how to carry out patent surveys. ngb corporation ip research institute masahiko sawada
TRANSCRIPT
How to Carry OutPatent Surveys.
NGB CorporationIP Research Institute
Masahiko SAWADA
Outline
Kinds of Searches Process of Patent Search Method for Validity Search Effective Utilization of Japanese Patents Method for an Infringement Search Difficult aspects of Chinese Patent Search
Kinds of Searches
R & D ProductDesign
ProductionCommercialization
Sales
(Purpose of patent searches in R&D stage) Promotion/Retreat of Research Activities, Information for Making Decision, Technological Forecasting
(Prerequisites) Collection Search, Patent analysis
(Purpose of patent searches in R&D stage) Promotion/Retreat of Research Activities, Information for Making Decision, Technological Forecasting
(Prerequisites) Collection Search, Patent analysis
Kinds of Searches
R & D ProductDesign
ProductionCommercialization
Sales
(Purpose of patent searches in Product Design stage) To reduce wasteful applications, To get a strong patent (Prerequisites) Patentability Search
(Purpose of patent searches in Product Design stage) To reduce wasteful applications, To get a strong patent (Prerequisites) Patentability Search
Kinds of Searches
R & D Product Design
ProductionCommercialization
Sales
(Purpose of searches in Production stage) To avoid being attacked for infringement by someone
(Prerequisites) Infringement Search / Clearance Search If any patent which could be an obstacle in the future is found, a validity Search should be conducted.
(Purpose of searches in Production stage) To avoid being attacked for infringement by someone
(Prerequisites) Infringement Search / Clearance Search If any patent which could be an obstacle in the future is found, a validity Search should be conducted.
Search Process - Phase 1
1) To clarify the Search Strategy
2) To select database
3) To set Search Logic
ClassesKeywords
Purpose Subject Matter Time(Expenses)
Relevant data list
Step 1): Ensure the purpose of the search is clear
Step 2):Select the appropriate database according to its features:Fulltext or Abstract ,Domestic or World wide,Language, the coverage of its collection
Step 3):Set the search logic using keywords, classes and the unique codes depend on each DB.
KW
codeCL
Search Process - Phase 2
4) Manual Search & To determine the search criteria
Relevant data list
5) Supplementary Search
Search Results
Step 4: Perform a manual page-by-page search, with attention paid to search criteria to clarify the difference between relevant and irrelevant results.
Irrelevant
Relevant
Step 5: Supplementary search for improving the search quality by the other point view:+ Applicant Names+ Citations+ Equivalents
•To find prior art for invalidation
Purpose•Pri
or to Application Date
Period
•Patents and/or Non-patent literature (World wide)
Materials
•Subject Claims
⇔Full text
Comparison
Validity Search
Validity Search – Report Form
Subject Patent Reference 1 Reference 2 Reference 3
Claims
Validity Search – Report Form
Subject Patent Reference 1
Reference 2
Reference 3
Claim 1
Elements A:preamble X X X
B X Y Y
C Y X Y
D X Y A
Claim 2 Y A A
Combination of Prior Art References
Effective Utilization of Japanese Patents
The number of Japanese patent is decreasing in the recent years.
92 93 94 95 96 97 98 99 00 01 02 03 04 05 06 07 08 09 100
100,000
200,000
300,000
400,000
500,000
600,000
Japan
China
EPO
Korea
USA
US
EPJP
US
EP
CNKR
JP
Effective Utilization of Japanese Patents
0
1,000,000
2,000,000
3,000,000
4,000,000
5,000,000
6,000,000
7,000,000
8,000,000
JP US EP CN KR
Utility ModelPatent
The total number of JP patent is the largest among other countries.
The total number of patents between 1991 and 2009
Effective Utilization of Japanese Patents
Conventional
New Product with innovative design launched in 2010
One of Example
Prior Art in JP Patent published in 1981
IPC FI F-Term
B41J 3/
Hit Count: 79,000B41J 3/04,103A
Hit Count: 20,000
2C057AF01
and 2C057AG15 50 and 2C057BA14
Structure
Purpose
Material
Principle . . .
Unique code system by JPO
•To find any patent which might be infringed by product/method
Purpose
•Duration of the patent right
Period
•Patents and UMs in force
Materials
•Product’s features
⇔All claims
Comparison
Infringement Search
Infringement Search – Report Form
A B C D E F O1 O2 O3No Kind Document
numberPDF A1 A2 A3 B1 B2 B3 B4 Assignee Filed date Pub. Date
235 U US6102535 PDF X J.S. Staedtler GmbH & Co. 1999/8/13 2000/8/15
236 U US6106108 PDF X Hewlett-Packard Company 1998/10/30 2000/8/22
237 U US6106109 PDF X Hewlett-Packard Company 1997/3/3 2000/8/22
238 U US6109741 PDF X Hewlett-Packard Company 1998/2/27 2000/8/29
239 U US6113208 PDF X Hewlett-Packard Company 1997/5/14 2000/9/5
240 U US6113229 PDF X Hewlett-Packard Company 1998/3/4 2000/9/5
241 U US6113230 PDF X Canon Kabushiki Kaisha 1998/8/10 2000/9/5
242 U US6116722 PDF X Canon Kabushiki Kaisha 1995/8/31 2000/9/12
243 U US6116724 PDF X B.M.S. Costruzione Stampi s.r.l.1998/12/4 2000/9/12
244 U US6120132 PDF X Hewlett-Packard Company 1998/3/19 2000/9/19
245 U US6120138 PDF X Hana Company Limited 1998/5/12 2000/9/19
246 U US6126265 PDF X Hewlett-Packard Company 1997/7/16 2000/10/3
Technical Features
Hyperlink to PDF
Comparison between Validity Search and Infringement Search
Validity Search
Retrospective from Application Date
Narrow Search Field
Infringement Search
Duration of the patent right
Broad Search Field
Time
Field
Difficult aspects of Chinese Patent Search
The main purpose of Japanese companies for searching in Chinese patents is infringement search . However, it is hard to conduct a perfect search from other countries.
Difficult aspects from
abroad
Period:20 years must
be covered
Volume:Huge number of PATs & UMs
Language:Chinese
Conclusion
Patentability Search• Is China trending from “Quantity” to “Quality”? If so, Patentability search become a cornerstone to IP strategy.
Validity Search• Japanese patent databases are a treasure trove of
prior art. Validity searches should cover Japanese publications.
Infringement Search• Japanese companies want to avoid patent
infringement in China, but it is not easy to conduct infringement searches from other countries.
