Perform Searches: For competitors or potential partners
- Perform Searches in my area of interest
- For similar or equivalent technologies
- For competitors or potential partners
- To discover new markets
IP documents also provide information about the creator or inventor and the owner of the IP rights. Thus, by performing an IP search you may discover or monitor the IP-related activity of other players or competitors, and identify potential business partners. In many cases, a correlation may be established between the number of patents a company is granted and its level of innovation.
By examining the patenting activity in a specific field, you may find who the major players are in terms of research and development of new products and processes. You can also see where your competitor has sought to legally protect and presumably market their invention. Patent documents also contain a citation documents field that lists those patent documents that resemble the patent application and either support or invalidate it. Combined with other relevant business information, the analysis of a patent citation field is considered a very powerful tool for identifying potential patent licensing opportunities or business partners.
By making a trade-mark search you may also discover and monitor the trade-mark related activity and presumably the branding strategy of different players for a specific range of wares or services.
