Written By Vipin Kumar
This blog is written in the spirit of nation building. The formula which I am going to reveal here will go a long way in building innovation mindset for the people of our country. There are many free repositories of technical information which can be used by anybody to develop innovative products. In this blog i will be exploring free patent repositories which can be used to retrieve information in a very simple manner. Off course the principles of information mining discussed here are equally applicable for paid databases also. The contents of this blog can be a good source of designing better user interface for search engines also. So let us go directly to the point.
While doing patent search I have found that keyword search is the best way to get maximum possible relevant data during prior art search. Although many people find prior art using class based search but I personally believe that keyword search is far better to retrieve information which is scientifically similar to the concept or invention being searched. The formation of search string plays a key role in retrieving relevant patent and non- patent literature. Here I will be sharing few tips for searching patent and non-patent literature which can definitely help in getting maximum possible prior art which would be thematically mapping to the context of what is to be searched by understanding the new inventions.
First a simple keyword string applying the AND Boolean operator is made. These keyword strings belong to the technology being searched. Let the Keyword string be in the form below
String1:
<kwd1>AND<kwd2>AND<kwd3>AND<kwd4>
Where kwd1, kwd2,
kwd3, kwd4 are the keywords which are required to be present in a patent
document. Now in order to find more relevant data we can find synonyms for each
keyword in String1. So let us assume kwd1 has three synonyms kwd1.1, kwd1.2,
kwd1.3. If we put the keywords in the String 1 we get the updated String2 which
is as follows:
String2:<kwd1>OR<kwd1.1>OR<kwd1.2>OR<kwd1.3>)AND<kwd2>AND<kwd3>AND <kwd4>
In the modified String2 each of the synonyms are placed by OR Boolean Operator. Similarly if we keep reiterate the same thing for keyword kwd2we get the updated String3
String3:(<kwd1>OR<kwd1.1>OR<kwd1.2>OR<kwd1.3>)AND(<kwd2>OR<kwd2.1>OR <kwd2.2>OR <kwd2.3>)AND<kwd3>AND <kwd4>
Similarly other
versions String3 and String4 can be obtained, which are given below:
String4:(<kwd1>OR<kwd1.1>OR<kwd1.2>OR<kwd1.3>)AND(<kwd2>OR<kwd2.1>OR<kwd2.2>OR<kwd2.3>)AND(<kwd3>OR<kwd3.1>OR<kwd3.2>OR<kwd3.3>)AND(<kwd4>)
String5:(<kwd1>OR<kwd1.1>OR<kwd1.2>OR<kwd1.3>)AND(<kwd2>OR<kwd2.1>OR<kwd2.2>OR<kwd2.3>)AND(<kwd3>OR<kwd3.1>OR<kwd3.2>OR<kwd3.3>)AND (<kwd4>OR<kwd4.1>OR<kwd4.2>OR<kwd4.3>)
Here it is important to mention that the keywords which are placed in the OR bracket need not be synonyms it may be keywords which convey the same meaning in the context of search being performed. The final string 5 is most likely to retrieve information which is contextually similar to the matter being searched.
To get similar patent references it is a good practice to include patent numbers in the search strings. Suppose while doing preliminary patent search we come across a relevant patent, than we can note this particular reference and later on use the same in our search string. Let the patent reference be P1. Similarly we get yet another patent referenceP2 and so on so forth we have a collection of patent few patent references P1, P2, P3 and P4.
A search string can be made using the above references as given below:
(P1 OR P2 OR P3 OR P4)
The output of search string would be a set of patent references not only including P1, P2, P3, P4 but also references where they have been cited in other patent references. Let us denote the above said String as<Patent>
Another way to get relevant patent references is through forming search strings including the titles of technical publications. For Example if there is a Technical Publication having Title T1 we can simply put title of technical reference (in inverted comma’s “” ) in the search string and we shall start getting all patent references which are thematically related to T1. The process can be repeated to get other Technical paper references T2, T3 and so on. Therefore let us assume we now have a collection of Technical Paper references T1, T2, T3 and T4 which can be included in the search string as follows:
(T1 OR T2 OR T3 OR T4)
Let the above said String be denoted as <Tech Paper>
Similarly as explained in one of my earlier blog a typical keyword string can also be included in search string as follows:
((<kwd1>OR<kwd1.1>OR<kwd1.2>OR<kwd1.3>) AND(<kwd2>OR<kwd2.1>OR<kwd2.2>OR<kwd2.3>) AND(<kwd3>OR<kwd3.1>OR<kwd3.2>OR<kwd3.3>) AND(<kwd4>OR<kwd4.1>OR<kwd4.2>OR<kwd4.3>))
Let the above string be denoted as <Keyword>
Now having prepared three types of search strings i.e <Patent>, <Tech Paper> and <Keyword> we are in a position to combine the above Strings and develop a Formula for retrieving maximum possible set of patent references which are closely and contextually related to a given inventive concept. The formula for searching can be in the following form
<Patent> OR <Tech Paper> OR <Keyword>
Or
<Patent> AND
<Tech Paper> AND <Keyword>
Or
<Patent> OR
<Tech Paper> AND <Keyword>
Or
<Patent> AND
<Tech Paper> OR <Keyword>
It is important to mention here that the process of accumulating more inputs in each of the set <Patent>, <Tech Paper> and <Keyword> is an iterative process. i.e while searching is in process if we get an important keyword than it can be added in the keyword string. But suddenly if we find a highly relevant patent and technical Paper, than it can be included in string <Patent> and <Tech Paper>.
Please do not confuse the terminologies, when I refer to <patent> set. It means the output of patent references from a given search engine. Similarly when I refer to <Tech paper> set, it means the output of patent references from a given search engine. Same is true with <Keyword> set also.
Many useful search
interfaces for search engines can be designed based on the contents of this
blog. I am sure the readers would have enjoyed reading the contents of this
blog. It will not only improve the quality patent searches but also ignite the
young minds for accumulating useful information for the purpose of innovations.
The Formula derived till now is as follows:
<Patent> AND/ OR <Tech Paper> AND/ OR<Keyword>
The generic formula/format of search strings to find prior art information can be extended in a much better way by adding other type of search strings directed towards IPC, CPC class, Applicants, Inventors and NOT operator. The NOT operator can be used to reduce the noise in the final result set.
The formula for search string can now be written as follows:
(<Patent> AND/OR <Tech Paper> AND/OR <Keyword> AND/OR<IPC> AND/OR <CPC> AND/OR <Applicant> AND/OR <Inventor>)NOT (par1 OR par2 OR par3)
Where
<Patent> refers to the set of relevant patents found during search. The<patent> string can be in the form of (p1 OR p2 OR p3 OR p4…..)
<Tech Paper> refers to the set of relevant titles of tech papers (T1 OR T2OR T3….)
<Keyword> refers to any string of the from(<kwd1>OR<kwd1.1>OR<kwd1.2>OR<kwd1.3>)AND(<kwd2>OR<kwd2.1>OR<kwd2.2>OR<kwd2.3>)AND(<kwd3>OR<kwd3.1>OR<kwd3.2>OR<kwd3.3>)AND (<kwd4>OR<kwd4.1>OR<kwd4.2>OR<kwd4.3>)
<IPC>refers to any string of the form (IPC1 OR IPC2 OR IPC3….) whereIPC1, IPC2 are International Patent classifications codes relevant to the present invention.
<CPC> refers to any string of the form (CPC1 OR CPC2 OR CPC3….) where CPC1, CPC2 are cooperative patent classification codes relevant to the present invention.
<Applicant>refers to the assignee of patent applications. One or more applicant can be included in the applicant string (App1 OR App2 ORApp3….)
<Inventor>refers to the name of one or more inventors in the form (Inv1OR Inv 2 OR Inv3…) where Inv1 is the name of inventor 1 and so on.
(par1 OR par2 OR par3…)
are the parameters on which the final result set can be restricted to specific
result set. For Example par1 can be a specific keyword which is not relevant in
the context of invention and is repeatedly appearing in the Title filed of the
result set, Similarly par2 can be a specific ipc or cpc class which is not
related to the present invention.
The Above said method can be used in Free patent search databases to pullout prior art for an invention. I find the above said method very useful in conducting prior art search and hope you will also find it useful.
The names of few free patent repositories include Google Patents, Freepatentsonline, Espacenet and Patentscope, Google Scholor.
DISCLAIMER
Disclaimer: To understand the contents of the blog it assumes
familiarity with Boolean logic and general searching for documents in patent
databases. The views and ideas expressed above are of the writer of this blog.
These abstract ideas may not guarantee full implementation details. Therefore,
the content of this blog should be double checked by technologists and legal
experts for its correctness. The writer of this blog is not liable for any loss
incurred by understanding /implementing the details/content present on this
blog and it cannot form any legal opinion in a court of law. The sole purpose of
this blog is to make the understanding of patent related work easier in
academic interest only. This Blog is written to spread awareness on Patent
system of India which may help inventors to write Good quality Disclosures for
their inventions. The contents of this blog are independent thought process
originated in the mind of the writer which are shared here for the purpose of
discussion and accumulating more clarity on patent related matters. For More
information contact the author of this blog at Mob: +91-7709269318
Email:kumar.vipin1980@gmail.com
