Category: Prior Art Search

The truth is that every news [channel] is a variant of the other, and the difference is one of degree. – Barkha Dutt

Let’s pause for a moment and distill the importance of a patent, shall we?

If you enter the search query on Google, “importance of patents,” you’re likely to receive an excerpt from a UW Law article stating, “Patents have a positive effect on society because they promote innovation and help develop new products.”

Now let’s turn our attention to a commonly accepted facet of human psychology.

Humans tend to pay more attention to sensational news, wouldn’t you agree?

We recently came across patent US6506148B2, which is notorious for making news rounds from time to time.

The patent title is “Nervous system manipulation by electromagnetic fields from monitors.”

The opening sentences of the abstract state, “Physiological effects have been observed in a human subject in response to stimulation of the skin with weak electromagnetic fields that are pulsed with certain frequencies near ½ Hz or 2.4 Hz, such as to excite a sensory resonance. Many computer monitors and TV tubes, when displaying pulsed images, emit pulsed electromagnetic fields of sufficient amplitudes to cause such excitation. It is therefore possible to manipulate the nervous system of a subject by pulsing images displayed on a nearby computer monitor or TV set.”

This may have the potential to trigger a public outcry about mass surveillance by “big brother” because sensationalism sells!

(Source: Instagram)

Using PQAI for Searching Similar Inventions from Patent and Non-Patent Literature

In this piece, we want to share five patents and scholarly articles we discovered using an open-source patent search AI called PQAI. We conducted our research without using expert patent search skills or complex keyword search strings. In fact, we created our search queries in plain English.

You may be wondering, “What’sPQAI?”

PQAI stands for Patent Quality Artificial Intelligence. It is an open-source library of patent-related tools providing a next-generation AI-based prior-art search engine. PQAI’s search engine evaluates search results and returns the top ten prior art references. In addition, the search engine trains itself to determine which results to return based on historical patent examination records.

Similar Inventions We Found Using PQAI That Can Incredibly Benefit Humans

#1 – Helping Epilepsy and Parkinson’s Patients Lead Fulfilling Lives

Patent US9033861B2 – “Low frequency neurostimulator for the treatment of neurological disorders”

Neurological disorders such as Epilepsy and Parkinson’s disease severely limit an individual’s ability to live a fulfilling life.

Epilepsy can cause seizures in the brain’s normal functioning. It presents dangers such as loss of awareness and motor control, pregnancy complications, and emotional health issues such as depression, anxiety, and suicidal tendencies.

Parkinson’s disease is a non-curable progressive disorder that affects the nervous system. It can cause debilitating outcomes such as trembling, rigid muscles, impaired posture, slurry speech, and loss of involuntary movements as minute as the blinking of eyes.

Frightening, right?

Our research using PQAI helped us discover this patent that explains a system for treating neurological conditions by low-frequency time-varying electrical stimulation.

In particular, this invention aims to help treat “certain neurological disorders such as epilepsy, migraine headaches, and Parkinson’s disease. The purpose of the present invention is to overcome the shortcomings of all known devices for treating such disorders.”

#2 – New-Age Neurostimulation Therapy for Treating Migraines and Epilepsy

Patent US10471271B1 – “Systems and methods of individualized magnetic stimulation therapy”

A widespread neurological condition that can severely affect your quality of life is Migraine.

Although characterized as a “strong headache,” migraine headaches cause severe pain, accompanied by nausea and vomiting.

Neurostimulation therapy is a potential treatment for conditions such as headaches and epilepsy. 

Unfortunately, neurostimulation therapy is not without its drawbacks. This treatment can potentially cause adverse side effects, including “alterations in processes related to learning, cognition, memory, and attention.”

PQAI helped us to come across this patent which is an attempt to deliver better neurostimulation therapy for treating neurological disorders.

The invention offers the potential for better treatment of seizures, epilepsy, and cardiac disorders by avoiding stimulating non-target tissue and producing other unwanted side effects.

#3 – Inducing Lucid Dreaming Without Preoperative Hair Removal

Patent US20190374786A1 – “Low-powered electromagnetic brain stimulation dreaming apparatus and method”

Prepare to read something meta.

The practice is called lucid dreaming.

A lucid dream occurs when you are asleep but aware that you are dreaming.

What’s more, you can potentially take control of your dream’s narrative to some degree.

Since lucid dreams allow a state of awareness, with the individual reflecting upon this awareness, they are often associated with metacognition.

Metacognition is the process of thinking about one’s own thinking.

Lucid dreaming is not sorcery! It offers a lot of health benefits as well.

According to Healthline, the positive mental health effects of lucid dreaming include improved cognitive abilities, decreased anxiety and depression, and treatment for nightmares related to PTSD.

PQAI helped us unearth this patent for “a device which uses electromagnetic fields to stimulate brain activity during sleep.”

This invention aims to provide a better approach to inducing lucid dreaming.

Unfortunately, existing devices and methods have significant deficiencies. They use “electrodes or anodes to engage a subject’s skin or cranium.”

The patent summarizes that “these devices suffer from many inefficiencies and disadvantages, including that they almost exclusively make use of electrodes which must make direct contact with the scalp or skin and function by sending electrical current into the cranium rather than issuing electromagnetic fields from a solenoid. Patients must often shave their heads so that their skin can make contact with the electrodes.”

#4 – Delaying the Onset and Severity of Multiple Sclerosis

Patent US20180043174A1 – “Method and apparatus for electromagnetic treatment of multiple sclerosis”

The presumption that the human body is an “engineering” marvel is undoubtedly true.

It is a sobering fact that this marvelous mechanism can self-destruct for no reason whatsoever.

This is precisely the case in multiple sclerosis (MS).

MS is a lifelong condition that can affect the brain and spinal cord. It can cause effects such as loss of motor control and cognitive abilities, blurred vision, muscle spasms, etc.

But what causes its onset?

Multiple sclerosis mysteriously occurs when your immune system mistakenly attacks the brain and nerves. It does so by damaging the protective covering of nerves.

One approach to treat patients with MS is by the application of electromagnetic fields (EMF), and in particular, pulsed electromagnetic fields (PEMF).

Our research using PQAI helped us discover this invention that presents a method and apparatus for potentially reducing the severity, delaying, or preventing the onset of MS and MS-related symptoms by applying the aforementioned electromagnetic fields.

Human studies, in particular, have illustrated that such treatments can significantly reduce inflammation and pain and enhance cognitive performance.

#5 – Understanding the Relationship of Electromagnetic Fields and Neurodegenerative Diseases

Research Paper – Electromagnetic Fields and Neurodegenerative Diseases

PQAI can also index and provide non-patent literature to conduct your prior art research.

This article presents current knowledge about the participation of electromagnetic fields in the occurrence and treatment of neurodegenerative diseases.

This study further fuels interest in using safe magnetic fields to turn specific brain regions on and off to cure such conditions.

Moreover, here is a video on how we used PQAI to find similar ideas, patents, or inventions!

Parting Thoughts

Patenting is about looking into the future, wouldn’t you agree?

However, it’s tough to know how the world will evolve in the near future. Therefore, one approach that can interest an inventor is a generalization—expanding your idea.

Why? The idea (pun unintended) is to make your idea so broad that you run into obstacles stating your potential invention has already been invented.

Patents have an initial claim and then dependent claims. Generalization helps to broaden your idea in case some prior art is already there. Therefore, a prior-art search tool like PQAI can help you find the right segment.

About Us

PQAI is a not-for-profit initiative working to develop an open-source AI-based library of patent-related software components to speed up innovation and boost patent quality.

It is private and secure, empowering every inventor to ignite their success and creativity.

To learn more about PQAI, visit PQAI’s website. And to become a collaborator in this open-source project, you can explore PQAI’s GitHub directory.

You have invented something new and useful — be it a new garden tool, anti-aging cream, or even a power transfer technique for mobile phones. Bravo! But you might wonder: 

Is my invention patentable? 

Inventors consider this question shortly after their eureka moments. A patent brings the much-needed security that no one else can get rich off your idea.

But first, you need to apply for one. And before that? Confirm you’re the first person who thought of your innovative idea. That’s where PQAI’s prior art search tool comes in — to help you decide whether it’s worth pursuing a patent. 

So, how do you know your odds of getting a patent? Most countries have their own criteria for obtaining patents, though they all have similar features. Notably, the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) lays out some eligibility criteria for patents that we’ll get into shortly. 

Let’s find out what makes an idea patentable. 

How to Find Out if Your Invention is Patentable

The costly way to get a patent is to file a patent application with your country’s patent office. Just one round of negotiation with the patent office may cost you ~5000 USD. But why go in blind?

A little homework can go a long way. Keep reading to learn about what it takes to get a patent.

You will also see how PQAI’s prior art search is a vital first step to make patents more accessible and convenient for inventors. 

Conditions for Getting a Patent

Everything man-made is patentable as long as the invention meets these criteria. 

First of all, your invention must be new — the first of its kind. If that’s the case, the patent office will happily provide you with a patent. But their job is to ensure no two people receive the same patent. How do they address this? Glad you asked — it’s called a prior art search. It looks out for inventions that are: 

• Available for sale or already patented 
• Described in a patent application from another inventor before the day you submit your application
• Described in any public document e.g., research papers, magazine articles, product brochures, etc.
• Available to the public in any way before you submit your application (YouTube, conference presentation, online, etc.)

Now, even if your invention is “technically” new (such as a chair with wheels) it may still be denied on the basis of something called “obviousness.”

Let’s say you invented a chair with wheels to make moving around the office easier. But hang on… office chairs already exist. It’s also well known that wheels make it easy to move things around, like a trolley or a car. So adding wheels to the chair seems obvious. And you receive a patent rejection on the basis of obviousness. See the dilemma? 

Last but not least, the invention should be functional and have a useful purpose.

Here’s an example. Let’s say you invented a machine meant to chop down trees, but in practice, it barely cuts into the tree and breaks down easily. Unfortunately, your invention doesn’t meet the usefulness requirement. 

Novel? Check. Non-obvious? Check. Useful? Check — at least in your mind. But how can you be certain? 

It’s time for a patent and prior art search. 

Patent Search

Patent search is limited to patent literature. If you submit a patent application, one of a thousand examiners at the USPTO will conduct a thorough patent search to find inventions similar to yours in patents and patent applications, whether published or unpublished. The patent examiners also conduct a search in non-patent literature.

Prior Art Search

Prior art goes even further than patent literature, including disclosures, publications — pretty much anything that proves someone else invented your invention. Prior art covers both patent and non-patent literature — books, journals, periodicals, products, any publication, and patents and patent applications. 

But here’s the thing: searching through millions of prior art items might take ages. And if you hire an attorney or law firm to do it? It’d probably cost you thousands of dollars. 

So a pragmatic step is for you, the inventor, to conduct a prior art search yourself to get a good idea about your invention’s patentability. 

How can you do this?

With an inventor-friendly prior art search tool like PQAI. You can use it to describe your invention in simple words on the search interface instead of a complex boolean keyword search string.

How to Conduct a Prior Art Search Using PQAI

What if you could get a fair idea about your invention’s patentability within an hour, at zero budget?

PQAI’s AI helps inventors breeze through prior art searches. The tool searches through inventions that resemble yours to narrow down whether it’s feasible to pursue a patent. 

Here’s a step-by-step guide to conducting a prior art search with PQAI: 

Step #1 – Describe Your Invention in Plain English

Let’s say you invented a battery-powered potato peeler. With the click of a button, the peeler shaves potato peels smoothly and effortlessly. 

So how should you begin your search? What should you put in the search box? We suggest starting with a simple description of what your invention does. Your description can be a high-level overview, not a long, detailed one. Go to PQAI’s Prior Art Search Tool page. 

You’ll find it just below the search form on the left. It’s best to keep this initial search as broad as possible, considering only your invention’s general purpose and audience. But don’t worry — you can add more details in more targeted queries (more on that later). 

Step #2 – Review the Top Ten Results and Drawings

Take a look at the results. 

You might notice a wide range of potato peelers with patents, but how many resemble yours? You can get a quick idea by clicking on the “Show Mapping” button with every result. 

For example, you might notice an accessory potato peeler for a food processor. Similar, but not by much. You can just ignore those kinds of results at this point.

But if you notice anything with similar wording? For example, “electrically driven” or “motorized” should catch your eye. Now these are the results you want to dig into. You can see more similar inventions by clicking on “More like this.”

The search engine will present ten new results. As you examine each result, look at the accompanying drawings for anything else relevant.

Keep going back and forth, adjusting the search filters to get more relevant results.

Step #3 – Prepare a List of Relevant Results

If you find any relevant results, click “save results.” Then, you can download a PDF report.

All done? Your PQAI report is primed and ready for your patent attorney’s review. We’ve done most of the legwork, saving you hours and thousands in legal bills. Don’t forget to check out our video demonstration of a PQAI search, too!

Now, your attorney can help you make a faster call about whether it makes sense to file a patent application, and which parts of the invention you should focus on. 

Benefits of Using PQAI to Conduct a Patent Search

What sets PQAI apart from other prior art search options? Here are some notable benefits:

#1 – Easy to Use

PQAI has a simple, user-friendly interface specifically designed for inventors. No need for expert searching skills or complex keyword search strings — users can prepare search queries in plain English. 

#2 – Relevance

Our AI-powered library is consistently trained to deliver only the most relevant results. Its goal is to find everything relevant within the top 10 results, but going beyond is as easy as the click of a button. 

#3 – Time-efficient

PQAI saves you a lot of time that you’d otherwise spend sifting through hundreds of results for relevant ones. The convenient mapping tool helps you assess results with easy excerpts of matching text. 

#4 – Combinational Prior Art Search

Most patent search tools can’t tell whether your invention is obvious when compared to two or more patents. Our combinational search helps inventors avoid the common 103 rejection. 

#5 – Prepares You For a Patent Attorney Discussion

PQAI compiles relevant prior art into an accessible report to jumpstart your attorney meeting. 

FAQs by Inventors When Exploring Patentability

#1 – What are the different types of patents?

The USPTO recognizes three types of patents: 

• Utility patents for new and useful improvements or processes, manufactured articles, compositions of matter, or machines;
• Design patents for original ornamental designs for manufactured articles;
• Plant patents for man-made reproductions of new plant varieties.

#2 – How much does it cost to get a patent?

A patent application is subject to filing, examination, and search fees that add up to $300-$3,000, depending on whether you’re a micro-, small, or large entity. You’ll also face fees in the hundreds for extension periods, late filings, incomplete applications, and translations for non-English applications. These are all USPTO fees, but hiring a patent attorney or law firm will cost thousands in legal fees. 

#3 – How long does it take to get the patent?

The USPTO takes 1-2 years on average to approve a patent. 

#4 – How can I confirm whether my idea is not already patented?

The easiest, fastest, and cheapest way to reasonably confirm whether your idea is already patented is to conduct a prior art search with PQAI. However, please note even a PQAI search cannot guarantee there is no prior art. But reasonable estimates go a long way.

#5 – What are some free prior art or patent search tools?

Google Patent Search is a popular, free patent search tool, though you’ll find other free Google Patents alternatives like PQAI that are more inventor friendly. 

#6 – How can I prepare for a preliminary discussion with a patent attorney about filing for a patent?

The best way to prepare yourself for a patentability discussion with a patent attorney is to do a preliminary prior art search using PQAI. 

#7 – What are the common obstacles in the process of getting patents?

Common obstacles to obtaining patents are securing funds for legal consultation, rejections based on obviousness or novelty, and incorrectly completed applications. 

FAQs by Inventors When Using PQAI Prior Art Search Engine

#1 – Will my idea stay confidential if I run it through PQAI?

Absolutely! PQAI neither stores nor shares personal data from queries with external parties. We value user privacy and security. 

#2 – What should I do if I don’t find patents or prior art related to my invention using PQAI?

We recommend adjusting your search filters or loading the next ten results in continuous cycles until you find relevant results. If you can’t find any related patents or prior art, download the report and share it with a patent attorney. 

#3 – What should I do after running my idea through PQAI? 

Once you run your idea through PQAI, leverage the prior art results to fine-tune your idea. You might re-evaluate your idea, continue innovating with new inspiration, or take your idea to a patent attorney. 

Parting Thoughts

So, is my invention patentable? PQAI’s prior art search engine is the best way to find out. It is specifically designed for inventors to check their ideas for patentability, but that’s not the only reason you should use it. 

PQAI has big plans to shape the future of AI patent search, and here’s how we’re doing it. Our open-source, AI-powered library invites collaboration, compiling expertise from the finest minds across the globe — professional software developers and creative thinkers like you! With global access to these tools, our not-for-profit initiative drives diversity and inclusion, accelerates innovation, improves patent quality, and more.

It’s time to conduct your own patentability search. Try out the PQAI prior art search engine!

With the increase of filed patents worldwide, locating meaningful information in this ever-growing dataset is getting more complex and time-consuming. 

Artificial intelligence (AI) plays a critical role in simplifying this process. From providing better patent classification performance to retrieving more relevant documents, AI offers great accuracy and exceptional quality in less time with less human effort.

AI can also help bring a patent idea to market by identifying patent licensing and synergistic collaboration opportunities.

How To Identify Companies for Patent Licensing or Synergistic Collaboration

Monetizing a patent can be challenging. An alternative to commercializing your invention is entering a licensing agreement with an established company. This reduces your investment and saves you the trouble of producing, marketing, or selling your product or technology.

Patent licensing and collaboration have become significant sources of revenue for patent holders. IBM, Microsoft, Ericsson, and others generate over $1 billion every year in licensing revenues. At its peak, Qualcomm earned over six billion dollars in licensing revenue. 

Options for finding partners include:

Identify Companies with Inventions that Rely on Your Invention

These companies may need to license a patent in order to refine their own inventions. 

For example, if you have a patent on an improved battery, electrical vehicle companies may need your invention to enhance the performance of their vehicles.

Seek Out Companies With Inventions You Rely On

If an enterprise has patents on the inputs you need for your invention, you may be able to form a relationship to exploit both sets of patents. 

You could, for example, enter into a:

• License
• Cross license
• Joint venture
• Vendor agreement

This relationship could help both of you dominate your market through cooperation rather than competition.

Find Companies with Competing Products

Companies with products that compete with your patented invention might have an interest in licensing or purchasing your patent. Bear in mind however, that a competitor’s primary interest in your patent might be to prevent products based on that patent from reaching the market.

In the above cases, you’re seeking companies that  want  to patent concepts similar to what you have already patented. 

In some cases your patents may have even been used to reject these companies’ patent applications. This might increase the odds of a relationship because these companies might already be familiar with your patent.

The best path for exploiting your invention will depend on many factors including:

• The current market
• Stakeholders in the market
• The existence or absence of competitive or alternative products
• The size of the entities already in the market
• The size of entities looking to enter the market

Based on these factors, you should be able to identify some potential licensees or partners.

How AI Can Play a Role in Finding Potential Licensees, Partners, and Opportunities

AI technology can be a huge asset when it comes to finding patent licensees and collaborative partners. It does this by searching for subject matter related to your patented inventions. It can then research the attributes of the applicants. For example, it can identify startups and distinguish between competitors and non-competitors.

PQAI and Its Solution for Finding Licensing and Collaboration Opportunities

PQAI is an open-source library of tools that use AI to search and evaluate patent documents. These tools are often used before filing a patent application to conduct prior art searches and assess the likelihood of obtaining a patent.

But PQAI’s powerful AI engine can also identify potential licensees, partners, and opportunities by identifying companies with similar technology. PQAI can do this because it can find similar concepts even if the documents do not use the exact language used in the search query. It can also process many documents and identify which have the greatest relevance.

How to Use PQAI to Search for Companies With Patents in Similar Technology 

Step 1: Go to the PQAI search engine. Add the abstract of the patent to be licensed into the search query. You can also enter some keywords or any search query in plain English in accordance with your patent.

Step 2: Click on the “Insights” Tab.

Step 3: The Insights tab will produce a list of companies filing patents in similar areas. The list of companies that PQAI presents is not exhaustive. It’s merely a representation of what’s possible. We need to train the AI engine to provide more helpful results.

Proving the Concept Using Real-Life Situations

We conducted three case studies using real-life situations to show the power of the PQAI engine when looking for licensees and partners. Kindly bear in mind that these case studies were conducted using the back end of PQAI (roughly 2,000 search results) and not the front end interface (roughly the top 100 search results). 

Case Study 1 – Patent Licensing Opportunities for Canon

When looking for a partner, you must find enterprises interested in the same or similar technology as your patent.

In  2013, Canon invented a method for improving the emission efficiency and lifetime of OLEDs by using a layer of organic aromatic hydrocarbon compounds. In 2019 Canon secured a European patent on this technology, EP2939288B1.

We used PQAI to identify companies that filed patents on similar technologies by searching for the abstract from Canon’s patent. The search results returned Samsung, LG, NEC, Panasonic, SEL, Tianma, Sumitomo Chemical, Japan Display, Universal Display, Idemitsu, Foxconn, and Toray.

PQAI correctly identified potential partners. As it turned out, one-quarter of the companies returned by PQAI had licensed the patent from Canon. In fact, Samsung eventually bought the patent.

Additionally, when we studied the patents of Canon’s licensees, we found that these companies have patents in similar technology as Canon.

Case Study 2 – Synergistic Collaboration With StartUps for Nestle

Sometimes, a startup company has a disruptive solution that can benefit an established company.

In 2018, Nestle was researching dietary supplements with collagen. They invented a powder  containing buffer salt and amino acid. This powder helped prevent the protein from denaturing or coagulating when the dietary supplement was combined with a protein like collagen. Nestle filed a European patent application for its invention, EP3873236A2.

We used PQAI to search for companies filing patents for technology similar to Nestle’s application. We filtered the search to identify patents from start-ups by restricting the search results to small and medium companies that had filed for the first time within the preceding five years. The search results returned three companies: Vicenna, Vital Proteins, and iSatori.

Once again, PQAI correctly identified potential partners. Nestle acquired Vital Proteins and after the acquisition, it filed two additional patent applications for collagen-based dietary supplements, WO2021204643A1 and WO2021204644A1.

Case Study 3 – Collaboration With Players Across Supply Chain

Companies across a supply chain sometimes seek solutions to the same industry problem, and they often innovate in the same stage of the supply chain.

Nestle developed a process for manufacturing milk powder by spray drying fresh milk followed by a homogenization process before evaporation. This process solved the problem of high viscosity during production. The company secured a patent on this process, EP1259117B1.

We used PQAI to search for companies that were working on similar technologies. The search results included several of Nestle’s competitors—Kraft, Nabisco, Danone, and Unilever. But it also returned two businesses in the supply chain—packaging company Tetra Laval and chemical company Stauffer Chemical.

Tetra Laval, in particular, appeared to be a good potential partner for Nestle:

• Tetra Laval filed a patent application EP3311672A1 for a method of producing milk powder that reduces the viscosity and increases the high total solids content
• Tetra Laval is not a competitor
• Tetra Laval’s subsidiary Tetra Pak has an existing relationship with Nestle

While Tetra Laval has not developed a relationship with Nestle for producing milk powder, all the ingredients for a good partnership exist.

An Opportunity for You – PQAI is Open Source!

Identifying companies for licensing or partnerships can be  arduous, research-intensive and time-consuming. Potential collaborators can leverage PQAI to create advanced tools that find excellent patent licensing and synergistic collaboration opportunities with greater speed and accuracy. 

PQAI has laid the foundation for potent AI-powered patent tools. As a non-profit open-source initiative, its mission is to accelerate innovation and improve patent search quality. PQAI is dedicated to establishing an open-source forum of IP tools that will drive critical changes in the IP ecosystem in a manner similar to what Linux did in computing.

To learn more about PQAI, visit PQAI’s website. And to become a collaborator in this open source project, review PQAI’s GitHub Directory.

A Google Patents search requires the searcher to create complex keyword strings and sift through thousands of documents to find relevant prior art. 

In addition, some users are skeptical about using Google products due to a lack of trust and privacy issues. Although Google boasts strong security features, some doubts can remain: will my idea stay confidential if I run it through the Google Patents search portal? 

If you’re looking for an alternative to the Google Patents search portal for any of these reasons, you’ve hit the bull’s eye.

In this article, we’ll walk you through five free alternatives to Google Patents :

1. PQAI—Patent Quality through Artificial Intelligence
2. Lens 
3. PATENTSCOPE 
4. USPTO
5. Espacenet

PQAI – Patent Quality through Artificial Intelligence

PQAI is an open-source library of patent tools. It offers a prior art search engine that accepts the invention query in plain English, making it simple for inventors to use. In addition, PQAI is AI-powered—it returns limited yet most relevant results. 

With PQAI, users can search a vast data set of ~11 million US patents and applications & ~11.5 million scholarly articles in engineering and computer science.

Pros

Input Query

Google Patents requires the inventor to create complex keyword search strings, which can be time-consuming. Instead, PQAI understands the query in plain English, allowing for a faster and more seamless search .

Time Efficiency

PQAI is a real timesaver because:

• Its AI fetches more relevant results.
• Searchers can nudge the AI to bring more relevant results by pressing the “More Like This” button.
• PQAI shows matching text from patent documents to make it easy to choose which document to read further.
• In addition, the text matching is not just literal word-by-word, but its AI understands the intent of the search query. The AI also makes sure to include various synonyms of keywords present in the search query for a more inclusive search.

Security and Confidentiality

PQAI ensures your privacy by never logging any of your search queries or results.

Combinational Prior Art Search

PQAI allows the users to conduct a combinational prior art search. In such a search, PQAI shows a group of patents that indicate the inventive concept is not novel. Such a search helps the inventors to refine their ideas, reducing the probability of Section 103 patent rejections.

Cons

• PQAI is an evolving collaborative initiative; it requires a community effort to create a world-class patent search portal to accelerate innovation and improve patent quality.

Lens

Lens is a patent search engine that provides free access to patents published across various technologies. Its search interface is exhaustive and complex—not an excellent choice for inventors.

Pros

• Offers a search service for over 140 million patent records and other academic datasets.
• Offers extremely fine-grained advanced search filters.
• Offers a search in pending patent applications as well.

Cons

• The interface is quite exhaustive with tons of search filters, making it more suitable for expert patent professionals who work on complex patent projects like landscaping.

PATENTSCOPE 

Offered by the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO), PATENTSCOPE is a worthy contender as a Google Patents replacement. Overall, PATENTSCOPE provides an impressive selection of resources that will help you stay up-to-date on the latest trends in technology innovation and licensing agreements.

WithPATENTSCOPE, you can narrow your patent searches using meta-level filters in over 100 million patents globally. It’s a search engine technology that’s available for free around the world. 

It’s a one-stop shop for patent search and research, offering a wide range of features, such as detailed patent descriptions, abstracts, images, and citations.

Pros

• Allows searching for patents in languages other than English.
• Provides instant translations of non-English patents.
• Offers a chemical structure-based search. 
• Allows downloading the results in Excel format.
• Educates readers with tips and tricks to make the most of the search engine.

Cons

• Requires the user to create a complex combination of fields to conduct the search.

USPTO

While widely used, there  are many weaknesses to the USPTO search interface, including a lack of filters for specific topics, limited results based on keyword relevance, and slow loading times. These problems can make it challenging to find the information you’re looking for quickly and efficiently.

Additionally, the data presented in the search results is comprehensive, but challenging to understand or use. The tables often contain too many columns and rows, which makes it difficult to focus on specific information.

Pros

• This database contains more than 1 million patent records as of June 2018.
• Allows searching in patents as well as patent applications using ~50 different fields.

Cons

• Its search interface is complex and highly outdated. 
• There’s no mobile app currently available. 

Espacenet 

Espacenet is a European patent database with over 130 million patents, including both granted and pending patents. 

Espacenet offers free access to information about inventions and technical developments from 1782 to today. It was developed by the European Patent Office (EPO) together with the member states of the European Patent Organization. Most member states have an Espacenet service in their national languages and access to the EPO’s worldwide database, most of which is in English.

Pros

• Allows high-quality instant translation of non-English patents for over 30 languages.
• Allows users to jump between results to review technical drawings for a quicker search.
• Gives insightful data about inventors, applicants, and technology fields.

Cons

• Requires users to create complex keyword search strings.

The Verdict

There are a few different alternatives to Google Patents that you may want to consider, but PQAI offers a very promising option. The PQAI search has many unique features to make it easier to use, compared to traditional search engines:

• PQAI’s natural language interface enables inventors to describe their inventions using simple sentences.
• PQAI displays only a limited set of results per search query. This makes the search process more straightforward and less time-consuming. Searchers may ask the system for “more like this” or “more like the save” to get more documents relevant to the search query.
• PQAI guides researchers and helps you avoid Section 103 rejections.
• Users can save relevant documents and incorporate them into a report for sharing with a patent attorney or evaluator to make the patent prosecution process more efficient.
• PQAI protects users’ privacy by not storing searches after each session, instead saving documents and reports on the user’s computer.

Patent Quality through Artificial Intelligence (PQAI) is MORE THAN Just a Search Engine

PQAI is a not-for-profit organization that develops an open-source AI-based library of software components to speed innovation and boost patent quality. 

The flexibility and innovation of open-source software makes PQAI a leader in the patent ecosystem.

Committed to security, privacy and unbridled innovation, PQAI empowers all inventors with sophisticated IP tools to fuel their success and creativity.

Team PQAI has already built five applications to ease your patent search:

1. Prior art search engine: Uses AI to pick limited most relevant prior art references. It also offers a combinational prior art search to reduce the probability of Section 103 patent rejections. Allows users to save results, generate prior art reports for patent prosecution discussion with a patent attorney, get insights on patenting trends and  more.
2. CPCs look up: Lists the IPC/CPC codes based on the technology described in the search query.
3. Art unit predictor: Tells the art unit the invention may fall into at the patent office. Different art units have different patent rejection statistics; applicants may wish to describe the inventive technology in a way that aligns it with a favorable art unit.
4. Concept extractor: An invention might encompass multiple technical concepts. For instance, a coffee pot that keeps your coffee warm will have a temperature sensor, heating element, etc. While conducting a prior art search, you might want to get more ideas for  encompassing concepts.
5. Keyword generator: Let’s say the main keyword is beer. Related keywords could be beverage, malt beverage, fermented beverage, alcoholic beverage, wine, drink, etc. While conducting the prior art search, this generator provides additional related keywords for a more comprehensive search.

The open-source nature of the PQAI project promises many more applications today and in the future to help patent professionals, corporations, and inventors. Visit PQAI to learn more.

You’ve come up with a brilliant invention and are ready to patent it. The first step in the process is to conduct a prior art search to ensure that there is no existing patent for your idea. The relation between your invention and the prior art will determine whether the Patent Office awards your patent or fights issuance with rejection after rejection.

But you might not have considered using the prior art in an iterative process to refine the invention. Whether you find no prior art, some prior art, or anticipatory prior art, you can use the prior art to improve the invention and increase your chances of obtaining a patent.

Here are three ways inventors can leverage prior art to fine-tune their ideas and improve the quality of their enterprise’s patents.

Creatively Interpreting and Using Prior Art Search Results

PQAI stands for Patent Quality Artificial Intelligence. This simple, AI-powered search engine provides your innovation’s ten extremely relevant prior art references.

After you run your innovative idea through the PQAI engine, for inventors and other non-attorneys, the search results fall into one of three categories:

1. No relevant results
2. Relevant results that anticipate your invention
3. Relevant results that are close but not close enough to anticipate the invention

Regardless of which category your results fall into, the results give you valuable information about your next steps. Importantly, this is not a binary decision to either patent or abandon the idea. Instead, you can patent the invention or brainstorm and refine the idea to get onto the path to a patent.

In this article, you will learn a course of action for each category of results.

No Relevant Results Means Your Search May Need Refocusing

You face a dilemma if you do not get any relevant prior art references in a patent search. Your invention might genuinely be novel. If this is the case, your prior art search results might help the inventors develop new or related inventions to help your enterprise occupy the new field you have discovered.

Conversely, it could be that some relevant prior art does exist, but your search was flawed and failed to find those results. If you think the search results seem strange or inaccurate, you can refocus your search. In PQAI, you do this by:

• Using the Concept Extractor application in PQAI to identify any missing or misinterpreted concepts by describing those missing concepts in greater detail
• Identifying potentially relevant results and using the option in PQAI to show “more of these.”
• Saving or opening potentially relevant results to nudge PQAI toward more results like those you viewed or saved.
• Looking up CPCs with PQAI to ensure the system has searched for the correct concepts relating to the invention.

For example, suppose you invented a coffee machine with a sensor to turn off the burner when the coffee carafe is empty. Then, as you review your search results, you might find that they go toward coffee machines that turn off the heating element that boils the water for the brewer when the water tank is empty.

Source: PQAI Prior Art Search Engine

These results are not relevant to the subject invention. However, to find out if there are closer prior art references, you can use the tools built into PQAI to refocus the search.

Relevant Results With Existing Patents Can Spur Innovation

Suppose you run your search and find a prior art reference that precisely describes your invention. You might think these search results spell the end of your invention. But you can leverage these search results to continue innovating in the area and potentially create something new to be patented.

You can look at the later patents that cite your invention’s prior art reference and see how the concept has evolved. These forward citations might not necessarily tie directly to the original concept. They might have cited the references for some ancillary point. But these forward citations can describe one evolutionary path the invention took.

Within PQAI, you can use the save/open results functionality to nudge the system to find other related patents. This chain of patents might not have cited the original prior art reference, but they may illustrate similar concepts. Based on the references from forwarding citations and nudged results, you may find areas without prior art where you can tweak the invention.

Another option is to conduct a Google search to identify any products that ended up using the invention. This option can provide you with concrete applications for the invention that you might improve upon.

In the other direction, you may see that other enterprises have thoroughly covered the invention. So you could drop the idea altogether and move on to a different idea.

For example, suppose you invented a mobile phone with multiple cameras on one side of the phone. You could find results showing the exact concept and ideas built on it with 3D or infrared cameras.

Source: PQAI Prior Art Search Engine

Following the prior art chain that cited the closest reference or described concepts similar to the nearest reference, you can decide whether you have the space to tweak the idea or need to drop the idea.

Relevant Results With No Anticipating Patents Opens the Door to a Broad Patent

If your invention appears novel and you think you got good search results, you sit in a solid position to get a broad patent. Patent lawyers often compare patents to plots of land. You want your plot of land to sit directly adjacent to your neighbor’s plot, with no gaps in between.

When you read through the prior art found in your search, you may find gaps between your invention and the patented inventions. You can expand your invention to include other embodiments or applications that surround your invention. This approach gives you broader patent protection and closes the gaps for a possible design-around.

You can nudge the search results in PQAI to ensure no on-point results by using the save/open trick described previously. This step will give you peace of mind that you have found all the relevant references.

Once you feel comfortable about your search results, you can save your results in PQAI and download the search report for review by a patent attorney.

Going back to the coffee maker example, suppose you only find references that cover turning off the boiling element, not the warmer under the carafe. You realize your original idea of sensing the weight to turn off the warmer was too narrow. You can now expand your invention to cover other ways of sensing an empty carafe, such as optical sensors that “see” when the carafe is empty and temperature sensors that sense when the carafe starts to burn.

Using Prior Art Search Results Iteratively

You should view prior art searches as part of the innovation process. The search can tell you something about your invention no matter what prior art references you find.

As you review search results, you should remember to:

• Refine searches when results seem off.
• Read the references with a critical eye to find possible areas to tweak or expand your invention.
• Resist the temptation to become frustrated if the prior art anticipates your invention.
• Talk to a patent attorney about what you can and cannot patent.

Not Just a Patent Search Engine, An Initiative, A Movement, A Hope

PQAI is a not-for-profit initiative focused on creating an open-source AI-based library of software components to accelerate innovation and improve patent quality. We believe that establishing an open-source forum of IP tools will drive critical changes in the IP ecosystem like what Linux did in computing. The PQAI search engine is one example of how such components can be assembled to create new and useful tools. The empowering of all inventors with advanced IP tools will drive more diversity and inclusion, which will accelerate the pace of innovation. PQAI believes in transparency and user privacy.

To learn more about PQAI and explore opportunities to improve system feedback, contact Sam Zellner, project lead for PQAI.

The Evolution of Data Access Tools for Patents

The Patent Office has many restrictions on the information it can disclose. In fact, through the 1990s, prior art searches could only be conducted in the Patent Office’s library. And the early version of the Patent Office’s database only used patent classification codes and did not allow full-text searching.

Things started to change in the early 2000s. The U.S. began publishing pending applications in 2001, opening the door to a wealth of information for inventors, litigators, and patent prosecutors. Gone were the days of hiring agents near the Patent Office to conduct your patent searches and pull your file wrappers. Instead, anyone with some training and patience could use the Patent Office’s database to obtain patent and patent application data.

We have now reached the next stage in the evolution of patent data tools. Developers have identified the strengths and weaknesses in the Patent Office’s interface. They have created proprietary and open-source tools to obtain, clean, and visualize patent data.

Using the Power of Open-Source Tools to Transform the IP Landscape

Open-source tools have several advantages over proprietary approaches, including:

• Free to use.
• Open access to source code.
• Available for developers to change or incorporate the source code into new tools.
• Royalty-free distribution or redistribution.
• New business models for corporates.

These attributes encourage developers to adopt a standard instead of creating separate approaches. It also speeds development by allowing developers to “stand on the shoulders” of their predecessors.

Obtaining Patent Data

Formerly, patent data was located in silos in the Patent Office. However, for the past 20 years, the Patent Office has made this information available. Some of the open-source tools designed to obtain patent data include:

PQAI

PQAI stands for Patent Quality through Artificial Intelligence. This library of patent-related tools provides a next-generation prior art search engine. This search engine evaluates the search results and returns the top ten prior art references. In addition, the search engine trains itself to determine which results to return based on historical patent examination records.

PQAI promises to transform the IP landscape for inventors/enterprises, patent attorneys, and even patent examiners by delivering higher-quality search results. Conducting a search and reviewing mountains of search results takes time. Since PQAI only provides the most relevant prior art references, it provides more accurate, faster, and cheaper patent searches.

PQAI was initiated by the Georgia Intellectual Property Alliance (GIPA) and AT&T. GreyB contributed the algorithm, and InspireIP manages the application. As an open-source application, developers continue to improve PQAI. To review PQAI or contribute, you can access the files on PQAI’s GitHub.

PatZilla

The initiators of PatZilla call it “a modular patent information research platform and data integration toolkit.” Its primary feature is a search engine that pulls prior art references from the European Patent Office’s database. It also pulls from DEPATISnet, CLAIMS Direct, and depa.tech. In addition, PatZilla provides pdf, image, bibliographic data, and full test acquisition from these services.

PatZilla’s contributions to the evolving IP landscape include:

• A user interface that allows efficient screening of multiple references.
• Web-based collaboration for information sharing.
• Adaptable API for integration into third-party systems.

Andreas Motl authored PatZilla. But many developers have contributed to PatZilla since its initial release in 2014. To view the files for PatZilla or to contribute, go to PatZilla’s GitHub.

phpIP

phpIP manages and dockets patents and other IP rights. The software was designed for inventors, enterprises, and IP law firms.

The system’s initiators sought to develop a software package that was flexible and easy to use. Unfortunately, most alternative packages were complicated and provided more features than necessary. As a result, most users paid for features they did not need and could not use the features they wanted.

phpIP was built on open-source software. It is changing the IP landscape by providing intuitive docketing and patent management tool. Notably, users can adapt the system to their specific needs. As they do, they can contribute to the overall improvement of the system.

You can view the documentation and source code files at phpIP’s Github.

Cleaning Patent Data | Open Refine

Not every user who works with patent data will need to clean it. But occasionally, you will have a large file of patent or patent application data that does not have the correct format for your use.

In the past, users have relied on Excel or Open Office to clean data. But this often requires the user to manually fix each cell or have the programming knowledge to write a macro to fix the cells automatically.

Open Refine is a tool that automates patent data cleaning. It is an open-source tool that Metaweb Technologies, Inc, developed. It was acquired by Google and released for open use in October 2012.

Open Refine provides automated data cleaning functions that can be applied to large patent data files. Some of the features that apply to patent data cleaning include:

• Reformatting dates.
• Separating inventors into different cells.
• Repairing corrupted or missing characters.

This tool can improve the speed and accuracy of the review, analysis, and storing of patent data. To contribute to Open Refine, visit the GitHub page.

Visualizing Patent Data

Visualizations can help identify trends or patterns in the massive amount of patent data that may relate to your project. For example, you might benefit from a visualization of when patent applications were filed or which countries they were filed in.

Until recently, you would need to comb through a spreadsheet to spot patterns in the data. Now,  there are tools to turn patent data into visualizations, including:

Gephi

Gephi is a network visualization platform that can create graphs showing relationships between patents or patent applications. It is an open-source application that is free to use. Association Gephi authored the software, but many developers have contributed to it. 

Gephi can convert CSV or Excel files into data visualizations. This means you can import a file from The Lens or a cleaned file from Open Refine (both discussed above). Gephi will then create a visualization of the data.

This will change the IP landscape by revealing obscure or hidden patterns in the data. For example, you can visualize the number of pending applications in the data file that belong to each assignee.

To view the source code for Gephi or participate in its development, visit the Gephi GitHub page.

Plotly

Plotly Chart Studio is an open-source platform that can be used to create interactive graphics. The open-source version of Plotly is cloud-based. This version is free to use. Plotly also offers enterprise versions for a fee.

Plotly creates graphs from data files generated through The Lens or Open Refine. Like Gephi, Plotly can help spot trends or patterns in the data. But unlike Gephi, the graphs in Plotly were designed to be interactive and shareable. This makes Plotly a valuable collaborative tool that will alter the IP landscape.

Plotly was developed by Plotly Technologies, Inc. You can help develop Plotly by reviewing the source code and documentation on Plotly’s GitHub.

Opportunities Ahead

The open-source nature of these tools almost guarantees that they will continue to develop and improve. To be a part of these opportunities, you can either use the software and provide feedback or you can collaborate with the developers to identify and create new features for these applications.

Get in touch with Sam Zellner, project lead for PQAI, to explore collaboration opportunities with PQAI.

The Evolution of Data Access Tools for Patents

The Patent Office has many restrictions on the information it can disclose. In fact, through the 1990s, prior art searches could only be conducted in the Patent Office’s library. And the early version of the Patent Office’s database only used patent classification codes and did not allow full-text searching.

Things started to change in the early 2000s. The U.S. began publishing pending applications in 2001, opening the door to a wealth of information for inventors, litigators, and patent prosecutors. Gone were the days of hiring agents near the Patent Office to conduct your patent searches and pull your file wrappers. Instead, anyone with some training and patience could use the Patent Office’s database to obtain patent and patent application data.

We have now reached the next stage in the evolution of patent data tools. Developers have identified the strengths and weaknesses in the Patent Office’s interface. They have created proprietary and open-source tools to obtain, clean, and visualize patent data.

Using the Power of Open-Source Tools to Transform the IP Landscape

Open-source tools have several advantages over proprietary approaches, including:

• Free to use.
• Open access to source code.
• Available for developers to change or incorporate the source code into new tools.
• Royalty-free distribution or redistribution.
• New business models for corporates.

These attributes encourage developers to adopt a standard instead of creating separate approaches. It also speeds development by allowing developers to “stand on the shoulders” of their predecessors.

Obtaining Patent Data

Formerly, patent data was located in silos in the Patent Office. However, for the past 20 years, the Patent Office has made this information available. Some of the open-source tools designed to obtain patent data include:

PQAI

PQAI stands for Patent Quality through Artificial Intelligence. This library of patent-related tools provides a next-generation prior art search engine. This search engine evaluates the search results and returns the top ten prior art references. In addition, the search engine trains itself to determine which results to return based on historical patent examination records.

PQAI promises to transform the IP landscape for inventors/enterprises, patent attorneys, and even patent examiners by delivering higher-quality search results. Conducting a search and reviewing mountains of search results takes time. Since PQAI only provides the most relevant prior art references, it provides more accurate, faster, and cheaper patent searches.

PQAI was initiated by the Georgia Intellectual Property Alliance (GIPA) and AT&T. The algorithm was contributed by GreyB, and InspireIP manages the application. As an open-source application, developers continue to improve PQAI. To review PQAI or contribute, you can access the files on PQAI’s GitHub.

PatZilla

The initiators of PatZilla call it “a modular patent information research platform and data integration toolkit.” Its primary feature is a search engine that pulls prior art references from the European Patent Office’s database. It also pulls from DEPATISnet, CLAIMS Direct, and depa.tech. In addition, PatZilla provides pdf, image, bibliographic data, and full test acquisition from these services.

PatZilla’s contributions to the evolving IP landscape include:

• A user interface that allows efficient screening of multiple references.
• Web-based collaboration for information sharing.
• Adaptable API for integration into third-party systems.

Andreas Motl authored PatZilla. But many developers have contributed to PatZilla since its initial release in 2014. To view the files for PatZilla or to contribute, go to PatZilla’s GitHub.

phpIP

phpIP manages and dockets patents and other IP rights. The software was designed for inventors, enterprises, and IP law firms.

The system’s initiators sought to develop a software package that was flexible and easy to use. Unfortunately, most alternative packages were complicated and provided more features than necessary. As a result, most users paid for features they did not need and could not use the features they wanted.

phpIP was built on open-source software. It is changing the IP landscape by providing intuitive docketing and patent management tool. Notably, users can adapt the system to their specific needs. As they do, they can contribute to the overall improvement of the system.

You can view the documentation and source code files at phpIP’s Github.

Cleaning Patent Data | Open Refine

Not every user who works with patent data will need to clean it. But occasionally, you will have a large file of patent or patent application data that does not have the correct format for your use.

In the past, users have relied on Excel or Open Office to clean data. But this often requires the user to manually fix each cell or have the programming knowledge to write a macro to fix the cells automatically.

Open Refine is a tool that automates patent data cleaning. It is an open-source tool that Metaweb Technologies, Inc, developed. It was acquired by Google and released for open use in October 2012.

Open Refine provides automated data cleaning functions that can be applied to large patent data files. Some of the features that apply to patent data cleaning include:

• Reformatting dates.
• Separating inventors into different cells.
• Repairing corrupted or missing characters.

This tool can improve the speed and accuracy of the review, analysis, and storing of patent data. To contribute to Open Refine, visit the GitHub page.

Visualizing Patent Data

Visualizations can help identify trends or patterns in the massive amount of patent data that may relate to your project. For example, you might benefit from a visualization of when patent applications were filed or which countries they were filed in.

Until recently, you would need to comb through a spreadsheet to spot patterns in the data. Now,  there are tools to turn patent data into visualizations, including:

Gephi

Gephi is a network visualization platform that can create graphs showing relationships between patents or patent applications. It is an open-source application that is free to use. Association Gephi authored the software, but many developers have contributed to it. 

Gephi can convert CSV or Excel files into data visualizations. This means you can import a file from The Lens or a cleaned file from Open Refine (both discussed above). Gephi will then create a visualization of the data.

This will change the IP landscape by revealing obscure or hidden patterns in the data. For example, you can visualize the number of pending applications in the data file that belong to each assignee.

To view the source code for Gephi or participate in its development, visit the Gephi GitHub page.

Plotly

Plotly Chart Studio is an open-source platform that can be used to create interactive graphics. The open-source version of Plotly is cloud-based. This version is free to use. Plotly also offers enterprise versions for a fee.

Plotly creates graphs from data files generated through The Lens or Open Refine. Like Gephi, Plotly can help spot trends or patterns in the data. But unlike Gephi, the graphs in Plotly were designed to be interactive and shareable. This makes Plotly a valuable collaborative tool that will alter the IP landscape.

Plotly was developed by Plotly Technologies, Inc. You can help develop Plotly by reviewing the source code and documentation on Plotly’s GitHub.

Opportunities Ahead

The open-source nature of these tools almost guarantees that they will continue to develop and improve. To be a part of these opportunities, you can either use the software and provide feedback or you can collaborate with the developers to identify and create new features for these applications.

Get in touch with Sam Zellner, project lead for PQAI, to explore collaboration opportunities with PQAI.