By 2027, the global big data market is forecasted to be worth $103 billion. However, high volume, fast-moving data sets aren’t worth much on their own—they’re simply too big for humans to extract insights from. Perhaps more important, therefore, are the data analysis tools that allow businesses to uncover actionable intelligence. Together, the “global big data and business analytics market was valued at $169 billion… in 2018 and is expected to grow to $274 billion” by 2022.
One facet of the growing big data and analytics movement is the rise in data visualization tools. The market for data visualization applications, which enable users to interact with and present large data sets in a visual way, is expected to grow from $2.99 billion in 2020 to $5.17 billion over the next five years. Patent mapping software and services are applying this in-demand data analysis technique to IP strategy.
Uncover Insights with Patent Mapping
Creating interactive maps of your IP portfolio, and the proximity of your patents to those of your competitors, can help your business better understand the patent landscape. Patent visualization allows entities to:
- Understand their core competencies based on their current patent portfolio.
- Identify opportunities and threats, including white space for new products or markets, complementary M&A targets or licensing agreements, and competitors’ protected IP.
- Anticipate trends in your industry, such as emerging technologies and markets.
- Communicate important insights with relevant stakeholders who are not experienced in intellectual property, such as executives and engineers.
- Inform public policy, especially in innovation-focused fields like healthcare, agriculture, and the environment.
Patent Mapping Software
The key to successful patent mapping lies in the underlying data. Real, actionable insights only come from quality databases; visualizations based on flawed or limited data don’t tell the full story. Traditional IP search tools, for example, rely on classification codes—similar to the card catalog system at the local library—that by their nature limit searches to specific industries.
InnovationQ Plus® offers one of the largest patent databases in the industry. It also includes full-text journals and conference papers from IEEE. However, if we use limiting search techniques to find what we’re looking for, it doesn’t matter how many patents InnovationQ Plus® includes. The Semantic Map within InnovationQ Plus®, by comparison, bypasses classification codes in favor of more sophisticated search technology. Our approach, based on proprietary neural networks combined with more traditional Boolean search and strategic filters, provides a deeper, more meaningful understanding of each patent’s strengths and vulnerabilities.
Semantic patent search enables you to map opportunities outside of your core markets. For example, the image processing techniques used in oil exploration are very similar to the methods used in healthcare providers’ mammography systems. By cross-licensing patents to a medical device maker, an oil company could monetize stagnant patents that are no longer strategic in the energy sector but would be considered a technological advancement in the medical industry.
Patent Mapping Services
IP.com also offers patent visualizations prepared by our expert, US-based search professionals. We start by identifying key entities in relevant industries and then map IP to identify relationships, overlaps, gaps within the landscape. Our patent landscapes are designed to summarize important insights into easy-to-understand, executive-level presentations!