1. In the beginning

Knowledge of patent information is indispensable for conducting patent search analysis.What is patent information here?What do you know?Or do you not know?I would like to briefly explain about.

XNUMX. XNUMX.What is patent information?

In a broad sense, patent information refers to various types of information generated based on the patent system, but in the search and analysis of patents, it is mainly used.

•  Data of patent gazettes and published patent gazettes (information such as bibliographic matters, specifications, claims, etc.)
•  Organized standardized data (bibliography / progress information) * However, the data format is scheduled to change from May 2019.

Refers to.

In Japan, the publication of electronic gazettes (CD-ROM gazettes) began in 1993, and the gazette data has been compiled into a database.In addition, full-text data has been created by OCR or manually for the publication data before that, and can be searched by the database.
Patent information is provided by the patent offices of each country, but the format is standardized by WIPO (World Intellectual Property Organization), and it is easy to use even when conducting multilateral analysis.
The standards set by WIPO regarding patent information are as follows.

Standard ST.9: Bibliographic data on and relating to patents and SPCs (bibliographic data) Standard ST.36: Processing of patent information using XML (XML data)
Standard ST.8: IPC symbols on machine-readable records (International Patent Classification)

XNUMX. XNUMX.What can be read from the patent information?

Patent information largely includes technical information and rights information.
As technical information,

• Technical field to which the invention belongs
• Technical issues in that technical field
• Solution ・ Drawing
• Experimental data

Can be mentioned.Also,

• Which company / inventor invented the invention (applicant / inventor)
• When was the invention published to the public (publication date)?

You can also know.Furthermore, it is possible to estimate the time when the invention was made from the data on the filing date.
As rights information,

• Scope of patent right or scope of patent right (claims)
• Right holder (patent right holder)
• Time of occurrence and extinction of rights (registration date / extinction date)
• Current status of rights (progress information)

Can be mentioned.In addition, the importance and attention of the patent can be estimated from the record (progress information) of the procedure at the application stage and after registration, and by seeing in which country the patent has been obtained or is being obtained. In some cases, it may be possible to find out which country the company attaches great importance to in business.

XNUMX.Combine information

In the previous section, we explained that it can be read from a single patent information.By collecting multiple pieces of this patent information, various analyzes can be performed.For example, by looking at the increase or decrease in the number of applications for a specific technology of a company, the status of development and intellectual property investment can be understood, and by comparing the applications of a specific technology between companies, technology competition and differentiation can be seen. You can check the status.It is also practiced to gain insights by combining information other than patent information, such as academic treatises, markets, and news information.

XNUMX.Limitations of patent information

As explained so far, many things can be read about patent information, but there are limits.The major one is the time when patent information is published (the time when the gazette is published).As a general rule, published patent gazettes are to be published one year and six months after the filing date of the patent application.Therefore, it should be noted that even if it is a newly published gazette, the content was written at least one and a half years ago and does not disclose the development status or application trends of the company in real time.

XNUMX.Summary

The outline of the basics of patent information has been explained above.Patent information is a useful source of information that contains a lot of information such as technology and rights.The format is also internationally standardized and is relatively easy to analyze globally.On the other hand, it is also inferior in real-time information disclosure.In the search and analysis of patents, it is important to understand these characteristics before conducting business.

Research Division Shizuno

<Reference>
https://www.jpo.go.jp/introduction/rekishi/125th_kinenshi.html https://www.jpo.go.jp/system/laws/sesaku/data/keikajoho/index.html https://www.jpo.go.jp/system/laws/sesaku/h280229_fulltext.html http://www.inpit.go.jp/about/profile/enkaku.html https://www.wipo.int/standards/en/part_03_standards.html