Welcome to Patent Scout, an advanced data and analytics platform directed to artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML) intellectual property (IP). This help center includes documentation describing the platform's various features and terminology, as well as guides to the user interfaces and workflows on the platform.
Patent Scout is an IP platform specific to AI/ML data and analytics. The platform combines hybrid semantic search, trend analysis, and whitespace signaling to provide an integrated and in-depth understanding of the IP landscape as it relates to AI/ML innovations and investments and the entities active in this space. The platform is built on a relational database system that includes 56,000+ AI/ML-related patents and publications dating back to 2023.
Each entry (i.e., patent or publication) in the database is enriched with metadata and context; specifically, each entry corresponds to a patent or publication with multiple associated AI embeddings. The multiple AI embeddings enable accurate and robust semantic searching over multiple fields and combinations of fields.
Metadata and context for each entry further include the assignee name (i.e., owner). The Patent Scout platform normalizes each assignee name to ensure that the AI/ML IP assets held by different entities are accurately and comprehensively represented.
Patent Scout is designed with a streamlined user interface divided between two primary web service pages:
Hybrid search, trend visualization, and proactive alerts
The Search & Trends page is the primary interface for discovering and monitoring granted patents and published applications. It combines powerful search capabilities with visual trend analytics to provide an easily comprehensible view of the AI/ML IP landscape. The intuitive interface allows users to construct complex queries using both keywords and semantic similarity, filter results by various metadata fields, and visualize filing trends over time, by CPC classification, or by assignee.
The Search & Trends page further includes the option to save a particular search configuration as an alert. Patent Scout updates its database on a weekly basis, following the USPTO schedule. Saved searches are automatically run when new data becomes available, and users are notified of new matches.
Example Use Cases: Ongoing competitive monitoring, prior art searches, freedom-to-operate and clearance analysis, and staying current with AI/ML IP as it relates to specific technology areas. Graphs provide visual guides on trends across the AI/ML IP landscape.
Overview tiles for whitespace primitives with an optional assignee signal deep dive
The Whitespace Analysis page provides a quantitative view of patent and publication activity within a defined scope. This page includes analysis and insights for saturation, activity rate, and momentum measurements, as well as identifying CPC codes under which patent and publications are concentrated. The interface presents four primary metrics (subject matter saturation, patent and publication activity rate, patent grant and publication momentum, and top CPC codes) supported by a monthly trend line, CPC distribution chart, and sortable results table with direct links to the underlying patents and publications.
An optional “Group by Assignee” toggle enables the KNN Sigma graph visualization with confidence-scored signals highlighting potential gaps, bridging opportunities*, focus convergence, and crowd-out patterns.
Example Use Cases: AI/ML R&D and/or investment decisions, whitespace opportunity identification, competitive threat assessment, and understanding where R&D focus is shifting in and around specific technology areas in the context of AI/ML.
Patent Scout uses Auth0 for secure authentication. Log in or sign up using the button in the top navigation bar. All features require authentication to ensure data security and usage tracking.
Exploring the Search & Trends page may be helpful in familiarizing yourself with the patent and publication data set accessible through Patent Scout. Try a semantic query like 'autonomous vehicle perception systems' or use keyword filters to narrow results. Experiment with trend groupings to understand filing patterns.
When you find a search configuration that matters to your work, click 'Save as Alert' to receive notifications when new patents or publications match your criteria. Manage your alerts through the navigation bar modal.
Navigate to the Whitespace page to size the space. Enter focus keywords or CPC codes, review the crowding/density/momentum tiles, inspect the timeline and CPC bars, and then dip into the result table for representative filings.
Use CSV/PDF exports from Search & Trends for shareable reports, and copy links from the Whitespace table when you need to circulate specific patents or publications.
A “bridging” patent/publication is one in which the invention is directed to one technology area but the scope of protection can be broadened to cover other areas. Example: a patent claiming an improvement to internal combustion engines in automobiles, and the improvement can also be used in aviation, marine, and other internal combustion engine applications. Bridging patents have been shown to be especially commercially valuable. See, e.g., Choi & Yoon, Measuring Knowledge Exploration Distance at the Patent Level, 16 J. Informetr. 101286 (2002) (linked here). See also Moehrle & Frischkorn, Bridge Strongly or Focus — An Analysis of Bridging Patents [...], 15 J. Informetr. 101138 (2001).
CPC (Cooperative Patent Classification) codes categorize patents and applications by technology area. For reference, the USPTO generally assigns AI and machine learning subject matter under one of the following CPC section (letter)+class(number)+subclass(letter) classifications: A61B, B60W, G05D, G06N, G06V, and G10L. More specific AI/ML-related subject matter is generally assigned to group, as well, as indicating by a number appended to the subclass: G06F17, G06F18, G06F40, G06K9, G06T7. A further subgroup indicates subject matter at an even more granular level, which is indicated by a third number, preceded by a backslash. For AI/ML-related subject matter, this is most commonly encoutered in CPC classification G06F16/90.
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Email: support@phaethon.llc
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