1. In the beginning

　A group of patent documents that claim priority based on a certain patent application and are filed in each country (including their own country) is called a "patent family".
　In this article, we will introduce you to the basic knowledge about patent families and how patent family information can be used in patent searches.

XNUMX. XNUMX.Basic knowledge of patent family

XNUMX　Definition in EPO

　The EPO (European Patent Office) defines the following two types of patent families.

"DOCD B simple patent family"
　A group of patent documents with exactly the same priority claim number (application number of the application on which the priority claim is based).Documents that belong to the same simple family are considered to cover the same technical content.

　In the example above, the documents Document D1 to D5 are divided into four simple families surrounded by a red frame.
　Documents D2 and D3 belong to the same simple family (Family P1-P2) because they have exactly the same priority claim numbers (Priority P1 and P2), but Documents D1, D4 and D5 are exactly the same. Since no other document has the priority claim number of, each is a separate simple family.

"INPADOC extended patent family"
　A group of patent documents that are directly or indirectly linked from a priority claim number.Documents belonging to the same extended family are said to have similar technical content but not necessarily the same.

　In the example above, Document D1 has a priority claim number (Priority P2) common to D3 and D1, and D2 and D3 have a priority claim number (Priority P4) common to D2. In addition, D4 has the same priority claim number (Priority P5) as D3. Documents D1 to D5 are directly or indirectly linked from Priority P1 to Priority P2 and Priority P3, so they belong to one extended family surrounded by a red frame.

　A free patent search database provided by the EPO "Espacenet (November 2019 renewal version)In "", search for the patent number you want to search, select the "Patent family" tab in the search results, and as shown in the figure below, the "Simple family" tab is for the simple family, and the "INPADOC family" tab is for information on documents that belong to the extended family. Can be confirmed respectively.

XNUMX Differences due to database

　The patent family information recorded in various patent databases includes those that adopt the simple family defined in the above EPO, those that adopt the extended family, and those that have their own standards for the database. Yes, it depends on the database.It is recommended that you check the criteria by which the database used contains patent family information.

XNUMX. XNUMX.Use of patent family information in patent search

XNUMX Efficient understanding of technical content

　For example, if you want to know the content of a patent document written in Chinese, referring to the patent document written in Japanese or English belonging to the same patent family will help you to understand the technical content.

　In addition, if you want to search patent documents all over the world for invalid material search or technology trend search, the number of population will inevitably become enormous.In such a case, by selecting and reading one representative publication for each patent family, it is possible to grasp the same or similar technical contents collectively, and it is possible to carry out an efficient search with a reduced population.

　On the other hand, even in a simple family that is considered to cover the same technical content, the description of the scope of claims may differ depending on each application, so especially in the infringement prevention search (clearance search). If a specific product or sale in a specific country is confirmed, it is recommended to finally confirm the possibility of infringement for each application.

XNUMX　Use of dossier information

　For example, if you want to find materials to invalidate a patent, the examination status and citations of patent applications in other countries belonging to the same patent family can be useful information.

　By confirming the documents cited in the examination of other countries and the reasons for their refusal, the documents themselves may be used as materials for invalidation, and patents granted to applications in other countries and the cited documents. You can also use classifications for research.

　Information related to patent application procedures and examinations is called "docier information," and the five major patent offices (Japan, the United States, Europe, China, and South Korea) provide services that allow you to view patent family dossier information collectively.

　Patent information platform provided by the Japan Patent Office "J-PlatPatYou can view the above information in "One Portal Dosier (OPD) Inquiry".

　First of allPatent / Utility Model Number Inquiry / OPD, select the search target "OPD search" as shown below, and search for the number of the patent you want to look up. (For more information on how to search by number, see the search column"Easy patent searchPlease refer to. )

　A list of documents belonging to the patent family (extended family) of the searched patent is displayed.

　For all documents, select "Open all document information" if you want to check the examination documents, or select "Display all classification / citation information" if you want to check the cited documents.

　For individual documents, select "Open Document List" if you want to check the examination documents, and select "Category / Citation Information" if you want to check the cited documents.

XNUMX Use for macro analysis

　In the previous column (*), it was stated that various analyzes can be performed by combining patent information, but the range of analysis can be expanded by combining patent family data.

　For example, "the number of applications for each patent family" can be regarded as an index for measuring "importance of patents".The fact that a large number of foreign applications belong to the same patent family for a patent application suggests that the applicant is focusing on technology related to the patent application, such as considering business development across multiple countries. Because.In addition, by plotting important technologies and specific issues by country using the "countries of application for each patent family", the global strategies of other companies may be revealed.

(*)reference:"Basic knowledge of patent information> XNUMX.Combine information'

XNUMX.in conclusion

　We introduced the basic knowledge of the patent family and various usage situations in patent search.It can be said that the patent family is very useful information that can be viewed by linking the patent documents of each country.We hope that you will understand its properties correctly and make good use of it for efficient research.

Research Division Fujita

【reference】
・ Patent families at the EPO
http://documents.epo.org/projects/babylon/eponet.nsf/0/C9387E5053AA707BC125816A00508E8D/$File/Patent_Families_at_the_EPO_en.pdf
・ Patent Information News 1/2014
http://documents.epo.org/projects/babylon/eponet.nsf/0/CE0CCA52C8BAEFCDC1257C99004C1BA2/$File/patent_information_news_0114_en.pdf
・ Espacenet
https://worldwide.espacenet.com/patent/
・ Patent Information Platform J-PlatPat
https://www.j-platpat.inpit.go.jp/