Answered By: Poping Lin
Last Updated: Aug 18, 2020     Views: 199

Q.
Patent search: The use of component in Espacenet and Patentscope databases

How can I quickly pinpoint needed info in patent documents displayed in Espacenet and Patentscope databases?


A.

Patent information displayed in Espacenet and Patentscope via the Web is breakdown into sections or components. Understanding the the usefulness of each component enables patent researcher to quickly pinpoint needed information during the process of patent data collection especially when a search result retrieves hundreds of hits.  

Component  Details covered Useful for ... 
Bibliographic data Title, Inventor(s), Applicant(s), Classification, Application number, Priority number(s), Abstract, etc.
Those fields are included in the front page of a patent document and may be tagged with INID codes. 
Identifying a patent publication, retrieving and relating it to similar patents, conducting data minding such as statistical analysis and network analysis
Description Targeted problem, prior art, inventive idea, and embodiments Obtaining technical disclosure,  conducting a keyword search and/or text mining to determining semantic concepts and similarity among patents 
Claims Explanations about independent claims, and dependent claims, apparatus claims, process, method, or use claims  Finding the scope/legal status of the invention,  understanding which subject-matter is protected by the patent, and determining infringement. 
Images/Mosaics Drawings, chemical formula Easily to recognize similar products of interest for further search and technical examination. 
See a series of video clips for an introduction on how to read a patent document, especially focusing on understanding a claim.