Patent Maps / English Article
Using Patent Information for Innovation
How patent information can guide invention mining, R&D decisions, and patent portfolio design.
Patent Information as an Innovation Engine
Patent information should not be used only to check whether an idea is new. It can guide invention mining, R&D decisions, and portfolio design. The practical route is to decompose a product into technical features, abstract the technical problem behind each feature, and search for alternative means across many fields.
Most innovation is recombination. Breakthrough inventions exist, but many valuable patents come from replacing one technical feature with a better or unexpected feature borrowed from another field.
Patent Information as an Innovation Engine: practical detail
For companies, patent-mining teams, and innovation managers, this point should be treated as a working step rather than a slogan. The practical work is to connect the article's idea with decomposing products into technical features, abstracting functions, searching patent information by problem, and recombining technical means across fields. That is what turns a general insight into a repeatable professional service.
The team should record concrete evidence: feature decomposition tables, patent search results, cross-field analogies, alternative structures, cost and feasibility notes, and portfolio suggestions. Without this evidence layer, the method remains only an opinion. With it, the article becomes useful for client communication, internal decision-making, patent drafting, prosecution strategy, and later portfolio review.
A complete application of this section normally ends with a decision: which borrowed or recombined technical means deserve a patent layout because they solve a real problem with defensible novelty. Ma Su's examiner background matters here because the decision is not based only on enthusiasm; it is tested against technical contribution, support in the disclosure, likely examination reasoning, and business value.
From Product Feature to Technical Problem
Suppose a team wants to innovate around a blood glucose meter. The product can be decomposed into a housing, display, analysis unit, power unit, sampling unit, communication unit, connectors, materials, shapes, and algorithms. For each part, the team asks what function it performs and what problem it solves.
The search should be based on the abstracted problem. If the sampling unit is searched only as blood sampling, many useful structures will be missed. If it is searched as controlled skin piercing, textile tools, injection devices, industrial puncture mechanisms, and other distant fields may become relevant.
From Product Feature to Technical Problem: practical detail
For companies, patent-mining teams, and innovation managers, this point should be treated as a working step rather than a slogan. The practical work is to connect the article's idea with decomposing products into technical features, abstracting functions, searching patent information by problem, and recombining technical means across fields. That is what turns a general insight into a repeatable professional service.
The team should record concrete evidence: feature decomposition tables, patent search results, cross-field analogies, alternative structures, cost and feasibility notes, and portfolio suggestions. Without this evidence layer, the method remains only an opinion. With it, the article becomes useful for client communication, internal decision-making, patent drafting, prosecution strategy, and later portfolio review.
A complete application of this section normally ends with a decision: which borrowed or recombined technical means deserve a patent layout because they solve a real problem with defensible novelty. Ma Su's examiner background matters here because the decision is not based only on enthusiasm; it is tested against technical contribution, support in the disclosure, likely examination reasoning, and business value.
Generate Alternatives Before Judging Value
The patent-mining team should not prematurely decide that an unusual alternative has no value. Its job is to generate options: new materials, shapes, connection methods, structures, algorithms, and control logic. Decision makers can then evaluate business value.
Even when immediate commercial value is uncertain, a patent may have defensive value, financing value, portfolio value, or future market value during its long protection term.
Generate Alternatives Before Judging Value: practical detail
For companies, patent-mining teams, and innovation managers, this point should be treated as a working step rather than a slogan. The practical work is to connect the article's idea with decomposing products into technical features, abstracting functions, searching patent information by problem, and recombining technical means across fields. That is what turns a general insight into a repeatable professional service.
The team should record concrete evidence: feature decomposition tables, patent search results, cross-field analogies, alternative structures, cost and feasibility notes, and portfolio suggestions. Without this evidence layer, the method remains only an opinion. With it, the article becomes useful for client communication, internal decision-making, patent drafting, prosecution strategy, and later portfolio review.
A complete application of this section normally ends with a decision: which borrowed or recombined technical means deserve a patent layout because they solve a real problem with defensible novelty. Ma Su's examiner background matters here because the decision is not based only on enthusiasm; it is tested against technical contribution, support in the disclosure, likely examination reasoning, and business value.
Original Chinese Essay
利用专利信息进行创新
前几天有个企业IPR朋友咨询，说领导安排他做专利挖掘
说自己没有头绪
其实专利挖掘是有套路的 即利用专利信息进行创新，进而指导研发或者专利布局
我看过很多人写的专利挖掘的ppt、书籍，其实绝大部分没有什么参考意义，这里有个悖论，至少在过去，会专利挖掘的话就跟淘金没什么差别
买过专利的朋友都知道，一个发明专利能卖多少钱，真的会搞专利挖掘有实操经验和能力的会花时间去讲课赚钱吗，所以能够接触到的课程很多是纸上谈兵
（这里插一句 虽然这个成语来自赵括是贬低他的意思，但是哟啊为赵括说句话，赵括是很有军事能力的，奈何大boss赵孝成王跟蒋总统一样喜欢微操，赵括很大程度上背了黑锅）
我们讲回来，如何利用专利信息进行专利挖掘
首先创新在绝大部分情况下，是人类现有技术的重新组合，开拓性的创新已经越来越少所以大的系统上的或者整体的革新是很难见到的，所以我们只要研究如何进行新的组合即可，
所以我们要把目标定在细节的改进上，即利用其它领域的技术手段（技术特征）来替换现有产品的技术手段
具体的做法，第一步有点类似发明专利审查员的特征对比，要先充分的分析现有产品的技术特征，将其尽量完全的解构，分解为相对独立的技术特征，举个例子，要对血糖仪进行创新，那么它包括外壳、外壳上的显示部分、外壳内部的分析单元、供能单元、采样的穿刺（假设有）单元、接受样品且置于外壳的取样单元、将分析结果通讯的发送至移动终端（假设有）的通讯单元、以及将各个单元固定或链接的连接装置以及各个部分的材料形状等等（unclema没有用过血糖仪以上仅仅是示例）。
然后我们将充分解构的技术特征的功能或者解决的问题都抽象出来，就形成了非常类似审查员进行三步法实用的特征对比表，这里要特别注意抽象的时候要充分理解技术问题
然后我们就可以在专利库用抽象出来的技术问题进行检索，比如采样单元，如果您抽象出来的技术问题是采样采血那就可能会错过很多信息，正确的做法应当以刺破皮肤为准，这样我们可以检索到大量的或许可用的零件，尤其是很多非医学领域的零件，它们会对我们的创新产生很好的启发
假设有一些纺织、或者其它工业上的穿刺工具，它们的结构能够借鉴到这里来，又假设一些用于注射的工具（比如胰岛素注射笔，我们将摁一下注射一定量改为摁一下抽取一定量）
依次类推，这里不要放过一些您想当然觉得不可改变或没有价值的技术改变，比如采用新的材料、新的形状、新的链接方式新的算法等等，作为专利挖掘的工作者，要牢记您是没有资格评价这种创新是否有价值的
然后我们会产生大量的或许奇奇怪怪难以想象（非显而易见）的技术特征替代品，然后形成专利布局的建议，由决策方来做一定的选择
至少从专利法（关于创新性的条款）的角度来说，一定是能产生大量可以授权的发明专利的。或许有人会说这些专利有什么用商业价值看不清楚，但是发明专利有至少20年的保护期谁能讲清楚20年内会有什么变化我们把它们申请下来至少从防御的角度来说可以预防对手的布局和骚扰，提升企业的创新形象（如帮助获取融资提升市值----无形资产的估值可大可小的），
并且现在有那么多的人工智能大模型，这里面有一些工作可以不用人工完成降低成本
当然申请专利本身是需要支付成本的，这里企业可以灵活的运用国家的政策，比如注册一家负责研发的主体作为patent hub，这个主体研发支出大于收入是可以享受“专利费减政策”的大大降低维护成本
以上是利用专利信息进行创新的一种方法论，当然在实操中我们可以更加有目的性，例如我们公司辅导医护朋友进行创新的时候，往往采用的是技术问题导向的做法，我们会召开医护-创新工程师的讨论，医护朋友会把实际操作过程中遇到的问题告诉我们，然后我们从她\他们描述的的问题出发，针对问题进行专项检索，然后对有问题的工具进行改进进而形成不同和层次的专利方案。另外在这项工作中我们还引进了医疗器械企业、医疗协会学会、投资方协同参加，由投资方对新的专利方案进行审视、医疗器械企业打样生产、医疗协会学会医院一同完成市场推广应用，目前来说效果还是非常不错的。
对于此您有什么看法
留言
写留言