and increases the accessibility and activity of the
fibers.
a) Identify the patents on Cellulose Nanoparticle Production by Enzymatic Hydrolysis in
PCT, US, Japan databases.

41. Nanocellulose, is a material composed of nanosized cellulose fibrils with a high aspect ratio (length to width ratio).
It is pseudo-plastic and exhibits the property of certain gels or fluids that are thick (viscous) under normal
conditions, but flow (become thin, less viscous) over time when shaken, agitated, or otherwise stressed. When
the shearing forces are removed the gel regains much of its original state. The fibrils are isolated from any cellulose
containing source including wood-based fibers (pulp fibers) through high-pressure, high temperature and high
velocity impact homogenization.

One of the methods for Nanocellulose Production is by Oxidation Processes. Surface carboxylated cellulose
nanocrystals with different sizes and degrees of oxidation were prepared by TEMPO-mediated oxidation. This

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 oxidation method uses a mixture of sodium hypochlorite, sodium bromide, and 2,2,6,6- tetramethyl-1-
piperidinyloxy radical (TEMPO).

a) Identify the patents on Cellulose Nanoparticle Production by Oxidation Process in PCT and Japan databases

42. Nanocellulose, is a material composed of nanosized cellulose fibrils with a high aspect ratio (length to width ratio).
It is pseudo-plastic and exhibits the property of certain gels or fluids that are thick (viscous) under normal
conditions, but flow (become thin, less viscous) over time when shaken, agitated, or otherwise stressed. When
the shearing forces are removed the gel regains much of its original state. The fibrils are isolated from any cellulose
containing source including wood-based fibers (pulp fibers) through high-pressure, high temperature and high
velocity impact homogenization.

a) Using GPI draw a pie-chart of the distribution of patents in the field of cellulose
nanoparticle production technology and Biomedical application.

43. The incorporation of cellulose nanowiskers or nanofibers as reinforcement agent in different matrixes to produce
composite materials has been one of the main subjects of study in the development of new materials. The cellulose
nanoparticle characteristics that motivate its applications as nanofiller include:
 High aspect ratio, which enables good stress transfer between filler and matrix
 High contact surface due to nanometric dimensions, which results in improved properties using low filler
concentration
 The presence of hydroxyl groups on the surface facilitates functionlization reactions
 Use of renewable sources for the production is a major feature of their use in the development of environmentally
friendly materials

a) Identify the patents on Nanocellulose in Composite Materials in WIPO, US, and Japan databases.

46. Formulations comprised of nanocellulose and silver nanoparticles can be used as microbicidal medicaments.
Nanosilver is very effective microbicidal agent used in several applications like wound dressing, bandages,
implants, medicaments, as well as in antimicrobial food packing, face masks, water purification systems and air
filters.
a) Identify the patents on Biomedical Application of Nanocellulose in PCT, US and EPO databases.

47. Nanodot technology is a form of information storage that could be used in the future. Nanodot technology today
can store over one hundred times more data than today’s hard drives. The nanodots are billions of
little magnets which can switch polarity to represent a binary unit of data (for example, a single digit—1 or 0 -- of
a binary numeral).

Nanodots are also a popular magnetic toy from Nano Magnetics consisting of uniform magnetic spheres.Magnetic
nanostructures are attracting wide interest due to magnetic properties and potential applications, e.g., patterned
media for hard drives or magnetic sensors. Increasing the present storage areal density in magnetic recording
media is a formidable challenge, which requires innovative methods and materials.
a) List the PCT publication of the patents on self organizednanomagnets.
b) List the US publication of the patents on other procedures of nanomagnet preparation other than self
organizednanomagnets

48. Nanodot technology is a form of information storage that could be used in the future. Nanodot technology
today can store over one hundred times more data than today’s hard drives. The nanodots are billions of
little magnets which can switch polarity to represent a binary unit of data (for example, a single digit—1 or 0 -- of
a binary numeral).

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Nanodots are also a popular magnetic toy from NanoMagnetics consisting of uniform magnetic spheres.Magnetic
nanostructures are attracting wide interest due to magnetic properties and potential applications, e.g., patterned
media for hard drives or magnetic sensors. Increasing the present storage areal density in magnetic recording
media is a formidable challenge, which requires innovative methods and materials.
Self organization consists of the spontaneous appearance of ordered, long range patterns in either space or time.
It results from the competition between different interactions that define some characteristic lengths that become
continuously amplified while the others are progressively annihilated. Self organization is a very frequent
phenomenon in Nature: examples can be found at all length scales, from galaxy clusters to molecular
arrangements or crystalline materials.

a) Using USPTO draw a pie-chart of the distribution of patents in the field of self organized and other methods of
nanomagnet production.

49. The technical field of Biomaterials was revolutionized by the emergence of synthetic polymers which
became available in the 1920s. It opened up a new area for innovation in the field of medical device pioneers.
Biomaterials, which were by definition considered as biologically inert or compatible materials placed inside a
human body on a long term or even permanent basis , were mainly used in the practice of wound closure or dental
repair. They were mainly made of materials derived from plants, ores or animal sources.
A catheter is a thin tube extruded from medical grade materials serving a broad range of functions. Catheters are
medical devices that can be inserted in the body to treat diseases or perform a surgical procedure. Balloon
Catheter was introduced, which is a type of "soft" catheter with an inflatable "balloon" at its tip which is used during
a catheterization procedure to enlarge a narrow opening or passage within the body. The deflated balloon catheter
is positioned, then inflated to perform the necessary procedure, and deflated again in order to be removed.
Expanded polytetrafluoroethylene was introduced for medium diameter vascular prostheses.
a) What are the patents on catheter in EPO & US Databases.
b) Identify European application that enter into regional phase of Europe (Euro PCT).
c) Identify PCT Applications from Patentscope. What are the major IPC codes.

50. Numerous bacterial functions, such as virulence and biofilm formation, are controlled by a cell density-
dependent communication mechanism known as Quorum Sensing (QS), in which small diffusible molecules are
released, allowing bacteria to coordinate their behavior once a minimal effective quorum has been reached. The
interference with these signaling systems, also known as Quorum Quenching (QQ), represents a promising
strategy to tackle bacterial infections.

a) Identify patents on QQ in US Database

51. Numerous bacterial functions, such as virulence and biofilm formation, are controlled by a cell density-
dependent communication mechanism known as Quorum Sensing (QS), in which small diffusible molecules are
released, allowing bacteria to coordinate their behavior once a minimal effective quorum has been reached. The
interference with these signaling systems, also known as Quorum Quenching (QQ), represents a promising
strategy to tackle bacterial infections.

Another QS system was discovered in the marine bioluminescent bacterium Vibrio harveyi, in which an AHL-
mediated quorum sensing is also present. This second QS system is dependent on a diesterfuranosyl borate
called Autoinducer-2 [AI- 2, 13]. AI-2 is a collective term for a group of interconvertiblefuranones derived from
dihydroxypentanedione (DPD).

a) Identify patents on AI-2 QQ in Patentscope

52. Numerous bacterial functions, such as virulence and biofilm formation, are controlled by a cell density-
dependent communication mechanism known as Quorum Sensing (QS), in which small diffusible molecules are
released, allowing bacteria to coordinate their behavior once a minimal effective quorum has been reached. The
interference with these signaling systems, also known as Quorum Quenching (QQ), represents a promising
strategy to tackle bacterial infections.

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 The best known non-enzymatic QQ system is the inhibition of QS AHL-mediated by the algae Deliseapulchra.
This alga produces halogenated furanones with structure very similar to AHLs that inhibit the superficial
colonization, especially by Gram- negative bacteria.
a) Identify Patents on AHL Inhibiting Quorum Quenching in US and PCT.

53. In the twenty first century, predominant dependence on fossil fuels as energy resources will not be
sustainable. Developing and commercializing green energy innovations will be an essential component of the
transition to a more diversified energy economy. Algal biodiesel is one of the most promising green fuels because
of its potential as a renewable and sustainable fuel source without displacing food crops. Algal biodiesel research
and development are necessary early steps towards a transition to a green energy economy. Some of the algal
strains for example, are Botryococcusbraunii, Dunaliellatertiolecta, Pseudochoricystisellipsoidea, Chlorella and
others.
a) Identify the algae strains that are known to produce bio diesel
b) List the number of patent application filed on bio diesel in India, US and EU.
c) Identify the patents on biodiesel in PCT

54. In the twenty first century, predominant dependence on fossil fuels as energy resources will not be sustainable.
Developing and commercializing green energy innovations will be an essential component of the transition to a
more diversified energy economy. Algal biodiesel is one of the most promising green fuels because of its potential
as a renewable and sustainable fuel source without displacing food crops. Algal biodiesel research and
development are necessary early steps towards a transition to a green energy economy.

Many different techniques for extracting oil from algae have been attempted, most of which are neither cost
effective nor efficient. Highly dependent on the quality of the algal oil, extraction involves concentrating and
separating algae from the culturing medium, then mechanical (such as pressing or ultrasonic cell lysing extraction)
and/or chemical (such as solvent or supercritical fluid extraction) oil removal.
a) Identify patented process development in bio diesel production from algae.
b) Prepare a table with the algae patented processes and the status of the patents.

55. X-ray tube is essentially a vacuum glass tube that produces X-rays from cathode rays striking a metal target. X-
rays are waves of electromagnetic energy. They behave in much the same way as light rays, but at much shorter
wavelengths in the range of 0.01e10 nm e and are thus capable of penetrating some thickness of matter. As with
any electronic vacuum tube, there is a cathode, which emits electrons into the vacuum and an anode to collect
the electrons, thus establishing a flow of electrical current, known as the beam, through the tube. A high-voltage
power source, for example 30e150 kV, is connected across cathode and anode to accelerate the electrons. The
X-ray spectrum depends on the anode material and the accelerating voltage. In many applications, the current
flow is typically in the range 1 mA to 1A.

a) List the number of patent application filed for the last ten year on X-ray tube in India, US and EU.
b) Identify PCT Applications on the X-ray tube from Patent scope for the last ten years. What are the major IPC
codes?

56. An X-ray tube is essentially a vacuum glass tube that produces X-rays from cathode rays striking a metal target.
This discovery played a role in the beginning of revolutionary changes in the understanding of the physical world.
The first patent was published on March 21, 1896, in record time by Siemens &Halske (S&H) Company.

a) Identify patented process development in X-ray tube from Siemens &Halske (S&H) Company.
b) Prepare a table with the (S&H) Company. patented processes and the status of the Patents.

57. The Coolidge tube, also called hot cathode tube, differs radically from Crookes
tube, and is the most widely used until today. It works with a very good quality vacuum (about 10_4 Pa, or 10_6
Torr). In the Coolidge tube, the electrons are produced by thermionic effect from a tungsten filament heated by an
electric current e this in fact was a real innovation because the filament is the cathode of the tube. A high voltage
potential exists between the cathode and the anode, the electrons are thus accelerated, and then hit the anode,
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 thus producing the X-rays. This made it possible to control the voltage and the tube current independently by
varying the current through the filament of the cathode. The power of a Coolidge tube usually ranges from 0.1 to
18 kW goals was to achieve radiation output of the tube about 10 times higher than previous technology.
a) Identify European application on Coolidge tube that enters into regional phase of Europe (Euro PCT) for the last
ten year.
b) Using GPI draw a pie chart of the distribution of patents in the field of Coolidge tube for the last ten year.
c) IdentifyIPC codes on Coolidge tube for the period of last ten year.

58. Coolidge was published in US patent number .1, 215,116.This patent dealt with the overall apparatus. The
apparatus comprises an X-ray device operable to yield a great output of X-rays without overheating and melting
the metal on the surface of electrode subjected to the discharge.

a) What the technology areas of the patents. Identify if there are any joint assignees.
b) Summarise the patent register information for US1215116.

59. X-ray tube is essentially a vacuum glass tube that produces X-rays from cathode rays striking a metal target. X-
rays are waves of electromagnetic energy. They behave in much the same way as light rays, but at much shorter
wavelengths in the range of 0.01e10 nm e and are thus capable of penetrating some thickness of matter. As with
any electronic vacuum tube, there is a cathode, which emits electrons into the vacuum and an anode to collect
the electrons, thus establishing a flow of electrical current, known as the beam, through the tube. A high-voltage
power source, for example 30e150 kV, is connected across cathode and anode to accelerate the electrons. The
X-ray spectrum depends on the anode material and the accelerating voltage. In many applications, the current
flow is typically in the range 1 mA to 1A

a) Prepare a patent landscape technology wise on X-ray tube.

60. The X-ray imaging system was a highly technical device that was made up of separate components. These are
well-designed systems utilizing the newest technologies, largely automated functionality, and very intuitive and
user-friendly controls. Computed Tomography (CT) scanning and angiography systems have driven development
of very high performance medical X-ray tubes. CT is a medical imaging procedure that utilizes computer-
processed X-rays to produce tomography images or ‘slices’ of specific areas of the body. However, a radiograph
(X-ray image) and a CT-scan show different types of information. An X-ray image is a simple 2D picture and a
CT-scan is 3D. By imaging and looking at several 3D slices of a body is possible not only know if a tumor is
present, but roughly how deep it is in the body.
a) List the PCT publication of the patents on Computed Tomography (CT) scanning and angiography systems for
the last ten year.
b) Draw a graph for the following country wise distribution of application and grants of patents Computed
Tomography (CT) scanning and angiography systems for the last ten years.
i) US
ii) Europe
ii) Japan
iii) Australia
iv) Canada
c) Plot a year wise graph showing growth of applications for worldwide and identify the new a reason the Computed
Tomography (CT) scanning in relation to X-ray tube.

61. The basic wind turbine design consists of a bladed rotor that drives a shaft to a generator. The generator uses
electromagnetic induction to produce a voltage. Wind power was used to enable electrolysis, the separation of
water into hydrogen and oxygen.

a) Identify European application for the wind turbine that enters into regional phase of Europe (Euro PCT) for the
last ten year.
b) Top 10 IPC codes for wind energy.
c) Prepare a Landscaping for new technologies and innovations focused on various technologies aspects related to
wind energy for the last ten years.

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62. “Wind turbines generate power by converting the momentum in the wind into mechanical power and converting
the rotating mechanical power into a.c. power via standard a.c. generation techniques”. The main two types of
wind turbines regarding
The rotating mechanical part, rotor, are horizontal axis and vertical axis wind turbines. Horizontal axis wind turbine
is the most common type with propeller type, usually two or three blades rotating around a horizontal axis on top
of a tower. In case of Vertical axis wind turbines “slightly curved symmetrical airfoils” rotate vertically, which make
it seem like an eggbeater. Vertical Axis wind turbines have the advantage to operate independent of the wind
direction and the mechanical parts which link the rotating part to generating part and also generating part are
located at the ground level, which is on top of a tower in case of horizontal axis wind turbines. Horizontal axis wind
turbines use different type of mechanisms to turn the axis into wind direction.
a) Identify total number of patent applications and granted patents for the Horizontal axis wind turbine in last decade.
b) Identify total number of patent applications and granted patents for theVertical axis wind turbine in last decade.
c) Top ten Assignee for Horizontal axis wind turbine technology.
d) Top ten Assignee for Vertical axis wind turbine technology.

63. From GPIperform a search for patents related to ‘Wind turbine’.

a) Identify the total number of granted patents and the invention areas.
b) Identify the lapsed patents and the areas they represent.
c) For the patent US20130127393 identify the examination details and prepare a summary.

64. The basic wind turbine design consists of a bladed rotor that drives a shaft to a generator. The generator uses
electromagnetic induction to produce a voltage. Wind power was used to enable electrolysis, the separation of
water into hydrogen and oxygen.
a) Percentage distribution of number of filing in various Jurisdictions on wind turbine technology for the last ten year
(US,EP,WIPO, JPO, KIPO,SIPO,DE).

b) Prepare a patent landscape (either tree diagram or arrow diagram representing the major areas of innovation).
Circle the emerging areas.

65. Gas and oil industry is supercharged by innovation and Technology. In which oil and gas reserves are identified,
developed, and Produced. In the year 2014 theSuper majors companies are considered to be the World’s five
largest publicly owned oil and gas companies (British Petroleum plc, Chevron Corporation, ExxonMobil
Corporation, Royal Dutch Shell plc and Total SA).

a) Draw a graph for each above given 5 oil and gas companies showing, grants of patents worldwide for last 10
years.
b) Draw a graph for each oil and gas companies showing the distribution of application and grants of patents for last
10 years.
c) Prepare a tree diagram indicating the areas and the assignees.

66. Identify total number of published applications Royal Dutch Shell plc in Europe from January 2010.
a) Identify the areas of the inventions and prepare a summary.
b) Identify if there are any joint assignees for the inventions.
If so, identify the areas of work.

67. In the year 2014 the Super majors companies considered to be the World’s five largest publicly owned oil and gas
companies are:
a. British Petroleum plc,
b. Chevron Corporation,
c. ExxonMobil Corporation,
d. Royal Dutch Shell plc
e. Total SA

a) Find out the top ten IPC Code for each company.
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b) Prepare a graph for total number of patent of each given company for the last ten years. Find out maximum
number of patent filing company and mark the company in a graph.
c) Identify the top 10 major inventor for each company.

68. Find out all inventions from the organization Chevron Corporation for the past 5 years using Patentscope. Identify
the technology trends associated with the development and prepare a summary. Identify the total number of
granted patents and their legal status.

69. In the year 2014 the Super majors companies considered to be the World’s five largest publicly owned oil and gas
companies are:
a. Chevron Corporation,
b. ExxonMobil Corporation,
c. Royal Dutch Shell plc
d. Total SA

Identify total number of patent and prepare a graph, for the period last ten years of above given companies and
how many number of patents are abandoned. [Patent abandonment- abandonment is relinquishment by an
inventor (or patent applicant) of the right to secure a patent, in such a way as to constitute a dedication of the
invention to public use.]

70. Prepare a prior art search report for the patent number US 20120286725. And find out the most relevant patent
and non-patent document through Forward Citation Searching using relevant online tool.

71. Using GPI perform a search for all published applications since 2000 on Electrical vehicle technology using the
Title, Abstract and Key content search

a. Plot the year wise growth in patents.

b. Identify how many of these have been granted and Distribution of Application
and Granted Patents Year Wise.
c. Identify the top 10 inventors and top 10 assignees.
d. What is the percentage of academic inventions and what areas do they represent.

72. Identify from Patentscopethe patents from US, EU on Electrical Vehicle. Identify the recent trends in the
application of this technology and the major companies worldwide. Prepare Patent Landscape Analysis on
electrical Vehicle Technology Wise.

73. Using IPO perform a search for all published applications since 2004 on Electrical vehicle technology using the
Title, Abstract and Key content search. Prepare a graph

a) Top International Patent Classification Codes.

b) Year wise distribution of published applications in relation to the Electrical vehicle.
c) Publication Countries in relation to the Electrical vehicle.
d) Country wise Technology in relation to the Electrical vehicle.

74. Identify the intellectual property Portfolio for electrical vehicles in relation to

a) Patent
b) Trademark
c) Design

75. The electric vehicle (EV) technology is of great interest in China and around the world. China started the EV
technology research rather late. At the beginning of the 1990s, EV technology was for the first time designated as
one of China’s national key.

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a) Identified Technology field and corresponding IPC codes on electrical vehicle related country to the China’s.
b) Distribution of Application and Granted Patents Year Wise for the country of China.
c) Percentage distribution of number of filing in various Jurisdictions on Electrical vehicle technology For the last ten
year (US,EP,WIPO, JPO, KIPO,SIPO,DE).
d) Proportion of EV applications and internal combustion engine applications For the last ten year (US, EP, WIPO,
JPO, KIPO, SIPO, DE).
e) Analysis based on patent families for electrical vehicle in China.

76. From SIPO (State Intellectual Property Office of the People's Republic of China) perform a search for patents
related to ‘Electrical Vehicle’

a) Prepare a graph of HEV (Hybrid electrical vehicle), BEV (Battery electrical vehicle), and EV (Electrical vehicle)
Patent application in the period of last ten year related to country China’s.
b) Identify the top 10 inventors and top 10 assignees for Electrical vehicle in related to country China’s.
c) Plot a bar diagram for country distribution of patents.
d) Identify which year has maximum granted patents in the country of China’s.

77. Graphene is considered a nanomaterial as it consists of sheets of carbon atoms a single layer thick in a hexagonal
arrangement. It is a sheet of carbon atoms bound together with double electron bonds (called a sp2 bond) in a
thin film only one atom thick. Atoms in graphene are arranged in a honeycomb-style lattice pattern.

a) List the number of patent application filed on Graphene in India, US and EU

for last ten years.
b) Identify the patents on Graphene in PCT for last ten years.
c) Identify the top 10 inventors on Graphine.
d) Identify top IPCs on Graphine.

78. Identify Indian patent applications and granted patents on Graphene for the past ten years. Map the major
innovation areas. Identify the major assignees. Plot a graph for the application to granted patent ratio for the ten
years. Identify the total number of PCT applications. How many have been published among these.

79. Identify the patent applications and granted patents at the Chennai patent office on Graphene from the IPO
website. Identify the status of application number 2563/CHE/2010. When was the certificate issued for this
application?

80. Using GPI perform a search for all published applications since 2004 on Graphene technology using the Title,
Abstract and Key content search.

a) Granted family member by earliest priority year.

b) Prepare a graph by sector Corporate, Academia, Government, Individual Patent family
c) Prepare a graph to Comparison of worldwide patent publications and patent publications from UK applicants and
UK inventors.

81. Using GPI perform a search for all published applications since 2004 on Graphene technology using the Title,
Abstract and Key content search.
a) Academic publications related to graphene by country.
b) Prepare a graph country wise.
c) Prepare a tree diagram indicating the areas and the assignees.

82. Using Patentscope perform a search for all published applications since 2004 on Graphene technology using the
Title, Abstract and Key content search. Prepare graph worldwide patent families by earliest priority year
highlighting families from Chinese applicants, EP applicants, US applicants, India applicants.

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83. Identify a recent review article on Mobile technology. Identify the general developments in technology related to
Mobile. Using keyword search identify all the relevant hits at USPTO, EPO and IPO on Mobile for the last five
years.

84. Using USPTO perform a search for all published applications since 2004 on Mobile technology using the Title,
Abstract and Key content search. Prepare a graph:
a) List the number of patent application filed on Mobile in India, US and EU
for last ten years.
b) Identify the patents on Mobile in PCT for last ten years.
c) Identify the top 10 inventors on Mobile.
d) Identify top IPCs on Mobile.

85. Using Patentscope perform a search for all published applications since 2004 on Mobile technology using the
Title, Abstract and Key content search. Prepare a graph:

a) Distribution of Application and Granted Patents Year Wise.

b) Identify the lapsed patents and the areas they represent.
c) Publication Countries in relation to the Mobile.
d) Identify top 20 major assignee.

86. Prepare Technology Development Landscaping on mobile technology for US, JP, EU, CN, DE countries. Identify
the major area of patenting in Mobile technology.

87. Using PatentScopeperform a search for all published applications since 2004 on Mobile technology using the
Title, Abstract and Key content search. Prepare a graph:

a) Analysis to forward and backward citation Relation to patent number WO2013151797.

b) Identify total number of patent applications and granted patents for the last decade in case of IPO and classify the
patents into relevant areas.
c) Identify which year has maximum granted patents in all of these countries.
d) Plot the development of inventions in the area of mobile technology for the last ten years

88. For the Mobile technology identify all the patents from USPTO and EPO for the last five years
a) Segregate the applications and granted patents. Prepare a year wise graph for applications and granted patents
for both US and EU
b) For the granted patents prepare a histogram of the applicants.
c) Identify the top ten IPCs for each country and plot a bar diagram.
Showing the percentage representation. Identify the main IPC.
d) Identify top ten assignees and top 10 inventors.

89. For the Mobile technology identify all the patents from GPI for the last five years :
a) Prepare a Mobile patent portfolio of leading players.
b) Prepare a Mobile patent portfolio of major players: focus on mobile.
c) Prepare a Mobile patent portfolio of major innovation area: focus on mobile.

90. IBM has been granted the most number of patents of any company in the mobile segment. Find out all keyboard
inventions from the IBM organization for the past 5 years using Esapcenet. Identify the technology trends
associated with the development and prepare a summary. Identify the total number of granted patents and their
legal status.

91. Radio-frequency identification (RFID) is an automatic identification method, relying on storing and remotely
retrieving data using devices called RFID tags or transponders. An RFID tag is an object that can be applied to or

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 incorporated into a product, animal, or person for the purpose of identification using radio waves. Some tags can
be read from several meters away and beyond the line of sight of the reader.
a) List the number of patent application filed for the last ten year on RFID tube in India, US and EU.
b) Identify PCT Applications on the RFID from Patentscope for the last ten years. What are the major IPC codes?

c) Identify top ten assignees and top ten inventors.

92. Identify from GPI the patents from US, EU on RFID (Radio-frequency identification) technology. Identify the recent
trends in the application of this technology and the major companies worldwide. Plot year wise growth of patents
in this area for the last five years.

93. Identify fromPatentscope the patents from worldwide on RFID(Radio-frequency identification) technology for the
time period 2004-2014

a) Patents Issued by Continent

b) Top 10 Countries by Patents Issued

c) Top 10 Assignees by Patents Issued

94. Prepare a excel sheet based on RFID (Radio-frequency identification )Technology patent publication analysis
based on technology field related to class name, technology field ,no of patent, Inventor, assignee, and prepare
a graph.

a) Top 10 Technology Fields by Patents Issued Each Year – 2004-2014.

b) Top 10 inventors with the most patents.
c) Identify the top ten IPCs for each country and plot a bar diagram

95. Identify from GPI the patents from worldwide on RFID (Radio-frequency identification) technology.

a) Top 10 Most Cited Patents citation analysis based on Countries.

b) Patents citation analysis based on assignee.
c) Patents citation analysis based on technology fields.

96. 4G-LTE Standards and Requirements Long Term Evolution (LTE) is a mobile communication standard that has
been set by the Third Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) as an upgrade from 3G technologies. The
enhancements from 3G technology are mainly in the form of increased peak data rates, greater spectral efficiency,
reduced latency and increased throughput. Additionally, International Telecommunication Union (ITU) has
included LTE-Advanced as one of the approved IMT-Advanced 4G technologies.
It is critical for a LTE-Advanced network to be backward compatible with LTE network in the sense that it should
be possible to deploy LTE-Advanced on existing LTE spectrums. This backward compatibility ensures smooth
and cost-effective transitions to LTE advanced capabilities. It is also required that LTE-Advanced should have
peak data rates as high as 1.5 Gbps in the uplink and 3 Gbps in the downlink and high average data rates.

a) List the number of patent application filed for the last ten year on Forth Generation Long Term Evolution (4G-LTE)
in India, US and EU.
b) Identify PCT Applications on the 4G-LTE from Patentscope for the last ten years. What are the major IPC codes?

97. Using GPI perform a search for all published applications since 2004 on Forth Generation Long Term Evolution
(4G-LTE) technology using the Title, Abstract and Key content search.
a) Top 10 Most Cited Patents citation analysis based on Countries
b) Top 10 Technology Fields by Patents Issued Each Year – 2004-2014
c) Top 10 inventors with the most patents.
d) Top 10 Assignees by Patents Issued

98. Using GPI perform a search for all published applications since 2004 on Forth Generation Long Term Evolution
(4G-LTE) technology using the Title, Abstract and Key content search.
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a) Distribute patent technology wise
b) Identify total number of patent applications and granted patents for the 4G-LTE Technology in last decade.
c) Top 10 Countries by Patents Issued

99. Identify from Patentscopethe patents from US, EU on for the Fourth Generation Long Term Evolution (4G-LTE)
technology. Identify the recent trends in the application of this technology and the major companies worldwide.
Prepare Patent Landscape Analysis on 4G-LTE Technology Wise.

100. Spray drying is a well-known technique predominantly used in food and pharmaceutical industries since
1940s.Spray drying is a solid dispersion based technology that transforms a material from liquid to a dried powder
state by spraying the feed solution or suspension into a hot drying gas medium. Moreover, fabrication of dried
particles from a liquid in a single processing step makes spray drying technology a unique and essential process.
Most of the NCEs synthesized by various pharmaceutical innovator companies as well as most of existing drugs
have the major issues like poor solubility or bitter taste and both can be readily solved by spray drying technology.
Solubility enhancement using this technology usually accompanies rapid drying of soluble particle that converts
API from a crystalline form to the amorphous form which is responsible for solubility enhancement. This technology
also offers a better alternative to mask the bitter taste of the drugs by formation of an inclusion complex of drug
and polymer. Mixing of drug with suitable polymer carriers during the drying stage delivers inclusion complex.
Various spray drying parameters viz., feed rate, inlet temperature, feed solid content, atomization air pressure are
regularly useful to improve the product yield. Thus, these parameters can be designed in such a way that it gives
a product within a pre-defined quality specification. Spray drying method is also applicable for drying of many
heat-labile nutraceutical and pharmaceuticals.

a) Identify European application for the Spray drying technique that enters into regional phase of Europe (Euro PCT)
for the last ten year.
b) Top 10 IPC codes for Spray drying technique.
c) Prepare a Landscaping for new technologies and innovations focused on various technologies aspects related to
Spray drying technique for the last ten years.

101. Using AusPat perform a search for all published applications since 2004 on Spray drying technology
using the Title, Abstract and Key content search.

a) Distribute patent technology wise.

b) Identify total number of patent applications and granted patents for the Spray drying Technology in last decade.
c) Top 10 Countries by Patents Issued.

102. Using GPI perform a search for all published applications since 2004 on Spray drying technology using
the Title, Abstract and Key content search.

a) Top 10 Technology Fields by Patents Issued Each Year – 2004-2014

b) Top 10 inventors with the most patents.
c) Identify the lapsed patents and the areas they represent.

103. Using USPTO, Espacenet, IPO to perform a search for all published applications since 2004 on Spray
drying technology using the Title, Abstract and Key content search.

a) List the number of patent application filed for the last ten year on Spray drying technology in India, US and EU.

b) Identify the top ten IPCs on Spray drying technology for each country and plot a bar diagram.

c) Identify if there are any joint assignees on Spray drying technology.

104. Identify from GPI the patents from worldwide on Spray drying technology since last decade.

a) Top 10 Most Cited Patents citation analysis based on Countries.

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b) Patents citation analysis based on assignee.
c) Patents citation analysis based on technology fields.

105. Find out all inventions based on spray drying technology from the Novartis organization for the past 5
years using USPTO. Identify the technology trends associated with the development and prepare a summary.
Identify the total number of granted patents and their legal status.

106. The dairy sector is multifunctional in nature, and contributes to sustainable agricultural development and
food security. The global trade is dominated by developed countries, contributing to 62% of the imports and 92%
of the exports. Milk processing has a long tradition, as demonstrated by the large variety of typical cheeses
produced in different areas all over the world. High-income consumers highly appreciate productions strictly
connected to their origin area and which are able to evoke the history, and the culture of their production areas.
Sometimes, inhibitory elements to high competition level can occur, mainly ascribed to a breaking up of the product
supplies with a consequent inability of the operators to realize a consistent income level, the limited possibility to
develop projects able to characterize dairy products and the difficulty to realize high production. However,
consumer demand and current market conditions warrant investigation on dairy product that can deliver improved
product quality and stability and reduced energy use during processing, without compromising product and
process safety.

a) Identify European application for thedairy product that enters into regional phase of Europe (Euro PCT) for the
last ten year.
b) Top 10 IPC codes for dairy processing technologies.
c) Prepare a Landscaping for new technologies and innovations focused on various technologies aspects related to
dairy product for the last ten years.

107. Using USPTO perform a search for all published applications since 2004 on dairy product using the Title,
Abstract and Key content search.

a) Distribute patent technology wise.

b) Identify total number of patent applications and granted patents for the dairy product Technology in last decade.
c) Top 10 Countries by Patents Issued.

108. Using GPI perform a search for all published applications since 2004 on dairy product using the Title,
Abstract and Key content search.

a) Top 10 Technology Fields by Patents Issued Each Year – 2004-2014

b) Top 10 inventors with the most patents.
c) Identify the lapsed patents and the areas they represent.

109. Using Patentscopeperform a search for all published applications since 2004 on dairy product using the
Title, Abstract and Key content search.

a) List the number of patent application filed for the last ten year on dairy product in India, US and EU.

b) Identify the top ten IPCs on dairy product for each country and plot a bar diagram.

c) Identify if there are any joint assignees on dairy product

110. Identify fromPatentscope the patents from worldwide on dairy product since last decade.

a) Top 10 Most Cited Patents citation analysis based on Countries.

b) Patents citation analysis based on assignee.

c) Patents citation analysis based on technology fields.

111. An improved process and apparatus for sterilizing food products without adversely affecting their taste or
other physical properties was published in US patent number . US 4591463A. The invention has particular

172
 application to fluent food products. Another object is the provision of a novel method and apparatus for heating
fluids, such as milk, to a selected temperature for a set interval of time with a minimum of turbulence or agitation.
This novel method causes low denaturation of whey proteins, comparable to that of pasteurization process.

a) What the technology areas of this patent. Identify if there are any joint assignees.
b) Summaries the patent register information for US4591463A.

112. Identify the patent applications and granted patents at the European patent office an apparatus for the
heat treatment of liquid food products, particularly for heating milk in the making of dairy products, from the EPO
website. Identify the status of application number EP 0620977. When was the certificate issued for this
application?

113. Microfluidic technology has desirable features of small amount of sample, high sensitivity of separation
and detection, low cost and low power consumption, high reaction speed and high integration. These
characteristics ensured microfluidics to be applied to research and analysis at the levels of molecules, cells and
tissues. Microfluidics is a multidisciplinary field comprising physics, chemistry, engineering and biotechnology,
with practical applications to the systems handling a small amount of liquid or samples (10-9~10-18 L) in micro
channel in the scale of tens to hundreds of microns. Owing to its unique laminar flow regimes, constant fluidic
loading and diffusion dominated mass transporting; the microfluidics creates a platform for engineering highly
complex and dynamic microenvironments that are controllable, reproducible and optimal for biomedical
applications. Microfluidic technology can provide micro scale complex structures and well-controlled parameters
to mimic the in vivo environment, which is promising substitutes for conventionalbiological laboratory methods [8].
Since the first cellculture in micro channels in, microfluidic cell culture systems are becoming increasingly popular
due to their ability to recreate specific cell-cell and cell-matrix interactions within physiologically relevant
geometries and flow conditions. Cell culture technique that mimics in vivo conditions plays vital roles in studying
cell biology, tissue engineering, and pharmacokinetics for drug development.

a) Identify European application for the microfluidic devicethat enters into regional phase of Europe (Euro PCT) for
the last ten year.
b) Top 10 IPC codes for dairy microfluidic device.
c) Prepare a Landscaping for new technologies and innovations focused on various technologies aspects related to
microfluidic devicefor the last ten years.

114. Using GPI perform a search for all published applications since 2004 on microfluidic deviceusing the Title,
Abstract and Key content search.

a) Distribute patent technology wise.

b) Identify total number of patent applications and granted patents for the microfluidic deviceTechnology in last
decade.
c) Top 10 Countries by Patents Issued.

115. UsingAusPat perform a search for all published applications since 2004 on microfluidic device using the
Title, Abstract and Key content search.

a) Top 10 Technology Fields by Patents Issued Each Year – 2004-2014

b) Top 10 inventors with the most patents.
c) Identify the lapsed patents and the areas they represent.

116. Using Patentscope perform a search for all published applications since 2004 on microfluidic device using
the Title, Abstract and Key content search.

a) List the number of patent application filed for the last ten year on microfluidic devicein India, US and EU.

b) Identify the top ten IPCs on microfluidic device for each country and plot a bar diagram.

c) Identify if there are any joint assignees on microfluidic device.

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117. Identify from Patentscope the patents from worldwide on microfluidic devicesince last decade.

a) Top 10 Most Cited Patents citation analysis based on Countries.

b) Patents citation analysis based on assignee.

c) Patents citation analysis based on technology fields.

118. A large quantity of batteries discharging from their end-of life devices. The metals contained in the used
cells, such as cadmium (Cd), cobalt (Co), lithium (Li), manganese (Mn), nickel (Ni) and zinc (Zn), are considered
hazardous waste when discharged into the environment. Due to their high persistence and toxicity, several
environmental laws and regulations related to these metals have been established to prevent health problems for
humans and animals as well as other negative effects on the ecosystem. Furthermore, the predicted scarcity of
these metal resources in the near future and their importance in battery production in large quantities has led to
the improvement of resource recovery technologies. In the last several years, some physical , chemical, biological
and thermal processes have been proposed for the recovery of metallic compounds found in the different types
of battery waste: alkaline (Zn-MnO2), saline (Zn-carbon), lithium (Li-SOCl2, Li-MnO2), nickel cadmium (Ni-Cd),
nickel-metal hydride (NiMH) and lithium- ion (Li-CoO2, Li-MnO2).
Battery consumption is increasing due to technological advancement. Batteries contain significant quantities of
hazardous materials, such as heavy metals. Due to their toxicity, these metals are strongly detrimental to the
environment and human health. As a result, a number of studies have been performed to develop new
technological options for the reuse of different types of battery waste. The most widely used methods include
hydrometallurgy, pyrometallurgy and simple physical methods. One of the most important issues in the
development of recycling processes for battery waste is the need to separate different types of batteries before
treatment. The development of new technologies able to recover metallic resources from battery waste without
separation would facilitate their recycling and would most likely increase the proportion of battery waste to be
reused. One promising approach would be the solubilisation of all metals from mixed battery wastes by chemical
leaching, and their subsequent recovery using selective precipitation ion-exchange , adsorption and
electrochemical techniques .

a) Identify European application for the proposing new technologies for treating and recycling end-of-life batteries
and related waste that enters into regional phase of Europe (Euro PCT) for the last ten year.
b) Top 10 IPC codes for proposing new technologies for treating and recycling end-of-life batteries and related waste.
c) Prepare a Landscaping for new technologies and innovations focused on various technologies aspects related to
proposing new technologies for treating and recycling end-of-life batteries and related waste for the last ten years.

119. Using GPI perform a search for all published applications since 2004 on proposing new technologies for
treating and recycling end-of-life batteries and related waste using the Title, Abstract and Key content search.

a) Distribute patent technology wise.

b) Identify total number of patent applications and granted patents for the proposing new technologies for treating
and recycling end-of-life batteries and related waste Technology in last decade.
c) Top 10 Countries by Patents Issued.

120. Using espacenet perform a search for all published applications since 2004 on proposing new
technologies for treating and recycling end-of-life batteries and related waste using the Title, Abstract and Key
content search.

a) Top 10 Technology Fields by Patents Issued Each Year – 2004-2014

b) Top 10 inventors with the most patents.
c) Identify the lapsed patents and the areas they represent.

174
121. Using USPTO, IPO perform a search for all published applications since 2004 on proposing new
technologies for treating and recycling end-of-life batteries and related waste using the Title, Abstract and Key
content search.

a. List the number of patent application filed for the last ten year on proposing new technologies for treating and
recycling end-of-life batteries and related waste in India and US.

b. Identify the top ten IPCs on proposing new technologies for treating and recycling end-of-life batteries and related
waste for each country and plot a bar diagram.

c. Identify if there are any joint assignees on proposing new technologies for treating and recycling end-of-life
batteries and related waste.

122. Identify from GPI the patents from worldwide on proposing new technologies for treating and recycling
end-of-life batteries and related waste since last decade.

a) Top 10 Most Cited Patents citation analysis based on Countries.

b) Patents citation analysis based on assignee.

c) Patents citation analysis based on technology fields.

123. Toxco Company around the world operate processes for recycling certain types of cells and batteries and
granted the most number of patents of this company on proposing new technologies for treating and recycling
end-of-life batteries and related waste Find out all inventions on this technology from the Toxco organization for
the past 5 years using GPI. Identify the technology trends associated with the development and prepare a
summary. Identify the total number of granted patents and their legal status.

124. The development of new technologies able to recover metallic resources from battery waste without
separation would facilitate their recycling and would most likely increase the proportion of battery waste to be
reused. One promising approach would be the solubilisation of all metals from mixed battery wastes by chemical
leaching, and their subsequent recovery using selective precipitation ion-exchange, adsorption and
electrochemical techniques.

LITHIUM-ION BATTERIES
A method for processing end-of-life lithium batteries via a supercritical fluid. The remaining Li metal in the electrode
can react with carbon dioxide (CO2), moisture or oxygen (O2); therefore, it must be discharged before operation.
In this method, the cells are cooled before processing to prevent an exothermic reaction. This procedure begins
with placing the used cells in a container and then adding a fluid. The cells are dropped inside a high-pressure
extraction vessel that is placed inside a water bath. CO2 is injected at room temperature.

NICKEL-CADMIUM BATTERIES
a method to recover metals from scrap Ni-Cd cells. Normally, the environmental and safety costs to dissemble
this type of battery are quite high. Nevertheless, it is necessary to recover these metals before discharging to the
environment due to their high toxicity. This type of battery can be vented (open) or sealed. The sealed batteries
are normally used in households, while the vented type is widely applied in industry. Ni-Cd batteries use Cd as
the cathode and nickel oxide hydroxide (NiO(OH)) as the anode.
a) Identify total number of patent applications and granted patents for “LITHIUM-ION BATTERIES” in last decade.
b) Identify total number of patent applications and granted patents for “NICKEL-CADMIUM BATTERIES” last decade.
c) Top ten Assignee for “LITHIUM-ION BATTERIES”.
d) Top ten Assignee for “NICKEL-CADMIUM BATTERIES”.

125. The three key emerging technologies for waste heat recovery (WHR) in the internal combustion engine
are Rankine cycle, organic Rankine cycle and thermoelectric generators. Prepare patent landscape on the
selected technologies using Patentscope
175
 a) Plot year wise distribution of applications and granted patents. Explain the graph
b) Identify the major assignees over the past five years
c) Plot the country wise growth in patents.
126. Drive-by-wire applications are a class of closed loop control applications receiving widespread attention in the
automotive industry. These applications, such as “brake-by-wire”, "steerby-wire” and “throttle control-by-wire”, will
replace mechanical components (e.g. shafts and linkages) and hydraulic components (e.g. pumps, valves, and
hoses) with electronic components. Identify patents by conducting a search at GPI
a) Distribute patent technology wise
b) Find the patent filings in percentages on brake-by-wire and clutch-by-wire
c) Identify the major assignees in Drive-By-Wire technology

127. The next step in steering system evolution is steer-by-wire technology. These systems would completely eliminate
the mechanical connection between the steering wheel and the steering, replacing it with a purely electronic
control system. Essentially, the steering wheel would work like the one you can buy for your home computer to
play games. It would contain sensors that tell the car what the driver is doing with the wheel, and have some
motors in it to provide the driver with feedback on what the car is doing. The output of these sensors would be
used to control a motorized steering system. This would free up space in the engine compartment by eliminating
the steering shaft. It would also reduce vibration inside the car.
Identify patents by conducting a search at Patentscope.

a) Find the patent filing trend in Steer by wire

b) Identify the major assignees over the past five years in Steer by wire
c) Plot the country wise growth in patents in Steer by wire

128. Using propulsion forces, ships are able to manoeuvre themselves in the water. Initially while there were limited
number of ship propulsion systems, in the present era there are several innovative ones with which a vessel can
be fitted with. Today ship propulsion is not just about successful movement of the ship in the water. It also includes
using the best mode of propulsion to ensure a better safety standard for the marine ecosystem along with cost
efficiency. Wind Propulsion is oneof the various types of propulsion systems used in ships. Identify the recent
trends in the application of this technology and the major companies worldwide. Prepare Patent Landscape
Analysis on hybrid Vehicle Technology Wise by conducting search on GPI.

129. Using GPI perform a search for all published applications since 2000 on hybrid vehicle technology using the Title,
Abstract and Key content search

a. Plot the year wise growth in patents.

b. Identify how many of these have been granted and Distribution of Application
and Granted Patents Year Wise.
c. Identify the top 10 inventors and top 10 assignees.
d. What is the percentage of academic inventions and what areas do they represent.

130.Identify from Patentscopethe patents from US, EU on hybrid Vehicle. Identify the recent trends in the
application of this technology and the major companies worldwide. Prepare Patent Landscape Analysis on hybrid
Vehicle Technology Wise.

131.Using Espacenet perform a search for all published applications since 2004 on hybrid vehicle technology
using the Title, Abstract and Key content search. Prepare a graph

a) Top International Patent Classification Codes.

b) Year wise distribution of published applications in relation to the hybrid vehicle.
c) Publication Countries in relation to the hybrid vehicle.
d) Country wise Technology in relation to the hybrid vehicle.

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 132.The hybrid vehicle technology is of great interest in China and around the world. China started the hybrid
vehicle technology research rather late. At the beginning of the 1990s, hybrid vehicle technology was for the first
time designated as one of China’s national key.

a) Identified Technology field and corresponding IPC codes on hybrid vehicle related country to the China’s.
b) Distribution of Application and Granted Patents Year Wise for the country of China.
c) Percentage distribution of number of filing in various Jurisdictions on hybrid vehicle technology For the last ten
year (US,EP,WIPO, JPO, KIPO,SIPO,DE).
d) Proportion of hybrid vehicle applications and internal combustion engine applications for the last ten year (US,
EP, WIPO, JPO, KIPO, SIPO, DE).
e) Analysis based on patent families for hybrid vehicle in China.

133. Prepare Technology Development Landscaping on New Concentrating Solar Power Facility for Testing High
Temperature Concrete Thermal Energy Storage for all countries. Identify the major area of patenting in New
Concentrating Solar Power Facility for Testing High Temperature Concrete Thermal Energy Storage. Find the
patent filing trend. Identify the major assignees over the past five years using Patentscope .

134. Prepare Technology Development Landscaping on Membrane emulsification technology for all countries. Identify
the major area of patenting in Membrane emulsification technology

135. Prepare Technology Development Landscaping on Fermentative hydrogen production from biomass for all
countries. Identify the major area of patenting in Fermentative hydrogen production from biomass.

136. Prepare Technology Development Landscaping on biohydrogen production technology for all countries. Identify
the major area of patenting in biohydrogen production technology.

137. Prepare Technology Development Landscaping on fuel cell vehicle for all countries. Identify the major area of
patenting in fuel cell vehicle.

138. Prepare Technology Development Landscaping on Recycling Technology for Nonmetallic Materials from Wasted
Printed Circuit Board for all countries. Identify the major area of patenting in Recycling Technology for Nonmetallic
Materials from Wasted Printed Circuit Board.

139. Prepare Technology Development Landscaping on Hydrogen Extraction Method for all countries. Identify the
major area of patenting in Hydrogen Extraction Method.

140. Prepare Technology Development Landscaping on Metal hydride hydrogen compressors for all countries. Identify
the major area of patenting in Metal hydride hydrogen compressors.

141. Prepare Technology Development Landscaping on Reinforced polymers for connective tissue: Tissue engineering
for all countries. Identify the major area of patenting in Reinforced polymers for connective tissue: Tissue
engineering.

142. Prepare Technology Development Landscaping on Nonionic surfactant vesicular systems for effective drug
delivery for all countries. Identify the major area of patenting in Nonionic surfactant vesicular systems for effective
drug delivery.

143. Prepare Technology Development Landscaping on Wireless Power Transmission for UAV (Unmanned Air
Vehicles) Charging for all countries. Identify the major area of patenting in Wireless Power Transmission for UAV
(Unmanned Air Vehicles) Charging.

144. Prepare Technology Development Landscaping on Electrokinetics as a Propellantless Propulsion Source for all
countries. Identify the major area of patenting in Electrokinetics as a Propellantless Propulsion Source.

145. Prepare Technology Development Landscaping on CO2 capture technologies. Identify the major area of patenting
in CO2 capture technologies.
177
146. Prepare Technology Development Landscaping on Piezoelectric Bender Transducers for Energy Harvesting
Applications. Identify the major area of patenting in Piezoelectric Bender Transducers for Energy Harvesting
Applications.

147. Prepare Technology Development Landscaping on Control Valve for Energy Harvesting. Identify the major area
of patenting in Control Valve for Energy Harvesting.

148. Identify the total number of published European patents that Samsung has in last five years. What are the key
areas of the patents? Identify if there are any joint assignees.

149. Prepare Technology Development Landscaping on low-carbon energy technologies (Hydroelectric power, Nuclear
power, Wind power, Solar power, Geothermal power, Tidal power). Identify the major area of patenting in low-
carbon energy technologies.

150. Prepare Technology Development Landscaping on organic photovoltaic solar cells for all countries. Identify the
major area of patenting in organic photovoltaic solar cells. Find the patent filing trend on organic photovoltaic solar
cells. Identify the major assignees over the past five years on organic photovoltaic solar cells.

Disclaimer: This is a disclaimer that the individual patent tools explained in this work book are representative in
nature only. The authors do not give any specific endorsement of these tools to be the only tools for patent
search and analysis. As such the illustration of these tools is for educational purposes only

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ABOUT THE AUTHORS

Dr. M. Padmavati, Professor and Dean, Rajiv Gandhi School of IP law, IIT Kharagpur

Dr M.Padmavati is a Professor in the Rajiv Gandhi School of IP law at IIT Kharagpur. She has been
teaching Patent law for more than 13 years to both undergraduate law students as well as master students
of law. She also teaches the subjects of biodiversity law and traditional knowledge Her primary area of
research includes Intellectual Property and Commercialization of recombinant and herbal drugs and
Drug Regulation, Biodiversity Law. She has many research as well as consultancy projects, from
Ministry of Human Resource Development, DST, Council of Scientific and Industrial Research etc. She
has been awarded the Microsoft–Young Faculty Scholarship in Intellectual Property. She is an Advisor
to the IPR Cell, IIT Kharagpur. She is the Course Coordinator of the KIRAN-IPR Program at IIT
Kharagpur for training women scientists in IPR. She is a member of important professional as well as
government bodies such as World Bioenergy Association and International Patent Information User
Group (PIUG), International Trade Mark Association (INTA), Scientific Panel member on Labelling
and Claims, Food Safety Standards Authority of India, West Bengal Science and Technology Council
etc. She is also an Editorial Board member of Journal of Intellectual Property Rights (JIPR). She has bee
n an invited speaker at international as well as national conferences.

Ms. Uppala Shailaja, IPR Cell, IIT Kharagpur

Ms U. Shailaja is a registered patent agent. She has extensive industrial experience in the area of patent
search and analysis. She has been a recipient of the KIRAN IPR Women Scientist Scholarship in IPR.
She imparts training in patent search in different technology areas, has been providing support and advice
on patent matters for product development groups, reviewing patents to determine if appropriate
coverage has been obtained. Working closely with inventors to develop patent and technology
landscapes. She has several publications to her credit. She worked as a Lead Engineer, Technology
intelligence and Intellectual property, SKF technologies Pvt. Limited, and as Member R & D, IP Cell,
TVS Motor Company Limited. She won the meritorious award, the Pratibha award from Andhra Pradesh

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state government in the year 1994. She is currently working in the IPR Cell, IIT Kharagpur and has been
involved in the preparation of novelty assessment reports.

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