What Is Patent Landscape Analysis?
Patent Landscape Analysis (PLA) is a useful tool for inventors and businesses to contextualise and manage their R&D as well as concept pipeline. This can be done as part of an Intellectual Property (IP) Audit or a standalone project.
PLA is different to a standard patent search which is carried out to confirm an invention is new and patentable.
Patent Analysis Tools
PLA can be carried out with commercial Patent Analysis Software or Tools, for example PatWorld® PatBase®, IPScreener®, Octimine®, and PatSnap®. The cost of these products ranges from 1500 to about 5000 Euros per annum, depending on what kind of information is required, for example PatSnap® includes litigation and licensing information that may be used for valuations and risk analysis.
There is a very good free patent analysis tool called lens.org which is intuitive and a good introduction to these sorts of products.
Patent Landscape Reports
As with all reports, they need to meet client needs, sometimes the client may not know exactly what those needs are. Therefore, a preliminary broad patent landscape can be generated showing the main patent applicants, the countries where relevant patent applications have been filed and their status (dead, pending, granted or dead). The core categories for any Patent Landscape Report include:
- Filing Trends
- Top Inventors
- Top Patent Applicants
- Top Cited Patent Applications.
These data can be drilled down into to identify trends and areas of high patent activity, as well as sectors that have low patent activity but may still be of interest, this is sometimes called “White Space Analysis”.
Furthermore, the Top Applicants data can help you identify a potential partner or licensee/licensor for current or future projects.
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