A faster and more efficient way to search for patents
If you're among the growing ranks of entrepreneurs launching start-ups, you have probably already discovered how complicated, time-consuming and expensive it is to search patent databases to check if your bright idea is really new. European researchers are solving the problem with innovative search technology that will soon be implemented commercially.
The EU-funded PerFedPat project, conducted by Technische Universität Wien, has made patent searches simpler and more efficient for early-stage firms in any sector. It would lower the cost of getting a new business off the ground and prevent patent conflicts later on. The search system can also help ease the workload on patent offices, which are facing backlogs and delays as the number of technological innovations expands exponentially.
“We created a federated framework that interfaces with multiple sources of patent information, allowing the searcher to enter a single query and get back results from numerous databases. Results are automatically filtered to remove duplicates and fused to create a single ranked list sorted by relevance to the query,” explains Allan Hanbury, the PerFedPat coordinator at TU Wien’s Institute of Software Technology and Interactive Systems. “The framework is pluggable and extensible, allowing new search tools to be straightforwardly integrated, and the interface is designed to be simple to use even for non-experts.”
The PerFedPat approach is an improvement over most existing patent search tools, which search only a single database. Start-up founders and professional patent search firms therefore have to use numerous different search engines with different interfaces and query languages to find out if a patent exists for what they are trying to do. It is a complicated, time-consuming and often costly process, but one that is critical to the future success of the business.
Simultaneous, multi-lingual patent retrieval
In contrast, the federated network developed in PerFedPat enables simultaneous information retrieval from multiple search engines participating in the federation so the probability of successfully finding all relevant patents is higher, with less investment of time and effort.
Additional search tools can be easily integrated to personalise the system for different user needs. A personal library could allow relevant search results to be stored and organised offline, for example. Other add-ons could include an International Patent Classification selection application and a machine translation tool for translating queries for cross-lingual search.
“Missing a key patent at an early stage can result in serious difficulties for a start-up later on,” Hanbury says. “If the business becomes successful using technology that is already patented, it is likely to face legal proceedings from the patent holder. Many organisations make significant revenue by licensing others to manufacture or use their patented invention, and therefore patent protection is an extremely important way in which individuals and organisations protect and exploit their intellectual property.”
PerFedPat’s system could also help patent offices resolve patent approvals more quickly and efficiently, while reducing the risk of inadvertently approving applications for inventions that are already patented. The Greek Patent Office has already completed a user-centred evaluation of the PerFedPat system and provided insights into requirements and practices that will influence the technology’s ongoing development.
The PerFedPat researchers are continuing to develop the system in the ‘Self-Optimizer’ project with funding from the Eurostars programme run by the international research network Eureka and the EU’s Horizon 2020 programme.
“Self-Optimizer is a technology transfer project looking at a complementary approach to ensuring that all relevant patent results for a query are retrieved through advanced query processing and semantic analysis,” Hanbury says. “Working with Swedish project partner Uppdragshuset, a professional patent search company, we will start to implement the technology commercially.”
Project details
- Project acronym:PerFedPat
- Participants: Austria (Coordinator)
- Project N°: 275522
- Total costs: € 235 990
- EU contribution: € 235 990
- Duration: September 2011 - October 2014