The Dolcera Blog

Just happened to read the news on ‘CA Technologies Sues Appdynamics for Patent Pilfering‘ and really intrigued with the word “Pilfering” associated with patents. The dictionary definition for the word “Pilfer” is “Make off with belongings of others” and further had a friendly chat with Sumair to understand how “Patent pilfering” differed from the conventional “patent infringements”.

We both understood this term “Patent Pilfering” in the context of the above case like this. Mr Bansal was the actual assignee for the patent which CA Technologies is suing Appdynamics. However, he was then an employee of Wily Technology which was eventually acquired by CA Technologies in 2006. Now, if you combine this with the actual definition of the word “Pilfer”, you can understand that “Patent Pilfering” is a special case of Patent Infringement as in this case CA Technologies claims that Mr Bansal has actually made up with a patent that is now belonging to CA Technologies.

Now, came the question whether our dashboard can help our clients detect plausible patent pilferinginstances. Bingo, Sumair pulled this screenshot from the “Paints and Silica Dashboard”. (Please see attached file). From the image, you can say that Mr Bruggere Pierre Alain can be a suspect forpilfering his patent on Colloidal Silica in his employment stints in HP and Ilford Imaging Switzerland Gmbh.

Is this a classic example of “Serendipitous” use of our dashboard?

Tweet  Delicious  Digg  Facebook 

CES 2012 is just few days away and as always even this year some never heard before innovations will be unveiled at Las Vegas from 12-14^th Jan. In this article we are throwing lights on exciting products in communications field that we might see at CES 2012.

Local area connectivity:

Wireless local area networks were confined to speed of 1Gbps as of now. But come CES 2012 and you will find implementations of 802.11ac by Buffalo, Broadcom and Redpipe which can offer data transfer speeds of 4Gbps. If 4Gbps is not enough for you then you might wanna have a look at Wilocity’s display of 802.11ad implementation which pushes data transfer speeds to 7Gbps.

These were the products which enhanced the underlying technology. Now let’s have a look at products which are using existing local area connectivity technologies in newer innovative way. Samsung’s Dual View Camera can send photos over wi-fi so no need to worry about memory getting full. Taztag is coming up with Tazpad which they claim is first NFC tablet in the market. Wohoo fitness has comeup with BlueHR product which when strapped on waist can monitor your heartbeats and send it over blueotooth to your iPhone and some other supported smartphones.

Apart from this Wi3 has come up with WiPNET which can convert traditional coax cable communications to Ethernet/WiFi based digital communication

Also NXP has planned some NFC demos where in use of NXP NFC chips for MCU and automotive applications will be displayed.

Our Favorite: Wilocity’s 802.11ad implementation

Sector Focus: Higher Speeds

Wide Area Connectivity:

4G LTE based handset was introduced in CES 2011. This year WAC has gone one step ahead and Wilson Electronics has come up with Signal Booster for 4G LTE. Novatel wireless has developed MiFi which sets up mobile hotspots to which 4-5 devices can be connected. Pegastick has combined 4G 3G nd 2G i.e. EDGE, HSPA+ and LTE respectively on one USB datacard.OnStar is displaying prototype where in 4G LTE technology is optimized for use in automobiles.

Microsoft, Nokia, Samsung and HTC are expected to launch 4G LTE supporting headsets.

Our Favorite: Pegastick

Sector Focus: Integration and enhancement

Cloud Based Services

Cloud based services seems like a theme of CES 2012, with number of conferences on cloud based services and many other products implementing it. Lenovo is gonna display functioning of its new cloud based storage system while Oplink Communications has come up with C4MI (Cloud for Mobile Interactive) which will allow sensors to access cloud enabling them to process outputs. Fordela has developed a platform for stream multimedia content over the cloud to any device. One outstanding innovation has come from Sanyo, product is called HyperDriveCloudFTP. When USB drive is connected to CloudFTP, drive can act as a wireless file server.

Our Favorite: CloudFTP

Sector Focus: Richer content on cloud

Written by:

Premraj Narkhede

Premraj is a Senior Business Research Analyst at Dolcera with expertise in communications and emerging technologies

Tweet  Delicious  Digg  Facebook 

Tweet  Delicious  Digg  Facebook 

Full text patent searching helps in identifying the relevant patent records that would have otherwise eluded a non full text patent search. Let’s say that in a specific non full text patent search we obtain a certain number of relevant patent records. And if the same search were to be conducted considering the full text, it is likely to yield more relevant patent records than what was obtained without the full text. The comprehensiveness of the patent search is enhanced when the scope includes the full text of the patents searched.

On the contrary, if we were to consider the above search scenario from a data relevancy ratio perspective, then it is only obvious to expect a lower relevancy rate in latter’s scope than in the former. Due to the low data relevancy prevailing in a full text patent search, it can be assumed that the associated time taken to analyze increases significantly. Subsequently, the cost associated with a full text search is significantly more than a search without it. We believe that the choice between the two is completely determined from the business implication of the search and with the legal considerations with which the search is conducted. In other words, if there is strong business value in finding relevant un-licensed IP belonging to well known patent holders, then an exhaustive analysis involving the full text in the scope of search is warranted. However, if the goal is to conduct simple state of art search or validity search, where the principle of first-past-the-pole principle applies, then the marginal value of incremental hits with full text search is justified only if the search result set searched without the full text does not provide sufficient evidence. Hence, the future of full text patent searching relies totally on the primary driving force i.e cost benefit analysis of the patent search. The cost benefit analysis has to be done in context of improved search tools and increasing sophistication of text mining tools available today.

Tweet  Delicious  Digg  Facebook 

Tweet  Delicious  Digg  Facebook 

Shall we say the era of complete information disclosure has just begun? and hence the importance of full text patent searching. This blog post is subsequent to our recent post where we cited a classic patent suit where the ‘test of enablement’ was exercised.
Under section US112, the test of enablement requires the claims to be backed by full disclosure of the preferred embodiment in the specification. This tactic has been used by lawyers extensively to invalidate patents in the courts of law.
Hence, as a commercial information service provider the provision of the full text data becomes extremely important to search and analyze since the import of the inventive step may not be fully available from the claims.
In other words, there is potent challenge to perform a thorough patent search given the commercial patent database providers providing just the thumb nail view of the first page. My random informal meetings with Dolcera’s analysts go on to concur on one simple fact that in order to understand the utility of an invention, it is highly advised that a patent search is done on the full specifications of the patent.  They believe that the title, abstract and claims typically make one to understand the novelty and non obviousness while most patents have their utility residing in the full specification.
Further, it is only prudent to have a thorough patent search involving full specifications of the patents where the purpose of patent search is for litigations involving invalidation / infringement and also while searching the prior art. Time and again, it has become a thumb rule for a patent searcher to understand that the patents are often written with a purpose to obscure the patented invention.  We believe that the above reiterates the need to search on the full text and hence the key for future patent searches.
Alternately, the patent dashboard’s new version allows searching the full text of the patent even with simple boolean operators. The search snippets provided beside the pdf documents of patents is where the searched keyword is highlighted on the full text.

Tweet  Delicious  Digg  Facebook 

While BP and the government are still floundering in dealing with the catastrophe, we think that a certain look at the patent landscape might guide Mr. Tony Hayword, CEO - BP with a promising business strategy for the future. More often than not, the business decisions involving the patent due diligence / strategic IP kind have had a desired effect on the final outcome.

In addition to the $20 Billion fund dedicated to oil spills, it would also be prudent to look at the intellectual property of companies with deep sea oil capping technology. The immediate steps could also dwelve into mapping its own patent portfolio for potential synergy.

The following graphs shows the top patents assignees companies holding relevant patents of interest to BP at this juncture to seek deep sea oil capping technologies and one of them could be a potential target for BP to acquire or to in-license.

Top IPC Classes with their definitions

Note: The above IP analysis is only a sample derived from the respective IPC classes and we have withheld the comprehensive data for data security purposes. Please contact us for more information while we will be glad to help you.

Tweet  Delicious  Digg  Facebook 

Ranking makes life easier. Be it top 10 companies, top 10 universities to study technology or to choose amongst top 10 sci-fi movies you want to watch on the weekends; ranking allow us to choose the best amongst the available. Time saver, decision influencer and extremely helpful are the ranked material.

At Dolcera, we thought of applying the ranking methodology to patents. We have ranked patents based on a variety of parameters. First factor amongst all remains the client focus, second, sufficiency of disclosed information in patents and third credibility of a patent to perform the same process/art with higher efficiency than any other patent with similar focus.

Let us consider an example, the first table in the image below show patents with similar focus of decreasing tumor volume using RNA interference (RNAi). The patent one has disclosed maximum information in this area and in addition to the desired data, it has also published a lot more supporting information derived from other experiments. Further, as the rank goes down the percentage decrease in tumor volume decreases. Some may argue that patent 2 has disclosed more decrease in tumor volume than patent 1 but then patent 1 has disclosed more supporting data, taking its overall weighted score higher. Of course, if the client is still interested only in comparing tumor volume, patent at rank 2 will come at rank 1. Hence the ranking is customized to suit the client requirements.

The ranking of patents is not that simple as it may sound. The analysis team has to encounter challenges and figure out the ways to overcome them. Graphs, charts, instrumental outputs etc. will not give you data in percentages which can be just copy-pasted to compare. They have to be calculated first using mathematical tools which may vary from calculating areas under the graphs or applying differentiation & integration on instrumental outputs, to allow the reader to compare results before making the final decision. It’s considered an absolute value add to the decision making process by the clients who have sought such a service from us.

Not all experimental data will be quantitative. For people familiar with biotechnology would know that there are experiments (such as gel electrophoresis, staining etc.) that give qualitative or quasi-quantitative results. I am sure, the same will hold true with other technology fields too. Second part of the figure above summarizes few patents which can not be ranked as there is no data yield from such experiments and hence comparison is not possible. But then why miss them? We provide a Dolcera summary table which will give reader an idea as these experiments were atleast conducted and disclosed in patents. This comparison will thus strengthen the decision to be taken from ranking matrices discussed above.

This systemic approach of collecting, sorting, analyzing, and finally ranking the data has the following advantages:

1. Saves time!
2. Easy comparative analysis.
3. Helps in competitive watch
4. Decision on in-and-out licensing can be made.
5. Strong baseline for future scientific investigations.

Who will be benefited?

Scientific community: Extensive experimental data, comparison matrix of data from different patents with same focus is a feast to researchers and scientists as it helps them to choose best technologies.

Patent attorneys: Allows competitor watch, supports their decision on in and out licensing.

Venture capitalists / investors: Patent ranking based on disclosed information helps investors to decide patents to further invest upon.

Which technology fields are covered?

Patents in all the technological fields can be ranked. You just need to tell us the focus area and we will rank the patents for you. The ranking and weighing scores can be customized to suit user’s requirements.

Tweet  Delicious  Digg  Facebook 

Call them “patent terrorists” or “paten trolls” they are here to stay. It needs constant vigil and dexterity in analyzing patents to shield those companies that have no tangible assets, products or customers—just a team of lawyers who write demand letters, file lawsuits and watch the dollars roll in. And the trolls are only one of the hosts of issues in-house IP counsel are dealing with right now as IP comes to the forefront of business law. Hence the oft repeated slogan “prevention is better than cure” holds well even in this context.

A quick mention of Dolcera’s patent dashboard is worth mentioning here. The patent dashboard has served as an early warning system for the in-house legal professionals of many Fortune 500 and Global 1000 organizations.

Most of these professionals would acknowledge that the lack of prior art information has led to any patent troll case. The patent dashboard’s collaborative feature makes it possible for sharing the prior art / product clearance searches within the organization.

Further, a regular analysis of patent portfolios of the known trolls within the industry and any closely-related industries can be pivotal in the prevention of a troll impact. The use of patent dashboard during the product design stage can ensure that all patents held by a known patent troll cannot be asserted in good faith against the products. In addition to this prevention measure, organizations can be well informed with the opinions on these patents held by patent trolls. Unlike many other contemporary tools, patent dashboard has been developed with active inputs from legal professionals from various organizations.

The issues sighted above are to prevent any possible attack from a patent troll; hence the need for in-house counsels to sift through a zillion patent documents and other scientific literature is well ascertained. Patent dashboard helps the legal professionals to structure the documents and also provides a solution to read only the relevant documents from the entire set. This aspect of the patent dashboard is critical for a legal professional at every strategic crossroads that seeks a very important decision.

This software has made it historical to exchange patent PDF documents through emails. Dolcera’s patent software holds all the relevant documents of the legal department in a central place for any in-house legal counsel to refer at any given time. The https enabled secure patent dashboard simply opens in any web browser. This award winning patent software helps in easy collaboration amongst geographically distributed teams inside large organizations.

“We had TMI — Too Much Information — going on here. This (Dolcera Dashboard) is a nice hybrid,” says says Michael Jaro, Chief Patent Counsel, Medtronic.

This patent analysis software aka patent dashboard has more to it. The rating and tagging feature of the document makes the future references of a document easy. The drag and drop feature further enhances the usability of the software.

“We have specific futuristic road-map carved out for the patent dashboard so that the lives of patent attorneys are made easy. At Dolcera, we believe that the current version of the patent dashboard is the first step towards making robust patent software” says Samir Raiyani, CEO of Dolcera.

The use of patent dashboard as described by one of the power users Mr Jaro himself “Each month, the Internet-based dashboard culls recent patent grants and applications from around the world and separates them by topic into different “buckets” so attorneys with different specialties don’t have to wade through irrelevant material. The culling is a result of both an automated search algorithm and human review performed by Dolcera’s Indian employees.”

“We have many tools to choose from, but there is more information out there than any single human being can feel comfortable digesting,” Jaro says. “This is just one way we thought we could do a better job of keeping up.”

Tweet  Delicious  Digg  Facebook 

The PharmaCI conference is scheduled to be held on 15^th - 16^th September 2009 at New York. Ed Rozenberg, one of the founders of Dolcera will present a talk on “Unlocking the hidden potential from the abandoned molecules. - A systematic CI driven approach!”

 With the advancement of pharma industry there are two trends which we have witnessed that each company is focusing on a handful of therapeutic areas and exiting from other therapeutic areas resulting in “orphaned” and “abandoned” molecules. More so, many other companies are targeting smaller subpopulations in many therapeutic areas based on the latest scientific understanding.

Dolcera will unfold that how competitive intelligence can help to utilize the accumulated knowledge (clinical trials, toxicology analysis etc.) of the abandoned molecules to bring them to the market very quickly. The strategy will be a combination of scientific, market and patent intelligence to help unlock very valuable opportunities.

We sincerely hope that this presentation from us would help the research community from some of the world’s top pharma, biotech and health care companies such as Global Pharma Alliance, Zymogenetics, Pfizer, Boehinger Ingelheim, Roche Diagnostics to name a few.

We welcome all our blog readers to be part of this conference and contribute to the knowledge shared.

Tweet  Delicious  Digg  Facebook