Patent landscaping

Patent mapping, more commonly known as a patent landscape, is the analysis of a set of patent documents relating to a technical field, intended to show how filings are distributed between players, countries and technologies, and how they evolve over time. It draws on the patent information published by the offices and on the structure provided by the classifications. It is not governed by any legislation and is a decision-making tool, distinct from legal analyses of a specific patent. The World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) regularly publishes patent landscape reports in areas of public interest.

Method

A landscape begins with defining the technical scope, translated into a search strategy combining keywords, symbols of the International Patent Classification or of the Cooperative Patent Classification and applicant names. The results are grouped into families, so as not to count the same invention filed in several countries more than once, then cleaned and enriched with legal status and citation data. Finally, they are presented as charts and maps showing the main applicants, collaborations, areas of high density and spaces that are still sparsely occupied.

Uses

A landscape guides research and development choices, informs filing strategy, identifies partners, acquisition targets or potential licensees and makes it possible to compare competitors’ portfolios. In the field of technical standards, it is used to estimate each holder’s share of all patents declared essential, a useful figure in licence negotiations. Finally, it prepares the ground for more targeted analyses, such as a freedom-to-operate analysis or a prior art search.

Limits

A landscape measures filing volumes, not the value or legal scope of the rights. Since applications are published only after eighteen months from filing or priority, the most recent data are necessarily incomplete. The quality of the result depends on the search strategy, and automated analysis tools, while speeding up processing, do not remove the need for validation by a specialist. A landscape is never a non-infringement opinion, and the internal circulation of its results must be handled with care, under the direction of counsel bound by professional secrecy.

Key points

Patent mapping gives an overview of a technical field and its players on the basis of published data. It informs strategic decisions but does not replace any legal analysis of a specific patent. The scope studied should be precisely defined, the analysis conducted by families, the publication delay for applications taken into account and the exercise followed up with regular patent watch.

---

This glossary entry is general in scope and does not constitute legal advice.

Dhenne Avocats litigates patent disputes before the Paris Judicial Court, the Paris Court of Appeal and the Unified Patent Court. Where the question arises in a real case, the useful moment is almost always before proceedings are issued.

Patent litigation · Unified Patent Court · UPC case law · Tell us about your situation