(c) DJP Information Consulting Services, LLC1 1 Automatic Concept Identification: Extracting Problem Solved Concepts From Patent Documents IRFS 2007 Vienna Information Retrieval Facility Symposium Dr. Daniel J. Phelps, DJP Information Consulting Services, LLC

(c) DJP Information Consulting Services, LLC 2 2 Outline  Basics of patents  Problem solved concept  High value applications enabled  What makes concept identification hard  Organizations working in the area

(c) DJP Information Consulting Services, LLC 3 3 A Patent Is  A documented solution to a technical problem using a specified technology  Legal document giving an assignee the right to stop others from using his/her patent solution for a stated period of time  Repository of technical know-how

(c) DJP Information Consulting Services, LLC 4 4 Problem Solved Concept  Statement of what problem is solved in the patent*  Want to understand what problem a patent covers Makes it easier to understand what the patent can be used for Helps determine the value of a patent *There is only supposed to be one problem solved in one patent, but there are many exceptions to this rule.

(c) DJP Information Consulting Services, LLC 5 5 What Is Enabled By Availability Of Problem Solved Concept Information  Problem solved R&D process for creating products  Patent mapping for strategic planning

(c) DJP Information Consulting Services, LLC 6 6 Typical R&D Process Start Project Identify Problem Try To Solve Problem Eventually Solve Problem Include In Final Product Design Check On Status Of IP Clearance Decision? Use Individual & Company Knowledge

(c) DJP Information Consulting Services, LLC 7 7 Problem Solved R&D Process I Start Project Identify Problem Search Problem Solved Database Useable Solution? A Yes No Develop Solution Include In Final Product Design Seek IP Coverage IP Clearance Decision

(c) DJP Information Consulting Services, LLC 8 8 Problem Solved R&D Process II Develop Solution IP Clearance Decision Work Around Or License? Negotiate License Include In Final Product Design Work Around License Seek IP Coverage Include In Final Product Design

(c) DJP Information Consulting Services, LLC 9 Patent Mapping  Problem Solved – Technology Applied  Strategic analysis of IP

(c) DJP Information Consulting Services, LLC 10 (c) DJP Information Consulting Services, LLC 10 What Makes It Hard To Identify Problem Solved Concept?  Multiple ways of expressing the concept of problem (problem, objective, etc.)  Multiple levels of problems Main problem Sub problem  Location in patent varies with patent granting authority and document type

(c) DJP Information Consulting Services, LLC 11 (c) DJP Information Consulting Services, LLC 11 Structural Clues in US Patent Title Abstract Field of the Invention Background of the Invention Summary of the Invention

(c) DJP Information Consulting Services, LLC 12 (c) DJP Information Consulting Services, LLC 12 Derwent World Patents Index  Online database from Thomson/Dialog  Patents/Applications categorized and indexed manually  Descriptive title  Use/Advantage Statements  Field searchable

(c) DJP Information Consulting Services, LLC 13 (c) DJP Information Consulting Services, LLC 13 Derwent Use/Advantage Statements Courtesy of Ron Kaminecki, Dialog Corporation Descriptive Title Use Statement Advantage Statement

(c) DJP Information Consulting Services, LLC 14 (c) DJP Information Consulting Services, LLC 14 ClearForest  Text mining technology Tagging engine Extraction modules Analytics  Has patent module Extracts problem solved terms & phrases  Approach Rule-based with tags (regular expressions and proprietary code) Domain area lists Document structure

(c) DJP Information Consulting Services, LLC 15 (c) DJP Information Consulting Services, LLC 15 ClearForest Courtesy of Michael, ClearForest Corporation

(c) DJP Information Consulting Services, LLC 16 (c) DJP Information Consulting Services, LLC 16 PatentCafe  Online patent search tool  Primary search tool Latent Semantic Analysis  Secondary search tool Heuristic & Advanced Boolean  Find related problems when using concept query Do concept search across 12 million patents

(c) DJP Information Consulting Services, LLC 17 (c) DJP Information Consulting Services, LLC 17 Sample PatentCafe Concept Search  Concept Search: Search using the claims of a Company A ink jet patent (nozzle designed to constrain dispersal pattern of ink for high resolution printing)  Return: a large body of art in fire extinguisher patents (nozzle constraining extinguishant for managing fires from a distance). In both cases, the nozzle geometry and material viscosity were similar. Courtesy of Andy Gibb, PatentCafe

(c) DJP Information Consulting Services, LLC 18 (c) DJP Information Consulting Services, LLC 18 Invention Machine Goldfire Innovator TM  “Speeds process of innovation”  Uses natural language processing and computational linguistics  Breaks each sentence down into semantic components and stores them in a searchable knowledgebase  Search knowledge base using semantic components  Most advanced in extracting problem solved concepts

(c) DJP Information Consulting Services, LLC 19 (c) DJP Information Consulting Services, LLC 19 Invention Machine Goldfire: Semantic Relationships “The actuator raises the door, it comprises a diaphragm and hydraulic fluid, but a fluid leak can result in abrasion and failure of the actuator.” actuator raises door SubjectActionObject actuator comprises diaphragm, hydraulic fluid WholeConsists ofParts fluid leak results in CauseProducesEffects actuator abrasion, actuator failure Courtesy of Jeff Boehm, Invention Machine Corporation

(c) DJP Information Consulting Services, LLC 20 (c) DJP Information Consulting Services, LLC 20 Accelovation  Market Discovery Tool  Technology started at MIT Media Lab  Crawls deep web and other content looking for mention of needs or solutions million “solution statements” 1.0 million “needs statements”  Uses text analytics to Match needs of exiting markets with new technical solutions Match existing technology solutions (benefits) with the needs of new markets  Not problem solved approach but analogous in concept

(c) DJP Information Consulting Services, LLC 21 (c) DJP Information Consulting Services, LLC 21 Accelovation Concept  Organization A has a need for a way to solve a particular problem in their market  Organization B has a technical solution that would benefit Organization A  Company A initiates a search against the repository of needs and solutions statements found in Accelovation’s web search  The software makes the match between Organization A’s need and Organization B’s solution (benefit)

(c) DJP Information Consulting Services, LLC 22 (c) DJP Information Consulting Services, LLC 22 Summary & Conclusions  A patent database searchable by problem solved would enable a much more efficient R&D process  The task is not easy, but there are several organizations working in the area using different approaches  Invention Machine comes closest to providing this service in the patent realm  Accelovation sells an analogues service in the market discovery realm that could be used with patents

(c) DJP Information Consulting Services, LLC 23 References Dialog: Invention Machine: ClearForest: PatentCafe: Accelovaion: 1 Seth Grimes, Intelligent Enterprise, May 17,

(c) DJP Information Consulting Services, LLC 24 (c) DJP Information Consulting Services, LLC 24 Contact Information  Dr. Daniel J. Phelps  DJP Information Consulting Services, LLC. 