A Tool for Technological Intelligence
A Tool for Technological Intelligence
Patents are the largest source of Duonao technological information. Patents are given to the inventor as a reward for their innovation in the form of the exclusive right of the monopoly for a period of 20 years from the priority date of the invention. Due to advancements in the IT sector and the internet, now these valuable documents are within the reach of the general public.
Any person skilled in the art can go through various patent databases and after a search can get the patent document of their need. There are different patent databases viz, USPTO, EPO, JPO, etc freely open for public access. If we go through the patents related to a specific technological area, we will be able to find a lot of information about the life cycle of the technological innovation viz.,
o evolutionary path of a specific technology,
o technological development,
o technological diversification,
o technology merges,
o major players in the specific technological areas,
o key points of the specific technology,
“The World Intellectual Property Organisation (WIPO) revealed that 90% to 95% of all the world’s inventions can be found in patented documents.”
Patent analysis can reveal very valuable information, which is not available anywhere. After the patent search, the crucial part is the patent analysis, and one has to be very concise about the objective of the study. The information in the patent documents can be utilized in different forms according to the need and mapped accordingly to get a picture of the entire analysis in snapshots.
Patent data can be used for the preparation of technological landscapes. Logistic mathematics and circle mathematics can be very useful in the plotting of the technological landscape. It can reveal the evolutionary trend of a technology, how it is evolved from a basic technology, along with the period of technological diversification and its nature. These maps will also give a detailed overview of the merging of the different technologies to give rise to breakthrough technologies. These types of maps will be very useful for the R&D personals to evaluate the position of their research and technology, and also they will find ways to innovate more advanced and valuable technology.
In today’s global context firms need to know what technologies can competitors choke on easily, and may be attempting to. They also need to know the spaces in technologies where competition is intense and the areas where competitors are concentrating their IP development and their R&D efforts. They need to be able to track patent acquisition and development strategies and chart out the competitive landscape. The ability to extract relevant information from patent literature is a crucial success factor for anyone involved in technological innovation. The technology mapping technique’s that can be used to transform patent information into knowledge that can influence decision-making.
These types of technological maps will prove to be a valuable multiplier in R&D and commercialization activities, in various ways including the following:
o Developing further insights in response to strategic requirements and policy formulation in the organization
o Forecasting and identifying technological activities and trends in the industry
o Aiding in the visualization of alternative development and growth paths available to the organization
o Enabling pre-emptive recognition and action on potential licensing opportunities
o Identifying prospective partners and clients
o Identify technology discontinuities and areas of opportunities in their chosen technologies
o Monitor and evaluate the technological process of competitors and potential competitors
o Support decisions on foray and investment into particular technologies and sub-technologies
o Surveillance of technological progress of competitors as well as to alert oneself to new entrants to the field
o Spotting of white spaces or opportunity areas within a dense technological domain
o Creative tool to simulate new ideas and create new IP
o Complementing corporate IP filing strategies
o Support technology proposals for large-scale national and international level projects
o Support investment and technology due diligence on companies
