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Patent watch - Essential for innovation
Patent monitoring is essential for any company wishing to remain competitive in its field. It enables them to monitor patents filed by their competitors, keep abreast of technological developments in their sector and identify opportunities for innovation.
In this article, we will explore the challenges of patent monitoring and give you examples of how it can be used. We will also present the tools available for an effective patent watch and best practices for exploiting the data collected.
Summary :
The different types of patent watch
Patent watch is a key tool for keeping abreast of the latest technological advances and competitor practices. However, it is important to understand the different types of patent watch to make effective use of this monitoring method.
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Competitive intelligence:
This involves monitoring patents filed by direct and indirect competitors. This enables you to understand your competitors’ strategies and adapt accordingly.
Technology watch:
Involves monitoring patents and technological advances in your area of expertise. It enables you to stay at the cutting edge of your sector and anticipate emerging trends.
State of the art monitoring:
Involves of monitoring the latest advances in a particular technological field, whether or not they are protected by a patent. This monitoring enables you to understand developments in your sector and identify opportunities for innovation.
By using these different types of patent watch in a complementary way, it is possible to benefit from a 360-degree view of your business sector and put in place an effective innovation strategy.
2. Examples of how patent monitoring can be used
The start-up began to notice an increase in competition on the market
They realised that their cutting-edge technology had started to be copied by other companies and that they needed to strengthen their intellectual property to protect their competitive edge.
Using patent intelligence, they were able to monitor the activities of their competitors and identify patents that could affect their ability to innovate and market their product.
This enabled them to adjust their intellectual property strategy, focusing on finding additional patents to protect their technology and avoiding any potential patent infringement.
Pharmaceutical companies
Pharmaceutical companies invest considerable sums in the research and development of new medicines, and the protection of intellectual property is essential to ensure adequate return on investment.
By monitoring their competitors’ patents and identifying areas of innovation, companies can adjust their research and development strategy. To ensure that they develop medicines that are in line with current market trends and offer added value for patients.
3. Cases where patent monitoring could have prevented legal action.
Epic Games has filed a lawsuit against Apple for allegedly violating antitrust laws by forcing developers to use Apple’s internal payment system, which takes a 30% commission. Apple retaliated by removing Fortnite from the App Store and blocking updates for all games developed by Epic Games. The dispute is still ongoing.
Oracle sued Google for patent infringement in the use of its Java technology for the development of Android. The US Supreme Court finally ruled in favour of Google in 2021, confirming that the use of Java technology was considered “fair use”.
VLSI Technology took Intel to court for patent infringement in the design of its processors. A jury finally awarded VLSI $2.18 billion in damages in April 2021, making it one of the largest patent disputes in history. link
Philips vs Fitbit: Philips sued Fitbit for patent infringement in its fitness tracking devices. The two companies eventually reached an out-of-court settlement in 2018, with Fitbit paying an undisclosed sum to Philips to avoid a trial. link
4. The Opscidia patent watch tool
A patent search engine:
Discover a more complete scientific research experience thanks to our search engine incorporating millions of patents.
Alerts on new patents:
Patent Alert, which allows users to program alerts to be informed of new patents in the research areas of their choice.
With this feature, you can select specific keywords related to your search area and be alerted in real time as soon as a new patent is published.
Find high-impact patents:
Impact Search uses advanced search filters to find key patents that have had a significant impact on the user’s field.
With this feature, users can access the most relevant patents in their area of expertise.
Discover Opscidia's patent watch, scientific watch and technology watch solutions
