Search our FAQs. Or, ask a new question!
How can I quickly pinpoint needed info in patent documents displayed in Espacenet and Patentscope databases?
Browse:
As of August 7, 2024, Baker Library's FAQs have moved to https://www.library.hbs.edu/services/help-center. Please visit Baker's Help Center to find our research FAQs and send us your questions. Thank you!
How can I quickly pinpoint needed info in patent documents displayed in Espacenet and Patentscope databases?
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. |
Was this helpful? 0 0
Copyright © 2022 President & Fellows of Harvard College.