Thomson Innovation
Thomson Innovation
CONTENTS
Chapter 1 Search 1
Chapter 5 Results 38
Chapter 8 Alerts 50
Chapter 13 Charts 68
Chapter 14 ThemeScape 71
Search Results
Results for your search display below the search form. Learn more about result sets with these topics:
• Review Your Results
• Refine Your Results
• Next Steps for Your Results
1
Search
FIND DOCUMENTS BASED ON KEY WORDS OR DATES
1. For patent and literature searches, review the selected collections and choose the ones you want to search
2. Use the dropdown boxes to select fields you want to search
Note: If your organization set up Custom Fields for patents, they are listed beneath the standard fields
3. Enter search terms for those fields in the text boxes
4. Click Search to search for the terms you entered in the fields you selected and view matching documents as a result set
The fields displayed in the dropdown list as well as the fields selected when the search form initially displays can be controlled via
Preferences.
Preview/Edit Query
Users with Pro and Analyst subscriptions can preview the exact query to be submitted in the Preview/edit query box (the query
previewer). This helps you review your query to make sure you are searching for what you intended.
You can edit your query directly in the previewer. Note that further editing the query using the dropdown boxes and other tools will
overwrite any edits made directly in the previewer. Edits made in the previewer are not reflected in the fields.
Click the test syntax button (check mark) to check the syntax of your search before submitting it (so you can make changes if needed).
2
Search
Quick Tips for All Searches
Use the following tips to help get the results you want from your search. You can find additional details about Thomson Innovation
search in the Search Fundamentals topic.
• AND means all of the terms must be present, which narrows your search; AND is the default operator between each field
• OR means only one of the specified terms must be present; this broadens your search
• NOT means the term following cannot be present; this narrows your search
• ADJ is the assumed operator for keywords within fields (ADJ searches for terms within one word of each other (adjacent), in the
order specified); this means that searching for human transporter in the Title/Abstract/Claims field will be treated as a search
for human ADJ transporter
• If you use AND operators between each field in your search, any date fields (e.g., publication date) will apply to the whole
search
• If you don’t want to use a field (including the Publication Date field), leave that text entry box blank
• To limit your search to a specific date, use that same date in both the From and To fields
• To have your search be through “today” (whatever date that might be), leave the To date blank
• Words that contain hyphens are treated as two separate words. To find hyphenated terms, use the ADJ operator. (ADJ is the
default between terms.)
• Queries are not case sensitive; you can enter them in upper, lower, or mixed case
• Stopwords and reserved words are applied to literature and business searches
• Both the * and ? wildcards are available for use when searching
• Be aware using the * operator may produce too many results to display if you do not include enough characters with the
wildcard
3
Search
FIELDED SEARCH FORM QUICK REFERENCE
Search field dropdown Choose the fields that you want to search. Click the question mark icon beside any field to see a detailed description of
boxes the field.
Search field text box Enter terms or dates you want to search in the related field. Italic text inside each search field text boxes provides
examples of valid terms for that field.
Browse button Display a search aid that helps you discover and select codes, names, or other terms for that field which you may want
to include in your search.
Include blank fields Find records that do not have data in that field; these records are in addition to any terms that you enter in the field.
checkbox Learn more: Search for Presence or Absence of Data
Operator dropdown box Select AND, OR, or NOT to join two fields in your search. This lets you expand or narrow your search as you wish. The
default is AND, but you can change this in your preferences.
Plus (+) and Minus (-) Add or remove fields from the search. New fields are added beneath the field whose plus sign you clicked.
Signs
Preview/Edit Query Preview the exact query to be submitted and make edits to it using semi-command line interface.
(Analyst and Pro users
Learn more: Preview/Edit Query
only)
Templates (Patents Only) Apply a patent search template, or save the current search settings (including collections, field selections, and search
text) as a patent search template.
Make these my defaults Save the current field and collection selections (but not text) as your preferences after clicking Search. This means the
checkbox fields, collections, and options you selected are used as the defaults when you load the Fielded search screen.
Clear All Fields button Remove all entries from all fields but leave the current field selections the same.
Reset button Undo all changes made to your search. Reset functions slightly differently before and after running a search:
• Before you run a search, Reset displays your default fields and collections
• After you run a search, Reset displays the last search you ran (including fields, collections, and
keywords)
4
Search
FIND A LIST OF PATENT PUBLICATIONS
1. Select the Number type for the publication numbers you want to find
Note: You cannot use both patent Publication Numbers and DWPI Accession Numbers in the same search; you must have
DWPI entitlements to use the DWPI Accession Number search
2. Select the Output Type you want
3. If you select Result Set or Work File as your Output type, optionally select any Specialized Search options.
Learn more: Specialized Search
4. Enter your publication numbers or DWPI Accession Numbers in the text box, or click the Browse button (...) to upload text file
with a list of numbers
Learn about the patent publication number formats used in Thomson Innovation:
Patent Publication Number Format Tables | Patent Publication Number Overview
Note: If you paste a list of numbers separated by semicolons, tabs, or line breaks from another source, you do not need to
reformat the list; the Publication Number search automatically formats the list for you
5. Optionally, select the Make these my defaults checkbox to save the current output type as your default preferences
6. Click Search
After you click the Search button, Thomson Innovation validates your publication numbers and displays any invalid numbers in the
Discrepancies panel.
Patent Publication The order in which you enter the publication numbers. This order is maintained when you export your results, save the
Number results to a work file, retrieve family members for your results, or rerun the search from search history.
If you change the sort order for a Publication Number result set, open Display and Sort Options and select the Default
sort order to return to the "as entered" order.
DWPI Accession Number The order in which you enter the accession numbers.
Searches by accession number retrieve the entire DWPI family. The results display collapsed by DWPI family, with the
DWPI Basic record as the default preferred document.
Specialized Search Varies based on search type selected. See the Specialized Search topic for details.
5
Search
Publication Number Limits by Output Type
The number of records you can enter or upload and what happens after you click Search depends on your output type.
60,000 (Analyst users) A popup window displays so that you can add the documents to an existing
Work File work file or create a new work file with the documents.
30,000 (Pro and Express users) Learn more: Work Files
The Document Delivery screen displays so that you can select options for how
Document Copies 500
you want to download the documents.
The Document Delivery screen displays lets you select options for the file
File Histories 25
histories you want to order.
6
Search
SPECIALIZED SEARCH OPTIONS
Use a Specialized Search on the publication number search form to find patent citations, patent family members, or record update
information for a list of publication numbers. The specialized search helps you perform additional research on your publication number
list by seeing related patents or record updates.
OPTION DESCRIPTION
Patent Citations Find patents that cite the searched publication numbers (forward citations), patents cited by the searched publication
(Forward, Backward, numbers (backward citations), or both.
or Both)
The Patent Citations search uses data from the primary/"first level" patent authorities and from INPADOC (DocDB). The
examiner or the inventor may make citations.
Learn more: Citations Field Definition
Patent Citation result sets display as a collapsed result set, with the publication numbers you searched for as the preferred
documents.
The result set numbering for records on patent citations result sets indicates the record to which a citation relates and how
it relates. For example, 2.2F indicates the second forward citation for the second patent record.
Warning: Specialized Search retrieves the first 500 backward and/or 500 forward citations for each patent record. If a
patent has more than 500 citations, use the View as Result Set button in the Citation section of the record view to see all
the citations for that patent.
DPCI Patent Find patents that cite the searched publication numbers (forward citations), patents cited by the searched publication
Citations numbers (backward citations), or both. The examiner or the inventor may make citations.
DPCI citations are compiled at that family level so that all citations for an invention are included in the result set, not just
citations for the publication number(s) you entered. This lets you search and see citations that you may not have found
otherwise and saves time, as you do not need to manually locate all citations in the patent family.
Note: Patent citation searches that search non-DWPI data are accurate for each individual publication number, because
they are based on the individual patent's data only.
Patent Citation result sets display as a collapsed result set, with the DWPI basic record for publication numbers you
searched for as the preferred documents.
The result set numbering for records on patent citations result sets indicates the record to which a citation relates and how
it relates. For example, 2.2F indicates the second forward citation for the second patent record.
When exporting a DPCI Patent Citations result set, you can optionally exclude DWPI basic records that were not part of
your initial search.
Warning: Specialized Search retrieves the first 500 backward and/or 500 forward citations for each patent record. If a
patent has more than 500 citations, use the View as Result Set button in the Citation section of the record view to see all
the citations for that patent.
Family Lookup Find all INPADOC or DWPI family members for the publication numbers that you searched.
Family Lookup result sets display collapsed by the family type you select (DWPI or INPADOC), with your current selection
in preferences or Display and Sort Options as the preferred document
The result set numbering for records on family lookup result sets indicates the parent record to which a child records
relates. For example, 2.2 indicates the second family member for the second publication number you searched.
Record Updates There are several types of searches that return all searched publication numbers in which family, legal status, publication
stage, citations or assignment has changed since a specified date.
To use this search, select the type of update you want to search for and enter date you want to see records updated since.
The result sets that display for record update search display as normal (not collapsed by family).
When performing a Family Changes specialized search, selecting a record that displays multiple times in the result set
(e.g., as both a parent and a child) selects all instances of that record.
7
Search
FIND DOCUMENTS USING A SEMI-COMMAND LINE INTERFACE
To create Expert search queries, you type the field tags, search operators, and search terms directly in the text box using a semi-
command-line interface. This means that you just:
1. Review and select the collections you want to search
2. Enter a query with the proper syntax in the text box
3. Click the Search button to run the query
TI Field Tag The field that you want to search (in this case, Title).
( Opening Starts the section where you enter keywords for the field.
Parentheses
) Closing Parentheses Ends the section where you enter keywords for the field.
; Semicolon Tells the search engine that this is the end of the query. A single search query must always end with a
semicolon.
You can add additional search terms using a Boolean or proximity operator (AND, OR, NOT, ADJ, NEAR, SAME) after the closing
parentheses and entering another search term (field tag, keywords, etc.). You can also include conjoining operators and parentheses
inside a search term to create more complex, compact search terms.
You can also use special formatting to enter multiple queries and submit them all at once (and see them all in your search history). This
is called stacked searching. A special numbering feature lets you, optionally, number each individual query on the fly in order to use it in
a combine statement. See the Stacked Searches topic for more information.
8
Search
CITED REFERENCES SEARCH AND RESULTS
Cited Reference searches let you find publications in the Web of Science and Conference Proceedings collections that cite specific
authors or particular publications. You can limit Cited Reference searches by a range of years in which the citations were made.
Search aids are available to help you choose the correct formats for author and publication names, since your search terms must match
the author and publication names in the database.
Notes
• Note that the fields for Cited References search are joined by AND. This cannot be changed
• If you enter both authors and publications, all records of articles citing work by those authors in those publications display
• If you enter authors but do not enter publications, all records of articles citing those authors display
• If you enter publications but do not enter authors, all records of articles citing that publication display
9
Search
SEARCH FUNDAMENTALS
This information will help you craft queries that produce relevant and manageable result sets. These fundamentals apply to Patent,
Literature, Business, and All Content searches.
Search Operators
A search operator is a word or symbol used for expressing a function that should be performed with the specified keywords.
Note: In the examples used in this topic, the search operators are shown as all uppercase and, when you use the search form tools to
construct your queries, they will also be shown as upper case. This is, however, not a requirement and is done only to visually
differentiate the operators from the surrounding keywords.
Boolean Operators
This operator places no condition on where the terms are found in relation to one another; the terms simply have to appear
somewhere in the same document.
OR Searches for two terms when one term or the other must be present.
This operator places no condition on where the terms are found in relation to one another; one or both terms simply have to
appear somewhere in the same document.
This operator retrieves documents that contain the first search term you specify but not the second term.
Nesting directs the search engine to process your query in an exact order, avoiding misunderstandings. Search instructions within
parentheses are always processed first.
10
Search
Proximity Operators
Proximity operators limit the number of words between your search terms. None of the proximity operators (NEAR, ADJ, SAME) search
for keywords outside the same paragraph.
Proximity operators behave differently in literature searching than in patent and business searching.
ADJ Searches for terms within one word of each other (adjacent), in the order specified.
ADJn
When followed by a numeric qualifier, searches for terms in the order specified and within n terms of each other. The value n
specifies the number of searchable terms (minus one) allowed between (intervening) search terms.
Note 1: In business searches, this is the equivalent of the Dialog (W) and (nW) operators.
Note 2: ADJn is not supported when searching the Native Japanese collections.
Note 1: In business searches, this is the equivalent of the Dialog (N) and (nN) operators.
Note 2: NEARn is not supported when searching the Native Japanese collections.
SAME Searches for terms all in the same paragraph, in any order
Note: In business searches, this is the equivalent of the Dialog (S) operator.
"" Enclosing search terms in double quotes always searches for exactly those terms in exactly that order and proximity. Wildcard
operators (such as *) inside double quotes are ignored.
ADJ/SAME Works like AND, both terms must be present in any order.
When used in address fields, finds terms in the same line of an address only.
ADJn Works like NEARn, it finds records containing the specified terms within n number of words of each other and in any order.
NEAR, NEAR works like NEAR15, it finds the specified terms (in any order) with up to 15 words between them.
NEARn/ADJn
NEARn searches for records containing the specified terms (in any order) within n number of words of each other.
Unlike patent and business searching there is no "allowance" subtracted from the number you enter for the n parameter and
the number you enter is the exact number of words between terms.
11
Search
Comparison Operators
Note: When searching a date range, the dates must be specified in ascending order, e.g., >=20010101 <=20011231.
= Equal to. Can be used for dates, numeric terms, and text.
<> Not equal to. Can be used for dates and other numeric terms.
> Greater than. Can be used for dates and other numeric terms.
>= Greater than or equal to. Can be used for dates and other numeric terms.
< Less than. Can be used for dates and other numeric terms.
<= Less than or equal to. Can be used for dates and other numeric terms.
Wildcard/Truncation Operators
Note: Except in Smart Search, wildcard operators (such as *) inside double quotes are ignored. When a wildcard is used in a search
term, stemming is disabled for that term.
? The question mark wildcard represents one character. Use one or more question marks to stand for a specific number of
characters in your search term. The question mark wildcard can be used within a word.
Tip: A single question mark easily compensates for differences between US and British spelling. For example: sterili?e or t?re.
For patents only, the question mark wildcard can be used left-hand (at the beginning of a term) also, only for patents, the
question mark wildcard can be used in conjunction with the asterisk or a numeric to facilitate threshold (no less than and/or no
more than) truncation.
* The asterisk wildcard represents zero or an unlimited number of characters. The asterisk can be used within a word.
*n
For patents and business, following the asterisk with a numeric quantifier (*n) retrieves any number of characters from 0 up to n.
For patents only, the asterisk wildcard can be used left-hand (at the beginning of a term), also, only for patents, the asterisk
wildcard can be used in conjunction with the question mark and a numeric to facilitate threshold (no less than and/or no more
than) truncation.
12
Search
Wildcard/Truncation Operators in Native Japanese Search
Wildcards (truncation operators) may not behave as expected in Native Japanese search. For example, searching for リチウムイオン??
looks for the entire phrase リチウムイオン followed by any two characters, not two separate words リチウム and イオン with the
second word followed by any two characters.
For best results using wild cards in Native Japanese search, search for the phrase you and the same phrase surrounded by the *
operator; join the two phrases using OR.
Example: リチウムイオン OR *リチウムイオン*
.N Find records where the CPC combination code has the CPCC=E21B004700.1 Find records where the specified
symbol in position N. CPC symbol is the base symbol (first symbol in the
combination code).
Enter a . (period) after the CPC symbol followed by the
number for the position in which you want the CPC symbol. CPCC=E21B004710.2- Find records where the specified
CPC symbol is in the fifth or later position in the
Tip: Use .1 to search for records where the symbol is the
combination code.
base symbol (in the first position).
CPCC=C04B22/0013.-3 Find records where the specified
You can enter either a single number or a range. A range
CPC symbol is in the third position or earlier in the
can either be closed (include both first and last positions)
combination code.
or open (include only the first or last position).
CPCC=C04B20/008.10-20 Find records that have the
All ranges are inclusive (the number you enter is included
specified CPC symbol in the tenth through twentieth
in the range).
positions (inclusive).
#N Find records where the CPC symbols occurs in the CPCC=C04B#1 Find records with exactly 1 occurrence of
combination code a number of times N. the specified symbol in the same combination code.
Enter a # (hash sign) after the CPC symbol followed by the CPCC=C04B0022#3- Find records with 3 or more
number of times you want that symbol to occur in occurrences of the specified symbol in the same
combination codes. combination code.
You can enter either a single number or a range. A range CPCC=C04B002214#-4 Find records with 4 or fewer
can either be closed (include fewest and most number of occurrences of the specified symbol in the same
occurrences) or open (include only the fewest or most combination code.
occurrences).
CPCC=C04#2-8 Find records with at least two but not
All ranges are inclusive (the number you enter is included more than 8 occurrences of the specified symbol in the
13
Search
in the range). same combination code.
INV Flag that specifies that the search should find records CPCC=E21B0047 SAME INV Find records with the
where the CPC symbol is part of an Invention combination specified symbol as part of an Invention combination code.
set.
CPCC=C04B002214#2- SAME INV Find records with 2 or
Use the SAME operator to include the flag with a CPC more occurrences of the specified symbol as part of the
symbol. You can combine the INV flag with the position same Invention combination code.
and occurrence operators.
ADD Flag that specifies that the search should find records CPCC=E21B SAME ADD Find records with the specified
where the CPC symbol is part of an Additional combination symbol as part of an Additional combination code.
set.
CPCC=E21.2-10 SAME ADD Find records where the
Use the SAME operator to include the flag with a CPC specified symbol is in the second through tenth positions
symbol. You can combine the ADD flag with the position (inclusive) and is part of an Additional combination code.
and occurrence operators.
Operator Considerations
Default Operators
The default operator for use between fields is AND.
The default operator for use within most* fields is ADJ. Note that ADJ behaves like AND in literature searches (except within address
fields).
In your search preferences, you can change the defaults for both between fields and within fields. For between fields, you can choose to
use AND, OR, or NOT as your default. For within fields, you can choose to use AND, OR, or ADJ as your default.
*
Note: The exceptions are the Publication Number (PN) field and single occurrence per record code type fields (like the DWPI Assignee
code) where it is not logical to have ADJ as the default operator because there will not be two occurrences in the same record. For these
exceptions, the default is always OR (regardless of your preference settings).
Precedence/Order of Operations
Query expressions are read using specific rules of operator precedence. This means that certain operators are processed before others.
While query expressions are read from left to right, some operators are processed before others and impacts the way the search engine
treats your query.
The following shows the order or precedence in which operators are processed:
PRECEDENCE OPERATOR
1 ADJ, NEAR
2 SAME
3 AND, NOT
4 OR
14
Search
WITH and $ Operators Not Used in Thomson Innovation
Searchable Words
Reserved Words
Certain words are reserved for use as operators, and, if your search string includes a reserved word, it will be interpreted as an
operator. Reserved words can be searched in the database, but must be entered within double quotes to distinguish them from
operators.
Reserved words for patent and literature searching are: AND, NOT, OR, SAME, WITH, and NEAR.
Reserved words for business searching are: NOT, OR, SAME, and NEAR. AND and WITH are not included in this list because, in
business searching, AND and WITH are stopwords and cannot be used at all.
To search for a reserved word per se, type the word in double quotes: e.g., "near." To search for the phrase 'near field,' you should type
the following: "NEAR" ADJ FIELD.
Hyphenated Words
In order to effectively search for hyphenated terms, you need to understand how they are indexed. In the patent database, hyphens are
not indexed; they are treated as if they were a space. If a hyphenated term is used in a search query, it is converted to an adjacency
syntax. Note that this holds true even when the hyphen is enclosed in quotation marks.
15
Search
Stopwords (Business Only)
Stopwords are implemented in business searching only. Stopwords are not permitted as query terms.
The stopwords for the business collections are:
(w) BY
(s) FOR
(n) FROM
(f) OF
(t) THE
(l) TO
AN WITH
AND
Searchable Characters
The following lists all characters that are searched by the search engine:
• Lower case Latin letters: a-z
• Upper case Latin letters: A-Z
• Arabic numerals: 0-9
• The following special characters: . @ # & _ % °
• Greek characters
• Japanese hiragana, katakana, and kanji (Native Japanese Language search only)
In patent and literature records, decimal points in terms are specifically indexed (they are not dropped and they are not treated as
spaces) so that you can better locate records with keywords that depend on decimals, like 2.4 GHz.
Note that commas are disregarded, which complicates searches for keywords with decimal comma (2,4 GHz). To find numbers with
decimal commas, you must search for the number without the comma (e.g., 24 GHz). This finds numbers that use the decimal comma,
but may also find false positives.
All other characters are discarded by the search engine. Discarded characters do not receive highlighting.
Case Sensitivity
Queries can be entered in upper, lower, or mixed case.
16
Search
Searching Greek Characters
There are three ways to search for Greek characters in Thomson Innovation:
1. Search for any character in the Greek alphabet, either upper or lower case, by entering it in the search text box. Enter characters
either by cutting and pasting from another document, or by using the Windows Character Map.
When you search for Greek characters using the actual character, only the case you have specified is found.
2. You can enter characters of the Greek alphabet by typing the name of the character as spelled in English, both preceded by and
followed by a period.
For example:
.alpha.
.gamma.
.epsilon.
When you search for Greek characters using the .word. format, both upper and lower case characters are found.
When you use the .word. format, the word itself will also be in your search results. In other words, a search for .beta. will also
return results with the word Beta.
3. You can also search for Greek characters using their Unicode values surrounded by quotations.
17
Search
Character Substitutions (Patents Only)
Note: These substitutions are not usable in Custom Fields
18
Search
Expert Search Form
On the Expert search form, use ^" "^ as a search term in that field (e.g., PA=(^" "^);). Not that these is a space between the two
quotation marks; you must use double (not single) quotation marks.
You can use this in conjunction with other search terms and fields.
PATENT COLLECTIONS BY AUTHORITY PATENT COLLECTIONS BY AUTHORITY ENHANCED PATENT DATA - DWPI AND
AND ALSO SEARCH DWPI FIELDS FOR DPCI
SELECTED COLLECTIONS
19
Search
Stemming
Stemming expands a search to cover different variations of a word. This means when you search a word like prime, your result set will
include words that share a root, or stem, with the word you searched. Stemming is a linguistic process and your results will include
linguistic expansions of the stem word.
prime prime, prime's, primed, primely, primely's, primeness, primeness's, primes, priming, priming's, primings
carbonate carbon, carbon's, carbonate, carbonate's, carbonated, carbonates, carbonating, carbonation, carbonation's,
carbonations, carbone, carbone's, carbones, carbonic, carbonization, carbonization's, carbonizations, carbonize,
carbonized, carbonizer, carbonizer's, carbonizers, carbonizes, carbonizing, carbons
Use wildcards for a result set that includes all expansions of a stem or word. Stemming is not applied to any search term that includes a
wildcard. Stemming is not applied to any search term enclosed in quotes.
By default, stemming is Off. Change the default to On from your Search Preferences screen.
Note to previous Delphion users: Stemming is On by default in Delphion but Off by default in Innovation. Please take this into
consideration when working with any queries you may have migrated to Innovation from Delphion.
Literature: No Stemming
Stemming is not available in literature searching on Thomson Innovation.
Stemming expands a search to include words that share a root, or stem, with the word you searched, but it is not available in literature
searching. In order to achieve the same results, construct your search using wildcards/truncation operators.
Examples:
• To find prime, primed, and primness, search for prime*
• To find carbonate, carbohydrate, and carboxydiketonate, search for carbo*ate
Note: Lemmatization, which finds variations of words like complex plurals (tooth/teeth), different verb forma or tenses
(run/running/ran) and degrees of comparison (big/bigger/biggest), is also not available in Thomson Innovation.
21
Search
CONTENT SETS/COLLECTIONS SUMMARY
The following summarizes the collections available in Thomson Innovation. Collections are discussed in greater detail in the Collections
and Coverage appendix.
Derwent World Patents Index (DWPI) and Derwent Patents Citations Index (DPCI) Enhanced Patent Data
The Derwent World Patents Index® (DWPI) is the most comprehensive database of enhanced patent information in the world. The index
includes enhanced patent data from 50 worldwide patenting authorities and 2 journal sources, covering 61 million patent records and
28.3 million patent families.
DWPI categorizes patent documents using two sophisticated classification systems, DWPI Class and DWPI Manual Codes. DWPI Class is
a broad, simple system, whereas DWPI Manual Codes are more detailed and granular. Within the DWPI Manual Codes, a separate CPI
entitlement (available only to DWPI subscribers) allows access to CPI Manual Codes covering Catalysts.
DPCI is the only editorially enhanced database available focusing on patent citations. DPCI includes enhanced patent citations data for
more than 12.8 million patent families (inventions), covering 89.4 million cited patents, 91.1 million citing patents, and 21.7 million
literature citations from over 22 different international patent-issuing authorities.
22
Search
Asian Patent Data
The Asian patent collection package includes English records for:
• Chinese Utility Models (Front page & • Korean Utility Models (Full-text)
claims)
• Korean Granted Patents & Examined
• Chinese Granted (Front page & claims) Applications (Full-text)
• Chinese Applications (Front page & claims) • Korean Applications (Full-text)
• Indian Granted • Malaysian Granted (Full-text)
• Indian Applications • Singaporean Granted
• Indonesian Simple • Singaporean Applications
• Indonesian Applications • Thai Granted Patents/Examined
Applications (Front page & claims)
• Japanese Utility Models (Full-text)
• Enhanced bibliographic Vietnamese
• Japanese Granted (Full-text)
Granted & Examined Applications
• Japanese Applications (Full-text)
• Vietnamese Applications (Front page &
claims)
• WO (WIPO) Japanese records (from 2006,
partial from 2004) (Full-text)
• WO (WIPO) Korean records (partial from
2009) (Full-text)
• WO (PCT) Chinese Applications (from 1994-
present) (Full-text)
23
Search
Scientific Literature
The Thomson Innovation scientific literature offering consists of:
• Web of Science with retrospective searching of scientific literature including:
• Science Citation Index Expanded from 1899 forward
• Social Sciences Citation Index from 1899 forward
• Arts & Humanities Citation Index from 1975 forward
• Web of Science Conference Proceedings from 1990 forward
• Current Contents Connect from 1998 forward
Inspec
Inspec is the Institution of Engineering and Technology (IET) bibliographic database and is offered as a separate scientific literature
package. The full backfile is available (back to 1898).
Business
The Thomson Innovation business information offering provides retrospective coverage of market, company, product, and industry news
Collections are discussed in greater detail at the end of this section.
24
CHAPTER 2 SMART SEARCH
Smart Search makes it easy to find patents relevant to a particular technology, even if you are not an expert on that technology.
Simply enter text (of any length) and let Smart Search analyze that text for key terms. Then, Smart Search replicates the processes a
skilled patent searcher uses to retrieve precise, complete results based on the key terms extracted from your text.
Smart Search lets you:
• Leverage the power of DWPI to enhance the accuracy and comprehensiveness of your results
• Effortlessly find patents relevant to a technological field, even as a new or infrequent user
• Quickly find results that matter with results initially focused on the top 1,000 records
• Easily conduct freedom to operate and prior art searches
• Search with text from existing documents – patents, invention disclosures, scientific papers, other technology descriptions – or
search for familiar, technologically descriptive terms
• Automatically analyze text to find key terms about the technology the text describes
25
Smart Search
HOW TO USE SMART SEARCH
Smart Search lets you find patents related to a particular technology without complex queries, even if you are not an expert on that
technology. With Smart Search, you have two easy ways to find patents:
• With Technologically Descriptive Text
• With Specific Key Terms
26
Smart Search
Smart Search Understands Key Terms in Many Languages
Smart Search accepts single word key terms in any language indexed in the Thomson Innovation patent database. Currently, these
languages include English, European languages that use the Latin alphabet (including, but not limited to, French, German, Spanish,
and Portuguese), and Japanese. However, Smart Search only extracts key words from English text.
Smart Search processes Latin characters with diacritical marks (e.g., accents and umlauts) as expected. Smart Search accepts Greek
characters used as scientific or mathematical symbols, but it does not accept full search terms in Greek.
How Patent Collections and Additional Search Fields affect Smart Search
Smart Search uses information from our entire patent database, including DWPI data, to find results that relate to your text. Smart
Search works independently from and is not limited by the collections you select or the other patent fields you include in your search. All
the collections are included so that Smart Search can fully analyze the key terms and return the most relevant results.
However, the collections and additional fields you select when you run your Smart Search limit the results that display. For example, if
you select only US Granted patents, Smart Search will still examine our entire patent database, but your results will only display patent
documents from the US Granted collection. If you include a Publication Date field, your results will only show documents for the dates
you specify.
27
Smart Search
The progression of Relevancy scores from 100-1 is not linear, so you may see many documents that received similar scores cluster
around certain numbers.
The relevancy score for a particular record is relative to other documents found by that particular search. If the result set changes, such
as when you expand the result set by family, the relevancy scores will be replaced by dashes.
Relevancy scores in Smart Search result sets are inherently different from the relevancy scores you can optionally display in traditional
searches.
28
Smart Search
HOW DOES SMART SEARCH WORK?
29
CHAPTER 3 SEARCH HISTORY
Search History is a fully functional search workspace that lets you review every query you perform in Thomson Innovation, save those
queries for later use, edit queries you previously ran, and create and run new queries.
The Search History screen has three components: a top row where you create and manage search histories, a search workspace where
you create and edit queries, and a query list that lets you manage queries in a search history. These components work together to
provide a fully functional query management portal, where you can create, run, manage, and review queries from a single screen.
• The top row lets you select the search history you want to work with or create a new, blank search history. It also provides tools
to edit, delete, or annotate the currently selected search history. Tabs beneath the top row show you how many queries of each
content type (patents, literature, etc.) are in that search history. Clicking a tab shows a search workspace for that content type
and the queries for that content type in the Queries in this Search History list.
• The search form lets you craft new queries or edit existing ones. The buttons below the search from let you save queries from
the search form to the current search history or run queries and see results.
• The Queries in this Search History list shows the queries for the currently selected search history. Each row in the query list
displays information about a query and options to run, set an alert for, or annotate that query. Click the checkboxes beside
queries to select them for further actions which you access using the buttons beneath the queries list.
Access Search History from the Search History tile on the Dashboard. The Default Search History displays the first time you access the
Search History screen during a session; afterwards, the last search history you selected displays.
Search history is available to users who access Thomson Innovation using IP Authentication (Quick Launch), but you must log in with an
email address and password to save your Default Search History between sessions or create saved search histories.
30
Search History
ADD QUERIES TO A SEARCH HISTORY
Queries you run using Thomson Innovation's search tools save to the Default Search History. To save queries to other search histories,
you must use the search workspace on the Search History screen to create them or copy the queries from another search history.
31
Search History
VIEW, EDIT, AND RUN QUERIES IN A SEARCH HISTORY
To see the queries in a search history, select the search history from the Select History dropdown. Selecting a search history displays the
queries in that history in the Queries in this Search History list.
Tip: You can use the expand icon to hide the search workspace and just show the query list. You can also drag the bar that separates the
search workspace from the queries list up and down to adjust the size of each area.
The list only shows queries for one content type (patents, literature articles, etc.) at a time. Use the tabs at the top of the screen to
choose which content type displays. After selecting a content type, you can select queries to edit or run them.
32
Search History
COMBINE QUERIES IN A SEARCH HISTORY
The Combine button lets you take up to 25 queries from a search history and join them using Boolean operators. This is useful for
combining many small queries into one larger query. It also lets you perform comparisons between queries, e.g., finding overlaps in the
results.
Note: Express users cannot use the Combine queries feature.
1. Select the checkboxes for the queries you want to combine in the queries list
2. Click the Combine button beneath the queries list; the selected queries display on the search form joined by OR in a special
Combine field
3. Click Save to save the combined query to the search history; you can also click Search to save the combined query and go to
the result set for the combined query
33
CHAPTER 4 RESULTS DASHBOARD
VISUALIZE YOUR RESULTS WITH THE RESULTS DASHBOARD
The Results Dashboard helps you quickly understand the story told by your patent search results. Four easy-to-read visuals summarize
the data in the patent records found by your search. You can select data points in these visuals to quickly focus your research on the
most important results.
The Results Dashboard displays automatically every time you run a search. You can control the fields and types of visuals that display or
optionally turn the Results Dashboard off in your Patent Result Set Preferences.
34
Results Dashboard
RESULTS DASHBOARD OPTIONS
The Results Dashboard visualizes your results so you can quickly understand the story within your data. The following tools help you
efficiently review your patent search results.
TOOL DESCRIPTION
Visual Each visual displays the top items in the selected field. Hover your cursor over a point in the visual to see more
information about that data point.
Each bar, bubble, country, or point on the chart can be used to create a filter for your results:
1. Select the data points for items you want to filter on
Note: You can select as many data points from as many visuals as needed
2. Click the Filter Results button
The result set displays records that match at least one selected item from each visual. If no items are selected in a
visual, that field will not be filtered.
Field dropdown menu Choose the field that you want to visualize from the dropdown menu in the upper left of each visual.
You can control the fields display by default in your Patent Result Set Preferences.
Show Top Show the top 10 or top 20 most populated items. The selected option displays in orange. The default is the top 20.
Enlarge Chart ( ) See a larger view of a visual with additional details (such as axis labels). From here, you can download a snapshot of
your chart. This hides the other visuals, but your selections on those visuals remain active.
Learn more: Expanded Visual Filter Options
You can control the types of visuals that display by default for each field in your Patent Result Set Preferences.
Zoom In/Out (maps only) Use the mouse wheel to zoom in on certain parts of the map so you can view small countries and see more detail. To
move around the zoomed-in map, use your mouse to click and drag.
35
Results Dashboard
RESULTS DASHBOARD EXPANDED CHART OPTIONS
The Results Dashboard visualizes your results so you can quickly understand the story within your data. You can expand a visualization
to focus on details or download a snapshot of your visual.
The following tools help you efficiently review, refine, customize, and share your patent search results.
TOOL DESCRIPTION
Visual (chart) Each visual displays the top data points in a selected field. Hover your cursor over a point in the visual to see more
information about that data point.
Each bar, bubble, country, or point on the visual can be used to create a filter:
1. Select the data points for items you want to filter on
Note: You can select as many data points from as many visuals as needed.
2. Click the Filter Results button
The result set displays records that match at least one selected item from each visual. If no items are selected in a
visual, that field will not be filtered.
Title Click the title on the visual to edit it (up to 64 characters). The expanded view automatically generates a title for you,
and titles are automatically included on downloaded snapshots.
Field dropdown menu Choose which field you want to visualize. This menu is located in the upper left of each visual.
You can control the fields that display by default in your Patent Result Set Preferences.
Show Top Show the top 10 or top 20 most populated items. The default is the top 20.
Reduce Chart ( ) Return to the standard view. Any selections made on the expanded chart remain active.
Learn more: Results Dashboard Options
Download Chart ( ) Download a snapshot of your visual as a .PNG file. The title (default or edited) for all visuals is included in the
snapshot. Snapshots of maps include the legend.
You can control the types of visuals that display by default for each field in your Patent Result Set Preferences.
Legend (maps only) Displays details about the distribution of records over the patent authorities in your results. Darker areas indicate
higher levels of activity than lighter areas. You can select authorities from the legend to create a filter.
Zoom In/Out (map charts Use the mouse wheel to zoom in on certain parts of the map so you can view small countries and see more detail. To
only) move around the zoomed-in map, use your mouse to click and drag.
Note: If you download a map that you have zoomed in, you will download the whole map, not just what is currently
visible.
36
Results Dashboard
SEE THE GLOBAL DISTRIBUTION OF PATENTS IN YOUR RESULTS
The world map visual on the Results Dashboard shows the global distribution of patents in a result set. This helps you quickly review
where patents in your results were filed, especially when your research includes many authorities or entire patent families.
Note: The world map on the Results Dashboard is for illustrative purposes only and should not be relied on as an accurate,
geographical depiction of territories around the globe. State borders, affiliations, and independence are fluid and change on an irregular
basis, which may make the map temporarily inaccurate as time goes on. The display name for certain territories might be reflective of
the local patent authority or INPADOC (DocDB) entry rather than the current name.
The world map is only available with the Country Code field.
37
CHAPTER 5 RESULTS
Result sets let you see records in a compact, easy to scan, easy to customize display. The result set displays publication numbers
(patents) or titles (literature or business records) plus fields that you choose to display. The publication number or title is a hyperlink to
full details about that record.
You will see a result set after you run a search, access a work file (or your marked list), or click some hyperlinks and buttons on record
views. All result sets are almost identical in their functions and options and so are discussed together. Where there is a difference, it is
called out in the text.
From the result set, you can:
• Flip through the pages of the result set to see the records
• Click hyperlinked publication numbers or titles to open records
• Use tools to save, analyze, or take other action on all or selected records
FEATURE DESCRIPTION
Results Dashboard Quickly understand the story within your data. Four visuals display when you run a search. You can choose which
fields those visuals display and expand them for a closer look.
Learn more: Visualize Your Results
Display Fields Search results can display up to 8 fields that summarize the information on each record.
Highlighting Highlighting emphasizes your search terms (or other terms of interest) to make them stand out from the surrounding
text helping you find key terms, saving time while presenting the terms in context and establishing relevance.
Number of Records The header above your search results shows you the number of records found, the number of records searched, and
Found and Displayed the display limit for your results. If the number of records found by your search exceeds the number of records that can
be displayed, you will only see the number of records allowed by the display limit for your subscription type (60,000
for Analyst users; 30,000 for Pro and Express).
38
Results
If your search criteria are so broad that you are unable to display all of the results, you may want to narrow your search
so that you can see all your results. You can also run multiple searches that find subsets of the records found by the
full search (e.g., run the same search for different publication years).
Hyperlinks to Record The publication number or title for each record is a hyperlink to full details about that record (the record view). The
Details record view opens in a separate window so that you can review more details about the record. Your result set stays
open while you view record details.
Patent Search Result Patent search results also include numbering for your search results. This numbering is sequential and not tied to a
Numbering particular record; sorting or filtering the result set changes a record's number.
Collapsed patent search results display two numbers separated by a period. The first number indicates the parent
record, and the second number indicates the child record. Results for patent citation searches add an "F" or "B" after
the second number to indicate forward or backward citations.
PDF Icon A PDF icon displays under the select record checkbox in patent and literature search results. For patent records, click
this icon to see the associated patent PDF/image. For literature records, click this icon to order the full text of the
article. (You can use the Order option to obtain multiple patent PDFs/images or the Literature Articles option to
obtain multiple articles.)
OPTION DESCRIPTION
Standard Fields / Select which fields display on the result set. Up to eight total fields can be displayed at one time.
Custom Fields
Note: For patents, field choices are specific to the data set you are searching (Patent Collections by Authority or
Enhanced Patent Data - DWPI and DPCI only).
• PDF icon: Link to download the PDF copy of the original document; this is available for patent
and literature result sets
• Notes icon: On work file result sets, click this to make record-level annotations
• Thomson Reuters (TR) Links: Display links to see full-text versions of the literature articles; this
is available for literature result sets only
• Check for full text of article: Display the document delivery screen to order the full text version
of the article; this is available for literature result sets only
For patent result sets, you can also optionally select to show result set numbers.
Sort by Choose the field you (initially) want the result set sorted by and whether you want the records sorted in ascending or
descending order. You can click column headers on the result set to re-sort on-the-fly.
On patent text search result sets, the default sort order of the record display in your result set is by collection. (See the
sort order for collections.) Within each collection, the records are presented in the order in which they were most
recently touched (inserted or modified) which is not necessarily always the Publication Date.
For patent Publication Number searches (including Native Japanese), the default order of the record display in your
result set is the order in which you enter the publication numbers (or accession numbers) in the search form or the
uploaded document. This order is maintained when you export your results, save the results to a work file, retrieve
family members for your results, or rerun the search from search history. If you change the sort order for Publication
39
Results
Number search results, select Default to return to the "as entered" order.
Drawing size Select the drawing size (in pixels) used when you display the Drawing field.
Collapse by (patents Thomson Innovation can render your patent result set with certain data collapsed (hidden) so that it is easier to take in
only) at a glance. A collapsed group can be expanded with one click, then collapsed again with one click.
Select a value from the dropdown list to specify the type of collapse you want. (See details about the collapse by
options.)
If you have chosen to collapse by INPADOC or DWPI family or by Application Number, the Preferred Document
selector becomes active letting you specify which record you want displayed for the specified family. (See details about
the preferred document options.)
If you choose Rank by Authority and Type as your Preferred Document, the Authority and Type selector becomes
active. This list lets you prioritize which documents you prefer to see based on patenting authority and document type.
If a document does not exist for the authority/type with the highest priority, the document for the next highest
prioritized authority/type that does exist in the family displays.
To prioritize authorities/types, select them in the list and use the arrows to set their order. Only authorities in your
available collections display in the list. You must have access to a collection to include authorities in that collection in
your sort order (e.g., you must have access to the Asian Patent Collections to include Chinese patens in your sort
order).
Note: The Rank by Authority and Type list only determines which document displays as the preferred document.
Other documents in a family still display in the current sort order, not in the order you set in the list.
Make these my default Save your selections and apply them every time you use Thomson Innovation.
preferences
Apply to current search Apply your selections to the current search results. Deselect this checkbox to make changes that affect future
results searches instead of the current search.
TOOL DESCRIPTION
Search Forms above Your When you access result sets by running searches, you can refine and rerun your original query and immediately see
Results the results of that refinement. Note that this runs a new search on the entire database, not just your current results.
Results Dashboard Filters The visuals in the Results Dashboard let you create a new result set based on the top-ranking results in your current
result set. The Results Dashboard displays automatically so you can easily see the top items in selected fields. You
can set your default visuals in Patent Result Set Preferences.
Any bar, bubble, country, or point on a visual can be used to create a filter for your results:
1. Select the data points for items you want to filter on
Note: You can select as many data points from as many visuals as you want
2. Click the Filter Results button
The result set displays records that match at least one selected item from each visual. If no items are selected in a
visual, that field will not be filtered.
40
Results
Custom Fields can be displayed in the Results Dashboard and used as filters if your account administrator (who
creates your Custom Fields) set them up that way when they were created.
Text-based Filters Filters let you create a new result set based on the top-ranking results in your current result set.
To apply filters:
1. Click the filter icon
2. Click the dropdown boxes to select the fields on which you want to filter
Learn more: List of Filter Fields
3. Select the check boxes for the items you want to filter on
Note: Up to the top 100 items display
4. Click Filter Results
Custom Fields can be filtered on if your account administrator (who creates your Custom Fields) set them up that way
when they were created.
Subsearch Results Subsearch lets you run a single-field search within your result set.
Sort Result set records can be re-sorted on the fly by clicking hyperlinked fields on the header row (the row that names
the fields). You can also sort records by using the Display and Sort Options panel. The default sort order can also be
customized via Preferences.
On patent result sets, the default sort order of the record display in your result set is by collection. (See the sort order
for collections.) Within each collection, the records are presented in the order in which they were most recently
touched (inserted or modified) which is not necessarily always the Publication Date.
For patent result sets, you can both display and sort by Custom Fields (if they are enabled in your company) with the
exception of text type Custom Fields which can be displayed but not sorted on.
From Preferences or the Display and Sort Options panel, you can choose to sort by any field classified as a sortable
field, even if you do not choose to display that field on the result set.
41
Results
2. Click the Collapse by dropdown and select how you want your results collapsed (see the Collapse by options)
3. Optionally, click the Preferred document dropdown and select the document you want as the "parent" document that displays
when a group is collapsed (see the Preferred document options)
4. Click OK
A new result set displays with the records in your original result set grouped according to your Collapse by option.
Select Records
Select all is the implicit default for actions taken from a result set (with the exception of creating Watched Records). You can also use
checkboxes in each row of your results to select (or deselect) items for further action on a record-by-record basis.
Note: The header row of the result set also contains a "select all" checkbox. The value in explicitly selecting all (via the select-all
checkbox) is that you can easily de-select (and omit) records on a one-by-one basis which, with larger result sets, is quicker than
selecting them one-by-one.
42
Results
Tools Available to Work with Your Results
TOOL DESCRIPTION
Marked lists are a way to mark or tag records as you encounter them and set them aside for later review. The records
you mark display a yellow highlight around their checkboxes in your results.
ThemeScape creates content maps, displaying common conceptual terms in a two-dimensional map, with peaks
representing a concentration of documents and showing the relative relationship of one record to another.
ThemeScape is only available to Analyst level subscribers.
Text Clustering is a powerful analysis tool that automatically categorizes records through the linguistic analysis of
text found in user-selected fields. Text Clustering is only available to Analyst level subscribers.
Order (Patents Only) Order patent document copies (PDFs/images) or file histories.
Quick Order Patent Documents orders the selected records (or, if no records are selected, the first 500 records in the
result set) using the delivery options selected in your Preferences. Any special order patents are skipped (not ordered).
Patent Documents orders the selected patent documents (or, if no records are selected, the first 500 records in the
result set) and displays the Document Delivery screen so that you can select delivery options.
File Histories orders up-to-date accounts of the prosecution history for published or granted patent cases for the
selected records (or, if no records are selected, the first 25 records in the result set). The Document Delivery screen
displays so that you can select delivery options.
You can retrieve documents you order from the Order Status screen.
Literature Articles Orders copies of the selected literature articles (or, if no records are selected, the first 500 records in the result set) and
(Literature Only) displays the Document Delivery screen so that you can select delivery options.
You can retrieve articles you order from the Order Status screen.
43
Results
Watch Records (Patents Watch for changes to specific fields on up to 300 selected records.
and Literature Only)
Export Export data from all or selected records in a variety of formats and field combinations.
Delete (Work Files Only) Deletes the selected items from your work file.
Warning: Records deleted from a work file do not appear in your Saved work Deleted Items folder and cannot be
recouped.
Print Generate a printer friendly version the entire result set listing or a listing of selected records (just the listing, not any
individual records referenced by the result list).
The query used to generate the result set will be included above the result. This query information will include all
details about how the result set was generated, including the type of search, any filters applied to the result set, any
stacked or combined searches, etc.
When printing, filters applied to the result set are indicated by a colon followed by the fields on which the result set
was filtered.
Note: To print highlighting, highlighting for printing must be enabled via Preferences. Also, Print background colors
and images must be enabled in your browser preferences in order for highlighting to print (see your browser
documentation for details on browser options).
44
CHAPTER 6 PATENT RECORD VIEW
Displays key fields in a compact and provides rapid navigation from Displays all the available details about a record.
record to record.
Allows rapid navigation from record to record. Slower navigation from record to record.
Default view for patent records. Can be selected as default view in your Patent Result Set Preferences.
Fields are not grouped into sections, as all key information displays. Related information grouped together into sections.
Jump To links are not needed, as all key information displays in a Jump To links help you go directly to a particular section.
compact view.
Highlighting panel does not display, as all key information displays in a Highlighting panel helps you quickly jump through a record to see
compact view. highlighted terms in context.
45
Patent Record View
If you have Read & Write permissions for a Custom Field, you can edit/change that Custom Field’s value(s) for the current record.
Custom Fields that you can edit are highlighted in yellow when you move your mouse over them. To edit a Custom Field, click the field
that you want to edit, make your changes, and click anywhere outside the field to save your changes.
Keyboard Shortcuts
You can use keyboard shortcuts to move between records. The left and right arrow keys flip back or forward one record, respectively.
Shift-left and shift-right jump to the first or last record, respectively. Space bar marks (or unmarks) the current record and moves you to
the next record. Keyboard shortcuts are only available in the patent record view.
Download PDF/Image
You have two options to see the original PDF/image for the current patent, application, or utility model.
OPTION DESCRIPTION
PDF Icon Click the PDF icon below the toolbar to immediately view the PDF/image for the current record.
In Full View (only), you can hover your mouse over the icon to see the number of pages in the PDF and the PDF icon
will be grayed out if the PDF/image is not available for that particular record.
Download, Order Patent Click Download, Order Patent Document to submit a document delivery order for this record. When you order the
Document patent with document delivery, you can optionally choose to include any related documents in your order (additions,
corrections, grants, etc.).
46
Patent Record View
TRANSLATE RECORD ON DEMAND
For many patent records, you have the ability to create a Translation on Demand. This means that the record you are looking at can
be instantly translated into one of several other languages.
Click Translate on the toolbar to translate the current record. Only translation options for the current record display. The translation
opens in a new window in a printable format. Only one level of translation is available; the Translate function is not available on the new
window that displays.
These machine translations are done by a state-of-the-art translation engine designed to handle scientific content.
Only one level of translation is available. That is, if a record is translated from English to French, it cannot then be translated from
French to another language.
47
CHAPTER 7 CUSTOM FIELDS
The Custom Fields feature allows companies to create their own company-specific fields and add them to the Thomson Innovation
database for search, display, reporting, analysis, and collaboration in conjunction with patent data.
Details on implementing Custom Fields are available in the Administrator User Guide.
49
CHAPTER 8 ALERTS
Alerts are notifications that a search you created has been run for you, at the time you specified, and the results of that search are
available for you to review. They are typically set to run at intervals that coincide with updates to the collections, so that whenever there
are new records available, you are alerted about them right away.
An email lets you know that your alert was run and if it found new records. New records found by your search are saved to a work file.
Note that alerts are similar to Watched Records, but have some key differences.
Alerts are not available to users who access Thomson Innovation using IP Authentication (Quick Launch).
CREATE AN ALERT
Create an Alert
You can create alerts for all collections in all content types (patents, literature, business).
You can create alerts from search forms, search history, saved searches, and result sets. The method for doing so is mostly the same,
with the exception that you must enter a query on a search form to create an alert from it.
Tip: Create alerts from the result set after you have reviewed the results for your query and verified that it finds kind records you want.
1. Access the Save Search & Create Alert screen:
• From search forms and standalone result sets, click the Alert button
• From the Saved Search screen, click Alert, Set
2. Enter a Name and (optionally) a Description for the alert
3. Optionally, select Additional Save and Share Options
4. Optionally, click the Run Options tab to adjust when and how your alert runs
5. Optionally, click the Delivery & Content Options tab to choose what information your alert will contain
6. Click Save
50
Alerts
Alert Run Options Details
The Alert Run Options let you decide how your alert runs. These options determine when the alert runs, when the alert expires, and
how the results are saved.
Note: Alerts will only include records loaded from the alert's creation date onwards. Alerts set to run when a collection updates will
include all records loaded after the alert was created; the alert will not include records loaded before you created the alert.
While you have many options to control how your alerts run, the following options are particularly critical to the conditions that trigger
your alerts and how the results of those alerts are saved.
OPTION DESCRIPTION
Trigger Results These options (which only display when creating alerts that only search DWPI) control which DWPI entries you receive alerts on:
On
• Basics only: Receive alerts only when the first member of a patent family is entered into the DWPI
database
• Basics and equivalents: Receive alerts about all members of a patent family (not just the first/basic)
• Weekly: Receive the alert every week on a specific day; use the dropdown box to select the day
• Monthly: Receive the alert every month on a specific day; use the calendar tool to select which day you
want the alert to run
Note: If you the day you select doesn’t exist in a month, the alert runs on the last day of that month (e.g.,
alerts set for 31st run on the 30th)
• Upon collection update: Run your alert run each time the collection(s) included in the query is updated;
this ensures that you have the most up-to-date information
• Every x DWPI Update(s): Runs the alert every specified DWPI update, e.g., every third update; DWPI
updates are loaded approximately every 3 working days
Note: This option is only available on patent alerts to users with access to the DWPI collection
Alerts only run for data from fully loaded updates. If an alert covers a collection with an update currently in progress, the alert's
date range will be shortened (and the subsequent run lengthened).
Learn more: Weekly and Monthly Alerts - Date Range
Weekly and Monthly alerts run on the scheduled day and search data loaded during the past week/month up to the end of the
previous day. The exact dates are shown in the alert notification's Date range field (if the alert was configured to include it).
Example: A monthly alert set to run on the December 1 includes data loaded between the November 1 and November 30
inclusive. An alert informs you of all documents (matching your search) loaded during that time period.
Detailed topics about alert frequency: Weekly and Monthly Alerts - Date Range | Alerts Run Upon Collection Update and
DWPI Load Dates
Expiration Select a date for the alert to stop running (become inactive), or select Never to have the alert run indefinitely.
Save Results Alerts automatically save their results to work files that you can access from the Searches & Alerts screen in the Saved Work area
using the link icon. These options specify how you want your results saved:
• Last results only: Save results from only the most current alert run, discarding previous results
• Accumulate all results: Save results from all previous alert runs to a New work file for each run or All
results into a single work file (which you can optionally specify)
You can also optionally save a copy of the results to a work file in a personal or public folder using the same settings as above.
51
Alerts
Alert Delivery & Content Options Details
The Alert Delivery & Content Options let you customize your alerts. Choose the options that will best help you recognize, understand,
and take appropriate action on your alert.
While you have many options to control the information provided in your alerts, the following options are the most important for
ensuring you get data that best helps you follow up on your alerts.
OPTION DESCRIPTION
Select Format Type Use this dropdown box to choose how you want to receive alerts.
If you choose In email body, the alert results will be delivered in the body of an email. If you choose RSS, the alert
results will be delivered as a series of messages in your RSS reader. If you choose any other format, the alert results
will be delivered attached to an email.
Include In Alert Choose what information you want displayed in the alert summary. This helps you determine what action you need to
take on the information in the alert. All options are enabled by default.
Email contents Control how the alert results display in the email body. These options only apply to the In email body format type.
Select Fields Choose which fields you want included in the alert and the order in which they appear. For patent alerts, you can
optionally choose to not include DWPI fields (which removes them from the Available Fields list).
If you select In email body as your delivery format and chose Link to results only, you do not need to choose fields
because no fields will display in your email. Alert results delivered via RSS use a preselected field list.
Include links to Record Include a link to the record view for each record in the alert; the field that links to the record view varies by content set.
Views
Include 0-results notices Receive alerts even when no new documents are found (which verifies that the alert ran)
File Options Choose to compress the file you receive as a .ZIP and (for some formats) to create a separate file for each individual
record.
52
Alerts
Alerts Run Upon Collection Update and DWPI Load Dates
Alerts cover collection updates from the collections you selected when you created the alert query. The alert notifications you receive list
the dates of the collection updates covered by the alert. These dates determine when the alert runs if you selected the Upon collection
update option.
If you select Also search DWPI fields for selected collections when creating an alert query using the Upon collection update option,
your alerts will run when new DWPI data is loaded. Loading new DWPI data is only the trigger for alert. Records found by the alert query
may not have DWPI data, since your alert results include records from all collections loaded since the last time the alert ran, and those
records may not have DWPI data yet.
To ensure DWPI data in your alert results, your alert query must search at least one DWPI field. If your alert query does not include DWPI
fields, it will find records that match your alert query and but are too new to have DWPI data.
53
Alerts
An alert for this query returns results only for records published between the specified dates. Patent records with publication dates after
2011-01-01 are not included in the alert results.
Alerts may continue returning results even after the specified date, since newly loaded data may contain records with older publication
dates. DWPI data in particular may contain old publication dates as part of the basic record, and alerts will include those records in the
results.
54
CHAPTER 9 WATCHED RECORDS
Watched records allow you to have us watch one or more records for changes. We watch the record(s) for you and notify you whenever
they are updated.
When the record you are watching changes, you will be notified via email. Any users, groups, or individuals you specified in Recipients
and Permissions will be notified in the manner you requested. The notification will include:
• What record has changed
• Which event occurred to trigger the notification
• What specifically changed (e.g., detailed reassignment information or new members added to a patent family)
• Which article(s) now cite the watched record (literature records)
• A link to the changed record
Watched records are available for patent and literature records.
1. From a result set, select the records that you want to watch
2. Click the Watch Records button
3. Optionally enter a Description for the watched record you are creating.
4. For Patent watched records, select one or more Trigger events you want to watch for (literature watched records only trigger
on citation changes): INPADOC Family Changes, Legal Status Changes, New Publication Stages, DWPI Family Changes,
Citation Changes, Reassignment, Custom Fields
Learn more: What Triggers a Watched Record?
5. Optionally, select Additional Save and Share Options
6. Click Save to watch the selected records for the specified triggers
INPADOC Family A patent is added to the database that shares at least one common priority with the record being watched. This
Changes includes continuations and divisions.
Legal Status Changes Any changes to the INPADOC legal status data for the watched record. Can include, for example, documents moving
into a national phase, payment of fees, patents lapsing, applications for SPC’s, transfer of ownership (in some cases),
reexamination requests (US documents only), patents that are withdrawn (US and EP only).
New Publication Stages Any change in the publication stage (often evidenced by a change in Kind Code), based on the application number of
the watched record. For example, when an application becomes a granted patent, when an international search
report is issued, or when re-examined or corrected/amended documents are issued.
DWPI Family Changes Another patent is added to the database that shares identical priority data with the watched record or has been
matched to it by the non-convention equivalents process. All patents should be for the same invention, no
continuations or divisions.
Citation Changes A document which cites the record being watched is added to the database. Useful to have set up on your own
55
Watched Records
patents, as another way to find key documents related to a patent’s technology area, and to monitor a competitive
landscape. (This does not cover DPCI citation changes.)
Reassignment The USPTO receives a reassignment notification about the record being watched. Includes changes to address or
names, transfers of ownership, security interest, liens, and numerous other transactions. Reassignments are also often
visible in the INPADOC legal status area and will also trigger a Legal Status Change (see above).
INPADOC and DWPI • Date on which each change was made to the record in Thomson Innovation
Family Changes
• Links to records that are new both to the family and Thomson Innovation collections
• Notification if one or more family members have been deleted or records previously in Innovation
have been added to the family
New Publication Stages • Date of each new publication stage change to Thomson Innovation
• New publication stages with links to them
56
CHAPTER 10 WORK FILES
A work file is a saved list of records. You can save records to a new or existing work file from any result set or record view. Additionally,
you can configure your alerts to automatically save any results to work files.
Note: Technically, work files (like result sets) contain links to records and not the records themselves, but we commonly speak about
"the records in your work file."
To open a saved work file, find the work file in Saved Work and click the Open ( ) icon. From saved work, you can merge multiple work
files into a single work file, analyze the contents of a work file, or manage the work file like any other saved work item.
58
CHAPTER 11 SAVED WORK
The Saved Work area contains all you saved work items, such as work files, saved searches and alerts, and saved analysis. These saved
work items are automatically stored in folders specific to the item type.
Additionally, the Saved Work area contains both person and public folders, additional locations where you can optionally store your
saved work items.
To access Saved Work, click the Saved Work tile on the dashboard and then click the tile for the saved work items you want to view.
You can click any saved work item to view additional details about that item (description, owner, last modified date, etc.).
To open a saved work item, click the Open ( ) icon next to the item you want to open, or select the item and click the hyperlinked
name of the saved work item.
Depending on the saved work item's type, the may open in the main window or a new window. For example, opening a saved search (or
alert) shows the search form and results for that search in the main window, but opening a saved chart shows that chart in a new
window.
Edit No Edit the name, description, and save/share options for selected saved work item. For some saved work
items, you can also edit saved settings:
• Saved Searches and Alerts: Edit the saved query and any alert details
Learn more: Alert Run Options Details | Alert Delivery & Content Options Details
• Watched Records: Edit trigger options for the watched record
Learn more: What Triggers a Watched Record?
• Export Templates: Edit the format, field, and delivery options for the template
• ThemeScape Maps: Edit the map's field and setup options
Save As No Save a copy of the item with a new name, description, and save/share options.
For some items, you can also make changes to the saved settings as if you were editing the item.
Rename No Change the name for the selected item. You cannot edit any other details.
Copy Yes Create a link to the saved work item in a personal or public folder.
Note: This option does not create a new copy of the saved work item. To create a new copy of the saved
work item, use Save As.
60
Saved Work
Share Yes Share the selected saved work items with other Thomson Innovation users, either via the saved work
Inbox or email.
Save as Work File No Save the records in the selected citation map as a new work file.
(citation maps
only)
Copy Create a copy of the selected folder. Use the window that displays to select the personal or public folder where you
want the copy created.
Move Move the selected folder and its contents to a different personal folder. Use the window that displays to select the
personal or public folder where you want the folder moved.
Both the source and the target folders must be in your Personal Folder.
TOOL DESCRIPTION
Add annotation Enter a note and click Save to add your note as an annotation to the document. The note will be saved to record along
with your name, the date on which you created the annotation, and any attachments that you upload.
Upload new attachment Optionally include a document attachment with your annotation. You must enter a note with the document.
61
Saved Work
Mark Private Optionally make this annotation visible to only you. Other users with access to the work file (e.g., in a public folder or
with whom the work file is shared) will not see the annotation.
Annotation list Shows all the annotations on this record, who created the annotation, and the date on which the annotation was
created. A paperclip icon indicates an attachment; click the paper clip to download the attachment.
Export Annotations Export all annotations on the current record, including any attachments.
Icons
Searches & Alerts This fully-colored icon represents a saved search or an alert (identity icon)
Searches & Alerts This ghosted/outline icon represents a search template (identity icon)
It will always be shown with a hyphen in the Alerts column because a search template can never
become an alert
Searches & Alerts Orange bell icon indicates alert is active/running (state/function icon)
The green check mark indicates that you are receiving the alert
Click the green check mark to remove yourself from the recipient list (the alert will continue running)
Searches & Alerts Orange bell icon indicates alert is active/running (state/function icon)
There is a grey check mark with it so you are not receiving/will not receive this alert
Click the grey check mark to put yourself on the recipient list (if desired)
62
Saved Work
Searches & Alerts Blue bell icon indicates alert is inactive (state/function icon)
The green check mark indicates you are on the recipient list for the alert (and so will receive the alert if
it is re-activated)
Click the green check mark to remove yourself from the recipient list
Searches & Alerts Blue bell icon indicates alert is inactive (state/function icon)
There is a grey check mark with it so you would not receive this alert even if it was active
Click the bell to activate the alert and have it run according to the existing options (click Manage on the
toolbar and then choose Edit from the dropdown to edit the alert run options)
Click the grey check mark to put yourself on the recipient list (but you will not receive the alert until it is
activated)
Search Histories The current search history or a saved search history (identity icon)
Work Files Work file (primary or combined, see details panel for content type) (identity icon)
Public Folders
Export Templates Export template (exports and reports themselves are downloads and available via the Order Status
screen in My account, not in saved work) (identity icon)
63
Saved Work
ThemeScape Maps Click to process selected ThemeScape map, chart, or text cluster (function icon)
Text Clusters
Various The check mark indicates that an annotation exists, click the icon to add an additional annotation or
edit or delete the existing annotation(s) (state/function icon)
Various Click to access the work file associated with this saved work item (function icon)
Various Click to display or rerun this saved work item (function icon)
64
Saved Work
IMPORT FOLDER STRUCTURE AND WORK FILES
You can create patent work files and personal or public folders by uploading a file with the desired data. This is useful when you have
saved work from another source, such as an internal company list or a previous research platform. This option is available for patent
content only.
This topic explains the requirements for the import file and details the import process.
Import Process
Import work files and folder structure using the following steps:
1. Access the Saved Work area, and access either a Public or Personal folder
2. Click Import
3. Select a valid import file (see the File Requirements and File Structure sections of this topic, following)
4. A message displays and informs you that the file may take time to process
You may continue working, or you may log out. Note that you should not log out (or allow the system to log you out) until the file finishes
uploading, which may take a while for large files.
When the file finishes processing, a message in the Saved Work Inbox will inform you. An annotation attached to this message will detail
the steps taken by the process and any errors encountered.
65
Saved Work
File Structure
Lines in an import file must use the following structure:
Folder,Subfolder,Work File,Publication Number,JLSRECORD
This is described in detail following, starting from the right:
ITEM DESCRIPTION
JLSRECORD (Native You must include JLSRECORD (the Native Japanese Record key) in the last position on a line for work files that you
Japanese Records only) want to use for Native Japanese Language patents and patents you want included from the Native Japanese
Language collection. If you do not include this key, the record or work file will be associated with the Core and/or
Asian Translated collections.
You cannot mix and match Native Japanese patents and patents from the Core and/or Asian Translated collections;
work files may contain patents from only the Native Japanese collection or only the Core and/or Asian Translated
collections.
Publication Number Any valid publication number for a patent record. Publication numbers must be the final entry on a line (excluding the
Native Japanese Record key). If you only include a publication number entry in a line, it is assigned to a system-
generated work file.
If you include a Japanese publication number and you want the Native Japanese record added, you must include the
Native Japanese Record key.
Work File The name of the work file. This must be a valid work file name. The work file may either be the final entry on a line
(excluding the Native Japanese Record key) or the final entry before a publication number. If you do not include folder
structure, the work file is created in the folder in which you start the upload.
If you create a work file without publication numbers and want it to be used for Native Japanese patent records, you
must include the Native Japanese Record key.
Folder The name of a folder or a subfolder. These must be valid folder names. Any entries to the left of a work file name are
Subfolder assumed to be folders and subfolders. The left-most entry is assumed to be a folder; any entries between the folder
and the work file are assumed to be subfolders. Folders structures are created in the folder in which you start the
upload.
66
CHAPTER 12 MARKED LIST
Marked lists give you a convenient way to mark or tag records as you encounter them and set them aside for later review, like a
temporary work file. Your marked list is a running list of the records you have marked. You have only one marked list, so all of the
records you mark are kept in the same list.
You can add records to a marked list from result sets and record views.
You cannot save a marked list itself, but some or all of the records on it can be saved as a work file or managed in a variety of other
ways.
You can add patent, literature, and business records to a marked list.
Records in a marked list can be saved to a work file, watched, used for exports & reports or charts, and managed in the same way other
records are managed.
67
CHAPTER 13 CHARTS
Charts provide a visual analysis of your data, letting you see things like how the landscape changes over time, how the top names
change over the years, or a simple snapshot of the top players in a field. Charts help you:
• Analyze large result sets by providing a visual representation of significant data
• Take your research out of Thomson Innovation and present it for at-a-glance understanding
You can create charts using all or selected records from result sets and work files; you can also create charts using all the records in
saved work items.
68
Charts
CUSTOM CHART OPTIONS
OPTION DESCRIPTION
Content type Defaults to the data type you analyzed to create the chart (Patents or Literature) and cannot be changed.
Chart Type Defaults to the type you selected on the previous screen (Pie, Line, etc.), but can be changed if desired.
Visual Options Change how segments (bars, pieces of a pie) display (as solid or a gradient).
Show Appearance Options Adjust how the chart looks. You can have the labels always display, display as rollovers, or not at all; you can have
the labels show names or values; you can have the legend visible or hidden; and you can change the color of the
title, title background, and chart background.
Click this button to change the colors you use for each data point. You can also change colors by clicking the
appropriate data point in the chart's legend (if displayed).
Collapse by Select how you want records on the chart collapsed. This means that the chart only shows one record for each
INPADOC family, DWPI family, or Application Number. This is helpful for analyzing entire inventions.
Preferred document If you selected a Collapse by option, select which record the chart should visualize; if you select Most Recent from
Selected Authority, use the Authority and Type list to prioritize your preferred authorities.
Primary Field to Analyze Choose the field and number of items to analyze. Can have sorting applied and optionally filter items without
specific values (unspecified items).
Unlink Item and Work Files This option is only available when editing a chart.
If you created the chart from a work file, click this button to remove the link between that work file and this chart
so that updating the work file no longer updates the chart.
69
Charts
To save a chart, click Save on an open chart and select one of the following options:
Chart Saves your chart in the default folder in Saved Work for future use. The saved chart retains a link to the data used to
create it.
When saving the chart, you can enter a Name and Description and you can elect to also save it to a personal folder, a
public folder, or share it using the Saved Work Inbox.
Template Saves your the settings used to create the chart as a template. You can then use those settings like you would the
predefined chart templates by clicking the Your Saved Templates tab when selecting a chart template.
When saving the template, you can enter a Name and Description and you can elect to also save it to a personal folder,
a public folder, or share it using the Saved Work Inbox.
Data as work file Creates a new Work File containing the result set used to create your chart.
When saving the work file, you can enter a Name and Description and you can elect to also save it to a personal folder, a
public folder, or share it using the Saved Work Inbox.
70
CHAPTER 14 THEMESCAPE
ThemeScape is a data analysis tool that creates content maps from Thomson Innovation patent data, enhanced patent data from DWPI,
scientific literature content, and business content. A content map is a visual representation of a collection of documents organized by
thematic content. This helps you analyze large data sets using a familiar metaphor.
Content maps group records with common conceptual terms (topics) together. Peaks represent a concentration of documents about a
specific topic and show the relative relationship of one record to another. This helps you perform “at a glance” assessments of large
data sets.
Including DWPI data improves the quality of the resulting analysis. The consistency of language used in DWPI’s all-English abstracts
provides a landscape map far superior to one using data from patenting authorities alone.
With ThemeScape, you can:
• Create groups of documents based on search results, topics, or manual selection and see them on the content map
• Compare those groups to find overlaps and differences
• Create "time slices" to create groups of records at specific time intervals and track concentrations of publishing activity over
time
• Create Thomson Innovation work files or exports from groups of documents
• Publish your content map for other users to see
• DWPI Title and DWPI Abstract produce good maps due to their standardized language
Note: If you have access to DWPI, these fields are set to analyze by default
• Analyze only one language in a map
• Use the Summarize option to see fields represented when you are exploring documents in the map (e.g., Assignee)
71
ThemeScape
Treatment Options
Analyze
The Analyze treatment selects a field for use in ThemeScape's analysis algorithms, but does not include that field in the popup that
displays when you select a record on the map.
Use Analyze on text long fields that describe the invention in a patent. DWPI fields are particularly useful, as they contain standardized
language that makes it easy for ThemeScape’s analysis algorithms to find relationships between records.
Since fields you select as Analyze do not display in the hover-over popup, use this option instead of Both on long fields that you want
analyzed but do not want to see in the popup when you select records on the map.
Summarize
The Summary treatment includes a field in the popup that displays when you select a record on the map, but does not include that field
in ThemeScape’s analysis.
Use Summarize on fields that you want to be able to quickly review when selecting records on the map, such as Assignee or IPC-4
Character Category.
The default field set applies the Summarize treatment to Publication Number (the primary field for identifying records),
Assignee/Applicant, Publication Date, and IPC-4 Character Category so you can easily review the value.
Both
The Both treatment applies both the Summarize and Analyze treatments to fields.
Use Both on fields that you both want to include in the analysis and that you want to see on the popup that displays when you select
records on the map.
The default field set applies the Both treatment for Title (English), Title - DWPI, Abstract (English), and Abstract - DWPI (for users with
DWPI access) so you get a good, effective map and can easily review the fields for each record.
None
The None treatment includes a field in the Document Details, but does not include the field in ThemeScape’s analysis or the popup that
displays when you select records on the map.
Use None on fields that you want to see in the Document Viewer but don't want included in the analysis (e.g., because it does not
contain valuable descriptive text) or visible in the popup that displays when you select records on the map.
The default field set uses the None treatment for Application Date, because it does not need to be searched or frequently looked at for
particular records.
Dropped/Excluded Records
Records can be excluded or “dropped” during the processing of a ThemeScape map for several reasons. The most likely scenario is that
records that were in your initial search result set, did not have text in the fields you selected for mapping (via the map set up options
dialog box) and therefore could not be used in creating the ThemeScape map.
The number (count) of records dropped/excluded from a map is shown in the map metadata in your Saved Work area. To see the
dropped/excluded records for maps with 60,000 or fewer records, click the number (it is a hyperlink) and a result set view of the records
displays. For maps with more than 60,000 records, you will see the number of dropped records, but you cannot view those records as a
result set.
72
ThemeScape
HOW TO USE THEMESCAPE FOR ANALYSIS
ThemeScape helps you quickly evaluate large (up to 3 million records) patent data sets, such as portfolios or entire technology areas.
The tools in ThemeScape make it easy to get actionable information from big data.
This provides the essential steps to analyze data with ThemeScape.
1. Gather the data (records) you want to analyze
2. Create a ThemeScape map
3. Review the map to get a quick overview of the patents you analyzed
4. Use groups, topics, Time Slices, and search to further analyze the map
5. Tell your data's story
Note: The instructions in this topic focus on ThemeScape as a patent analysis tool. You can also use ThemeScape to analyze the
information in scientific literature documents. Many of the steps - such as using topics, groups, and Time Slices - will be similar
regardless of the content you analyze (patent or literature).
73
ThemeScape
2. Find the map you want to work with and click the run button
ThemeScape provides a visual representation of a collection of documents organized by thematic content.
Look at the map to quickly see the technology areas covered by your search. Peaks indicate technologies with lots of activity. Click the
contour line around a peak to see individual documents related to that technology. The closer a contour line is to the top, the more
closely related the documents in that area will be to the technology identified on the peak.
Learn more: How to Read a ThemeScape Map | ThemeScape Map Tools Quick Reference | Find Related Records Using ThemeScape
74
ThemeScape
Topics
TOOL FUNCTION
Topic Click a topic to select all records in that topic. You can use the Ctrl and Shift keys to select multiple topics. When you
select multiple topics, only records that contain all the keywords show on the map.
Copy Topics Displays a window that lets you copy all selected topics and the associated record counts to the computer’s clipboard.
75
ThemeScape
Groups
TOOL FUNCTION
You can use the Ctrl and Shift keys to select multiple groups. Multiple groups are shown on the map based on the
combine mode selected.
New Creates a new group that contains the currently selected records on the map.
Edit Opens the Group Properties window so you can change information about the group.
GROUP DESCRIPTION
Assignee/Applicant The top assignees in the records in your map, based on the Assignee/Applicant data.
Note that data in this field is not standardized, so you may see multiple listings for the same assignee if the
information is recorded differently by different authorities. However, you can quickly select duplicate assignees and
create a new group to easily see all the records for that assignee on the map.
This information is based off the Country Code field, which may represent countries, territories, or authorities like the
EPO or WIPO. Countries not covered by individual patent collections use information, including country names, from
INPADOC (DOCDB) bibliographic patent data.
IPC-4 Character The IPC code at the subclass level, which provides a broad overview of specific technology areas.
OPTION DESCRIPTION
76
ThemeScape
Create/Edit Group Properties
OPTION DESCRIPTION
Name The group's name in the list; you must enter a name
Contents If you created the group from a time slice or by manually selecting records, you can remove specific records from the
group. Select the record you want removed and click the Remove button
Search String If you created the group by selecting records via the Topics panel or searching with Topic search, you can modify the
key words used to create the group
Publication Settings Include the group when you publish the map. If you select this option, a book icon displays next to the group's name in
the list on the Groups panel.
Time Slices
TOOL FUNCTION
Time Slice Click on a time slice to select all records within that time period.
New Opens the New Time Slice Properties so you can create a new time slice.
Delete/Delete All Deletes the selected time slice or all time slices.
New Group Creates a new group that contains the records in the selected time slices
OPTION DESCRIPTION
Creation Settings Enter the date range that you want covered by the time slice
Automatic Slicing Automatically create multiple time slices at predetermined intervals: decade, annual, or month
Publication Settings Include the time slice when you publish the map; if you select this option a book icon displays next to the time slice's
name in the list on the Time Slices panel.
Topic Search
The Topic Search panel lets you search your ThemeScape map for data identified as a Topic by ThemeScape's analysis algorithms. This
lets you quickly search data that was included in the analysis.
Learn more: Search the ThemeScape Map
77
ThemeScape
THEMESCAPE MAP TOOLS QUICK REFERENCE
View Circle Shows related records in the immediate area of a selected record. Use the grab bars to change the size of the query
circle to select more (but less related) records or fewer (but more related) records.
You must select a record to activate this tool.
View implicit View implicit links points to related records in other regions of the map. You can then use those documents as an
links entry point for further review.
Zoom out Zoom out of the map to see the bigger picture.
Direct Selection Click a record to view its details in the Document Viewer.
Rectangular Selects all records in a rectangular region; click and drag on the map to create the rectangle and select records.
Selection
Hold the Shift key to select additional records outside the initial selection; hold the Alt key to remove records from
the selection.
Free-form Select all records in a custom shape; click on the map and draw around the records you want selected.
Selection
Hold the Shift key to select additional records outside the initial selection; hold the Alt key to remove records from
the selection.
Change label Change a label on the map. By default, the labels on the map show the most common terms for an area. These
terms come directly from the records you analyzed.
78
ThemeScape
THEMESCAPE OPTIONS AND SHARE TOOLS QUICK REFERENCE
Options Opens the ThemeScape Options window, which controls how some tools behave and the look and feel of your map.
See ThemeScape Map Options following for details.
NAME DESCRIPTION
Documents Select if you want to automatically open the Document Viewer each time you select a group or if you want to show a
document summary (with the fields selected as Summarize or Both when you created the map) whenever you select
records on the map.
Appearance Choose the visual metaphor you want for your map: Hills (mountains), islands, ice, or galaxies.
Grid Select if you want to display grid lines, grid labels, and the grid's resolution (how many lines display on the map).
Map Labels Choose the font, size, brightness for peak and regional labels and the number of peak labels displayed on the map.
You can set brightness to Min to hide that label type (peak or regional) on the map entirely.
Dot Display Choose the number of dots (records) you want displayed on the map at any one time. You can display up to 60,000.
Note that more dots (records) displayed on the map may result in slower performance.
79
ThemeScape
THEMESCAPE KEYBOARD SHORTCUTS QUICK REFERENCE
SHORTCUT FUNCTION
80
ThemeScape
QUICK ANALYSIS - COMPETITIVE OVERVIEW
81
ThemeScape
3. Click Analyze, ThemeScape, then enter a Name for the ThemeScape map, and click Save
4. After the map processes, click the run icon to view the map
5. Open the Time Slices panel, click New, and select the following options, and click Save:
• Name: Annual
• Automatic Slicing: Select the checkbox and make sure Annual is selected
6. Open the Groups panel and click the arrow for Assignee/Applicant
82
ThemeScape
QUICK ANALYSIS - PATENTS BY TERRITORY
84
CHAPTER 15 TEXT CLUSTERING
Text Clustering is a powerful analysis tool that automatically categorizes patent or literature records through the linguistic analysis of
text found in user-selected fields. It organizes results in a hierarchical format for easy drill-down to enable refinement of search
strategies and identification of new links between subject matter and assignees.
85
CHAPTER 16 CITATION MAPS
Citation Mapping is an analytical tool that reveals a record's citations in a graphical map, using multiple visualization techniques. You
can create citation maps for patent and literature records.
From a target record, you can review either citing records (records that cite your target) or cited records (records your target record cites).
You can display your analysis by generation, in increments of 1-10 or All generations. You can also display your analysis by time &
generation and show groupings in 1, 5, or 10-year increments. You can also view forward and backward citations at the same time in
both display types.
86
Citation Maps
4. Click Create
87
CHAPTER 17 DOWNLOAD CENTER
QUICK ORDER
Quick Order provides the quickest, easiest way to order patent documents from a list of patent publication numbers.
Quick Order screen lets you order patent documents fast by bypassing the Document Delivery screen. It uses your preferences to
determine how you want your patent documents delivered (e.g., PDF or TIFF files, concatenated, etc.) instead of allowing you to change
those preferences on an order-by-order basis.
You may order up to 500 inventions (patent documents and their related publications) at a time, and you may place as many orders as
you wish.
Quick Order is not available for Patent File Histories or Literature Full Text Articles.
Quick Order only delivers patent documents that do not have a charge. It will not deliver any "special order" patent documents, and it
does not deliver file histories. Any publication numbers that require a special order display as “Special Order –Skipped” in the Order
Status details for that Quick Order.
Access Quick Order from the Order Center on the Dashboard.
You can enter the publication numbers by hand, copy/paste the publication numbers into the text box, or upload a TXT file with
the publication numbers
5. Click Order Documents
6. The Order Status screen displays
Note: When entering numbers by hand, separate multiple publication numbers with spaces. If you paste a list of numbers separated by
semicolons, tabs, or line breaks from another source, you do not need to reformat the list; Quick Order automatically formats the list for
88
Download Center
you. You may use upper- or lower-case letters for country codes and kind codes (the order form is not case-sensitive. The order form
ignores dashes (e.g., it treats US-7765102 as US7765102).
89
CHAPTER 18 ORDER (DOWNLOAD) PATENT DOCUMENTS
You can order (download) the original PDF/image for patents from result sets, work files, the Quick Order screen, and the Publication
Number search form. You can also instantly retrieve PDF copies of patent documents one-by-one from a patent result set, work file, or
record view by clicking the orange PDF icon.
Orders for copies of patent records are limited to 500 inventions (patent documents plus amendments, corrections, etc.). Orders for file
histories are limited to 25. Orders for full text PDFs of literature articles are limited to 50. There is no limit to the number of orders that
can be placed.
CUSTOMIZE OPTIONS WHEN YOU ORDER (DOWNLOAD) PDFS/IMAGES FROM RESULT SETS AND WORK
FILES
After you run a patent search, you can use Order, Patent Documents to download (order) all or selected documents from the result set.
You may order up to 500 inventions (patent documents and their related publications) at a time, and you may place as many orders as
you wish.
You can also use these steps to download patent documents from a work file.
1. From a result set or work file, select the documents you want to download and click Order, Patent Documents
2. Optionally enter a Name for your document order (a system-generated name is assigned by default)
3. Select the documents that you want to download and delivery options for those documents the Document Delivery screen
4. Optionally click the Shipping Information or Special Instructions buttons to edit your delivery address or add notes to your
order
5. Optionally select Make these my default document delivery preferences to save your selections as your defaults
6. Click Submit Order
To download your order, access Order Status from the Download Center tile on the Dashboard. Your order may take a while to
complete, depending on its size. If you selected to receive documents by email, you will receive those emails as each document order is
completed.
90
Order (Download) Patent Documents
DOWNLOAD PDFS/IMAGES FROM A LIST OF PATENT DOCUMENTS
The Quick Order screen provides the quickest, easiest way to order patent documents from a list of patent publication numbers. You
may order up to 500 inventions (patent documents and their related publications) at a time, and you may place as many orders as you
wish.
Quick Order is not available for Patent File Histories or Literature Full Text Articles.
1. On the Dashboard, click the Download Center tile and click Quick Order
2. Select whether you want the Full Document or Front Page only; the front page provides only the first page of the patent
documents, which includes bibliographic information
3. Enter up to 500 Publication Numbers; you can enter the publication numbers by hand, copy/paste the publication numbers
into the text box, or upload a TXT file with the publication numbers
4. Click Order Documents
5. The Order Status screen displays
Note: Quick Order only delivers patent documents that do not have a charge. It will not deliver any "special order" patent documents;
any publication numbers that require a special order display as “Special Order –Skipped” in the Order Status details for that Quick
Order. Quick Order does not deliver file histories.
91
CHAPTER 19 EXPORTS & REPORTS
Exports let you download selected fields (with their data) from records for use outside Thomson Innovation. What data you can
download varies by the content type and format you select.
You can create exports from result sets/work files and some saved work items. You can also create exports from charts and from
selected records in ThemeScape maps.
You can export data from patent, literature, business records.
92
CHAPTER 20 ORDER STATUS
The Order Status screen lets you download your document orders and exports. It also lets you view details of previous orders and
exports.
Access the Order Status screen from the Order Center tile on the Dashboard.
Documents orders and exports remain available on your Order Status screen for 60 days after creation.
STATUS DESCRIPTION
Processing Data for your document order or export is being collected and formatted. A progress bar displays the status.
If your document order or export shows as Pending or Processing, you do not need to wait on the Order Status screen for the document
order or export to finish. You are free to order additional documents, request additional exports, or move on to other tasks. You can
return to the Order Status screen later to download the documents or export.
93
CHAPTER 21 MY ACCOUNT AND PREFERENCES
The My Account section allows you to customize Thomson Innovation to reflect the way you work and update your user profile. I
To customize your environment or update your profile, click the My Account tile on the Dashboard and then click the tile for the function
you want. Make your changes as desired and click Save.
A summary of the available options follows.
PREFERENCES
Separate tabs control the options for the patent, literature, and business alerts.
Document Delivery Document type, delivery format, display options, shipping information.
Separate tabs control the options for patent documents, file histories, and literature articles.
Separate tabs control the options for the patent, literature, and business exports.
Highlighting Turn highlighting on/off, choose where to show it, default colors, restrict highlighting to searched fields or all fields.
General Automatic login, default user interface language, default start page.
Result Set Refinement tools, default display fields, collapse by options, default filter fields.
Separate tabs control the options for the patent, literature, and business result sets. For patent result sets, you can set
field options for searching both with and without DWPI.
Record View Quick or Full View, images and highlighting panel, displayed fields.
Search Default search type (fielded, expert, etc.), search tools, collections, fields.
Separate tabs control the options for the patent, literature, and business search forms.
Separate tabs control the options for the patent, literature, and business maps.
MY ACCOUNT SUMMARY
A short description of each section of My Accounts follows.
SECTION DESCRIPTION
General & Privacy See details about your account and edit your privacy settings. This information is view only.
Registration Info View or edit the information entered when you were registered for access to Thomson Innovation.
94
Country Codes
AD Andorra Afghanistan AF
AE United Arab Emirates African Intellectual Property Organization (OAPI) (1)
OA
AF Afghanistan
African Regional IP Organization (ARIPO) (1) AP
AG Antigua and Barbuda
Albania AL
AI Anguilla
Algeria DZ
AL Albania
Andorra AD
AM Armenia
Angola AO
AO Angola
Anguilla AI
AP African Regional IP Organization (ARIPO) (1)
Antigua and Barbuda AG
AR Argentina
Argentina AR
AT Austria
Armenia AM
AU Australia
Aruba AW
AW Aruba
Australia AU
AZ Azerbaijan
Austria AT
BA Bosnia and Herzegovina
Azerbaijan AZ
BB Barbados
Bahamas BS
BD Bangladesh
Bahrain BH
BE Belgium
Bangladesh BD
BF Burkina Faso
Barbados BB
BG Bulgaria
Belarus BY
BH Bahrain
Belgium BE
BI Burundi
Belize BZ
BJ Benin
Benelux Office for Intellectual Property (BOIP) (2) BX
BM Bermuda
Benin BJ
BN Brunei Darussalam
Bermuda BM
BO Bolivia
Bhutan BT
BQ Bonaire, Saint Eustatius and Saba
Bolivia BO
BR Brazil
Bonaire, Saint Eustatius and Saba BQ
BS Bahamas
Bosnia and Herzegovina BA
BT Bhutan
Botswana BW
BV Bouvet Island
Bouvet Island BV
BW Botswana
Brazil BR
95
Country Codes
96
Country Codes
FJ Fiji Ethiopia ET
FK Falkland Islands (Malvinas) Eurasian Patent Organization (EAPO) (1) EA
FO Faroe Islands European Patent Office (EPO) (1) EP
FR France Falkland Islands (Malvinas) FK
GA Gabon Faroe Islands FO
GB United Kingdom Fiji FJ
GC Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) Finland FI
GD Grenada France FR
GE Georgia Gabon GA
GG Guernsey Gambia GM
GH Ghana Georgia GE
GI Gibraltar German Democratic Republic (5) DD
GL Greenland Germany DE
GM Gambia Ghana GH
GN Guinea Gibraltar GI
GQ Equatorial Guinea Greece GR
GR Greece Greenland GL
GS South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands Grenada GD
GT Guatemala Guatemala GT
GW Guinea-Bissau Guernsey GG
GY Guyana Guinea GN
HK Hong Kong Special Admin. Region of the PRC Guinea-Bissau GW
HN Honduras Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) GC
HR Croatia Guyana GY
HT Haiti Haiti HT
HU Hungary Holy See (Vatican City State) VA
IB International Bureau of WIPO (3) Honduras HN
ID Indonesia Hong Kong Special Admin. Region of the PRC HK
IE Ireland Hungary HU
IL Israel Iceland IS
IM Isle of Man India IN
IN India Indonesia ID
IQ Iraq International Bureau of WIPO (3) IB
IR Iran (Islamic Republic of) International Technology Disclosures (6) TP
IS Iceland Iran (Islamic Republic of) IR
IT Italy Iraq IQ
JE Jersey Ireland IE
JM Jamaica Isle of Man IM
97
Country Codes
JO Jordan Israel IL
JP Japan Italy IT
KE Kenya Jamaica JM
KG Kyrgyzstan Japan JP
KH Cambodia Jersey JE
KI Kiribati Jordan JO
KM Comoros Kazakhstan KZ
KN Saint Kitts and Nevis Kenya KE
KP Democratic People’s Republic of Korea Kiribati KI
KR Republic of Korea Kuwait KW
KW Kuwait Kyrgyzstan KG
KY Cayman Islands Lao People’s Democratic Republic LA
KZ Kazakhstan Latvia LV
LA Lao People’s Democratic Republic Lebanon LB
LB Lebanon Lesotho LS
LC Saint Lucia Liberia LR
LI Liechtenstein Libyan Arab Jamahiriya LY
LK Sri Lanka Liechtenstein LI
LR Liberia Lithuania LT
LS Lesotho Luxembourg LU
LT Lithuania Macao MO
LU Luxembourg Madagascar MG
LV Latvia Malawi MW
LY Libyan Arab Jamahiriya Malaysia MY
MA Morocco Maldives MV
MC Monaco Mali ML
MD Republic of Moldova Malta MT
ME Montenegro Mauritania MR
MG Madagascar Mauritius MU
MK The former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia Mexico MX
ML Mali Monaco MC
MM Myanmar Mongolia MN
MN Mongolia Montenegro ME
MO Macao Montserrat MS
MP Northern Mariana Islands Morocco MA
MR Mauritania Mozambique MZ
MS Montserrat Myanmar MM
MT Malta Namibia NA
98
Country Codes
MU Mauritius Nauru NR
MV Maldives Nepal NP
MW Malawi Netherlands NL
MX Mexico New Zealand NZ
MY Malaysia Nicaragua NI
MZ Mozambique Niger NE
NA Namibia Nigeria NG
NE Niger Nordic Patent Institute (NPI) XN
NG Nigeria Northern Mariana Islands MP
NI Nicaragua Norway NO
NL Netherlands Oman OM
NO Norway Pakistan PK
NP Nepal Palau PW
NR Nauru Panama PA
NZ New Zealand Papua New Guinea PG
OA African Intellectual Property Organization (OAPI) Paraguay PY
(1)
Peru PE
OM Oman
Philippines PH
PA Panama
Poland PL
PE Peru
Portugal PT
PG Papua New Guinea
Qatar QA
PH Philippines
Republic of Korea KR
PK Pakistan
Republic of Moldova MD
PL Poland
Research Disclosures (6) RD
PT Portugal
Rhodesia (5) RH
PW Palau
Romania RO
PY Paraguay
Russian Federation RU
QA Qatar
Rwanda RW
QZ Community Plant Variety Office (EU) (CPVO)
Saint Helena, Ascension and Tristan da Cunha SH
RD Research Disclosures (6)
Saint Kitts and Nevis KN
RH Rhodesia (5)
Saint Lucia LC
RO Romania
Saint Vincent and the Grenadines VC
RS Serbia
Samoa WS
RU Russian Federation
San Marino SM
RW Rwanda
Sao Tome and Principe ST
SA Saudi Arabia
Saudi Arabia SA
SB Solomon Islands
Senegal SN
SC Seychelles
Serbia RS
99
Country Codes
SD Sudan Seychelles SC
SE Sweden Sierra Leone SL
SG Singapore Singapore SG
SH Saint Helena, Ascension and Tristan da Cunha Sint Maarten (Dutch part) SX
SI Slovenia Slovakia SK
SK Slovakia Slovenia SI
SL Sierra Leone Solomon Islands SB
SM San Marino Somalia SO
SN Senegal South Africa ZA
SO Somalia South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands GS
SR Suriname Soviet Union (5) SU
ST Sao Tome and Principe Spain ES
SU Soviet Union (5) Sri Lanka LK
SV El Salvador Sudan SD
SX Sint Maarten (Dutch part) Suriname SR
SY Syrian Arab Republic Swaziland SZ
SZ Swaziland Sweden SE
TC Turks and Caicos Islands Switzerland CH
TD Chad Syrian Arab Republic SY
TG Togo Taiwan TW
TH Thailand Tajikistan TJ
TJ Tajikistan Thailand TH
TL Timor–Leste The former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia MK
TM Turkmenistan Timor–Leste TL
TN Tunisia Togo TG
TO Tonga Tonga TO
TP International Technology Disclosures (6) Trinidad and Tobago TT
TR Turkey Tunisia TN
TT Trinidad and Tobago Turkey TR
TV Tuvalu Turkmenistan TM
TW Taiwan Turks and Caicos Islands TC
TZ United Republic of Tanzania Tuvalu TV
UA Ukraine Uganda UG
UG Uganda Ukraine UA
US United States of America United Arab Emirates AE
UY Uruguay United Kingdom GB
UZ Uzbekistan United Republic of Tanzania TZ
VA Holy See (Vatican City State) United States of America US
100
Country Codes
1. Intergovernmental organizations (regional patent offices) acting for certain Contracting States under the PCT (Patent Cooperation Treaty). In case of the
European Patent Office, it also acts as International Searching Authority and International Preliminary Examining Authority under the PCT.
2. The Benelux Office for Intellectual Property (BOIP) (former Benelux Trademark and Designs Offices) has replaced the national Offices of Belgium, Luxembourg
and the Netherlands with regard to actions relating to marks and industrial designs.
3. The code “WO” is used in relation to the international publication under the Patent Cooperation Treaty (PCT) of international applications filed with any PCT
receiving Office. The code “IB” is used in relation to the receipt of international applications under the PCT filed with the International Bureau of WIPO in its
capacity as a PCT receiving Office.
4. Provisional name
101
APPENDIX 2 SYSTEM LIMITATIONS
The following tables provide the upper limits on the number of characters, records, publication numbers, etc., you can use with various
features.
QUERY SIZE
Patent 30,000 characters The 30,000-character limit is approximate because, depending on the fields included,
there may be additional field-standardization language we add to your query to help
you obtain optimum results.
Also, please note that the 30,000 character limit is after any expansion required for
truncation or stemming.
Patent Publication 1800 publication numbers 1800 is approximately 30,000 characters based on average publication number length;
Number (Manual Entry) (approximate) the limits are approximate because publication numbers vary in length and there may
be standardization we need to perform on your query to help you obtain optimum
results.
Patent Publication 60,000 publication The number of publication numbers you can upload is limited to the maximum size of
Number (Text Upload) numbers (Analyst) your result set.
30,000 publication
numbers (Pro and Express)
ALERTS
Record Limits Differs by content type The number of records allowed in an alert varies based on content type; see the help file
for full details.
Thomson Data Analyzer only supports All Content Search alerts if Patent and Literature
are selected; it does not support Business search.
102
System Limits
RESULT SETS
All content result sets use the following limits for each individual content type (patents, literature, or business).
All Content Search 1,000 records All records must be from the same content type.
103
System Limits
DOCUMENT ORDER LIMITS
These limits are per order. There are no limits to the number of orders you may place.
Patent Documents 500 patent PDFs Applies to patent PDFs in our inventory.
ANALYSIS TOOLS
Business: 10,000 records You must include a minimum for 20 records. Records must have at least two words (in
at least one of the selected fields) to be included.
Charts Patents: 60,000 records All records must be from the same content type
(Analyst); 30,000 records
(Pro and Express)
Literature: 15,000
OTHER
Annotation 2 MB
Attachments
Saved Work Item 256 characters Using non-English characters may reduce the allowed Name length.
Names
104
Collections and Coverage
Full-Text Collections
Bibliographic Collections
DWPISM (DERWENT WORLD PATENTS INDEX®) AND DPCI (DERWENT PATENT CITATIONS INDEX)
Overview
Description: The Derwent World Patents Index (DWPI ) is the most comprehensive database of enhanced patent information in the
®
world. The index includes enhanced patent data from over 50 worldwide patenting authorities and 2 journal sources, covering 61 million
patent records and 28.3 million patent families (May 2015). See full coverage and other pertinent information at the Thomson Support
Center.
Dates covered: 1963-present
Data type: Editorially enhanced titles and abstracts
Language: English
Update frequency: Approximately every 3 days (Note that DWPI and DPCI update on different schedules)
Thomson Innovation User Guide 117
Document Version 1.7
Collections and Coverage
NATIVE JAPANESE PATENT COLLECTIONS IN THOMSON INNOVATION
Overview
Thomson Innovation provides the most relevant, comprehensive collections of global patent data available, including unmatched
English language coverage of the Asia-Pacific region. The inclusion of scientific literature, business information, and news content – all
in one platform – helps you quickly conduct the most thorough IP research possible.
Thomson Innovation Native Japanese Patent collections allow you to search Japanese-language patent content using Japanese-
language search terms. Japanese Utility Modes, Japanese Granted, and Japanese Applications are all available in Japanese.
Web of Science®
Description: Thomson Reuters product offering retrospective searching of scientific literature
Use it to: Find current and retrospective science, social sciences, and arts and humanities information
Source: Thomson Reuters
Dates covered: 1898-present
Update frequency: Weekly
File size: 48 million records
Conference Proceedings
Description: Thomson Reuters product covering over 6.5 million papers from over 150,000 conferences, includes both the Science &
Technology and Social Science & Humanities editions
Use it to: Find proceedings literature
Source: Thomson Reuters
Dates covered: 1990-present
Update frequency: Weekly
Inspec®
Description: Institution of Engineering and Technology (IET) bibliographic database
Use it to: Find relevant journal articles, conference papers and other documents for current awareness, new product information,
technological forecasting, competitive intelligence, or patent-related searching
Source: The Institution of Engineering and Technology (IET)
Dates covered: 1898-present
Update frequency: Weekly
File size: 13 million records