Patent Watch refers to the process of keeping an eye on the patents frequently. There are many reasons why you should consider conducting a patent watch. The process of patent watch can be used to keep an eye on the competitors and its portfolio. Along with that, the patent watching strategy is useful in identification of infringement. This provides you information about the latest market trends, development in the IP. In addition to that, it gives you space to analysis your product and service. There are different types of patent watch that a patent holder can opt for depending upon his/her needs. Prior to looking at the techniques of patent watch, let’s dive deep into its significance.
Significance of Patent Watching
There are plenty of reasons for patent holders to step forward to conduct patent watch. Let’s take a look at the reasons.
- Patent watching provides information about the latest market trends, thereby, making firms or industries aware about the ew technology.
- Helps in identification of the expired patents and abandoned patents.
- Keeps the competitor’s strategy in check.
- It provides knowledge about the emerging competitor’s in a specific field.
Types of Patent Watch
The patent watch service is important. It allows you to keep a track of the published or pending patents. With that said, there are different types of patent watch. Thus, it becomes important to learn about these techniques of patent watch. The firm or the patent holder can hire the specific type of patent watch depending upon the requirements.
Competitor’s Patent Watch
As its name indicates, Competitor’s Patent watch refers to monitoring or tracking the newly published patent or pending patent of the company’s competitors. The patent watch service also provides you alert about the abandoned patents, expired patent so you can make full use of the technology that’s available in public domain. This type of patent watch provides you information about your competitor’s R&D strategy. By knowing such information, you can concoct your own strategy to maximize revenue.
Design Watch
A design watch identifies infringement on the design or ornamentation of your invention. You may find many organizations coming up with an invention that looks similar or identical to your design. This type of patent watch provides information on the newly published design patent in specific jurisdiction across the globe.
Technology Watch
The purpose of conducting technology watch is to gather information about the technology of interest as mentioned by the client. It includes finding information about the latest technology, its impact in the market and the new opportunities created. It also helps in identifying the big players stepping forward in the market.
Conclusion
Patent Watching plays an important role in today’s competitive world where awareness about the IP sector is increasing. Thus, it makes sense for the global firms or the industries to regularly monitor the newly published or pending patent application. It can help in identifying the competitor’s strategy and mitigating the future risks. The frequency of conducting a patent watch can be weekly, biweekly, monthly, quarterly, half-yearly or yearly.