How to Execute White-Space Patent Research with PatSnap as Exemplified using the CRISPR Gene Editing Technology
James H. Moeller - Moeller Ventures, LLC - https://www.moellerventures.com/
October 10, 2022
This report presents a tutorial on executing patent document white-space research using the PatSnap Connected Innovation Intelligence platform. This is a follow-on to the patent landscaping tutorial report (A Patent Landscaping Tutorial Using the PatSnap Analysis Tool and CRISPR as the Focus Technology) and will also use CRISPR as the focus technology. This report was also motivated by the 2021 National Institute of Health (NIH) project as part of providing commercialization assessments to SBIR (Small Business Innovation Research), and STTR (Small Business Technology Transfer) funded companies. The NIH project was executed for a contract awarded to Vikriti Management Consulting, where Moeller Ventures served as a subcontractor executing 200 patent landscapes for 164 life science companies.
Developing intellectual property is difficult. It usually involves significant R&D followed by the pursuit of patents via an expensive prosecution process that’s fraught with approval uncertainties. Leveraging white-space research into IP development has historically been expensive, problematic, and error-prone. It is, after all, the process of searching an IP sector for topic areas that are either lightly patented or void of any patent filings. This roughly equates to the paradoxical challenge of searching for IP that’s not present.
However, new analytics tools are dramatically changing the white-space research process by leveraging semantic analysis, natural language processing (NLP), and similarity assessment to identify landscape IP clusters as well as white-space IP voids. These processes can add significant value in analyzing a patent document domain collection, visualizing it on a landscape diagram, and querying the domain space for patenting opportunities. Furthermore, these automated techniques can be applied iteratively to gain significant insights into IP development.
Across the 164 companies and 200 patent landscapes provided in the NIH project, only a few companies seemed to understand the value of executing white-space research and its potential to augment the company's IP development process. This was surprising given the significant extent to which nearly every company relies on IP and patents to protect its inventions and market differentiating advantages. Ultimately white-space research can be used to focus R&D initiatives and draft better patent applications that avoid crowded landscape areas and improve the chances of having the patent approved.
The five steps of the white-space research process covered in this report are listed below.
Step 1: Determine the Context of the White-Space Research
Step 2: Create the Domain Collection of Patent Documents
Step 3: Generate the Landscape Diagram
Step 4: Query the Landscape Diagram
Step 5: Iterate the White-space Research Process
Inquiries regarding custom patent and intellectual property analysis using the PatSnap Connected Innovation Intelligence platform can be directed to the following individuals.
- Jim Moeller, Moeller Ventures LLC,
This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. , 651-454-4123 - Jolly Nanda, VIKRITI Management Consulting, Contact: https://vikriti.com/contact-us-2/
- Michele Zoromski, ZORO Consulting,
This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. , 612-804-4291