Patent information as a strategy for research

In an increasingly globalized business environment, and in an increasingly crowded market, small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) must find ways to differentiate their products to attract consumers.

Some strategies used by SMEs to become or remain internationally competitive include the introduction of new or improved products and the adoption of new methods to manufacture, sell or market products and services. As innovation, creativity and knowledge become essential elements of competitiveness, companies are increasingly faced with the need to find means to effectively manage their innovation, creativity and knowledge.

At this time, companies that did not contain activities concerning R&D within their actions have had to focus their attention on these, with the aim of increasing the quality, functions and properties of their products to be at the level of the competition or outperform it, due to the demands of customers when consuming them. This has allowed global research and development of new products to increase as well as strategies such as benchmarking to learn.

Research centers and their knowledge

Research centers are more numerous due to the need to achieve more efficient, competitive and higher quality products. These centers have been a fundamental part of the development of a country due to their scientific results and discoveries.

In the current context, not only research centers demand technical information, but also companies and institutes that, in their activity of modernizing technology or benchmarking, use it for commercial, investigative and other purposes.

The most technical information accumulated to date is found in patent documents. Almost two-thirds of such patent information is never published elsewhere, and the worldwide body of patent documents contains approximately 40 million items, with approximately one million published annually. This makes patent information the largest collection of classified technology data in the world.

This information covers all spheres of our life, agriculture, health, chemistry, mechanics, etc.

Patents as a strategy for research

Among the essential elements that make up a patent document are:

Bibliographic and legal data, where the specifications regarding the application number, document number, name of the applicant and inventor, country of the applicant, title of the invention, etc. are collected. Summary: A brief information on the invention is collected, as well as the formula, if it contains it. Description of the invention: As the section says, it describes in detail what the object of the invention is. You can also find in this section references to articles, scientific journals or other patents that are related or that are worth to be able to compare the achievements and differences of other inventions, which are part of the so-called "prior state of the art". Claims: In this section the applicant specifies and defines what aspects, operations or results of the invention,they are the ones that you want to protect unlike other inventions. Illustrative drawings or diagrams that explain the operation of the object of the invention, among other applications.

The patent system plays a very important role in technical innovation processes at various levels: as an effective instrument for protecting innovation, as a mechanism for technology transfer and business exchange, and as a means of disseminating new technologies.

It has been shown that the cost of a patent information is substantially low for the profits that can be presented in the objectives of the companies.

Among the tangible benefits that patent information provides can be found:

Avoid duplication of research and development work. Information on Industrial Property allows knowing technological advances long before they are available on the market. Avoid payment for violation of third party rights in matters of Industrial Property.

At present these aspects are important when it comes to the search for efficiency in terms of resources, whether they are human due to the invested intellect, material and time.

There are situations in which researchers start a research project, a product that is in the research line of their profile and, however, other researchers in other latitudes have already worked and protected said research result. Consequently, the company has invested considerable efforts, which will not bring substantial benefits to the company.

An example of this wrongdoing and how it has impacted on economies can be corroborated in European statistics, which suggest that almost a third of the research carried out in Europe is not new, since they have already been protected by other entities. An annual loss for this concept is estimated, of approximately 2.6 billion pesetas of investment.

In contrast to the aforementioned, companies that have strong competition with other adversaries, have taken advantage of this tool to get ahead of competitors, or simply use patent information to study the technological, investigative and commercial potential of their peers.

This information also provides important important research paths for different solutions, in which companies were not aware that they had already been dealt with previously, and they avoid paths that can lead to infringements with other companies in the field of intellectual property.

In the case of an acquisition of a more useful or necessary technology than that owned by the entity, this investigation activity is very healthy, since companies promote their products to market them for their benefit, but it may not be optimal, according to to the availability, characteristics and internal conditions of the one who wishes to acquire it.

Conversely, patent information can be a powerful tool for the company to make its most modern and powerful technologies known to the commercial environment for future exchanges or negotiations with similar companies. The diffusion of the protected technologies would imply among its multiple functions, stimulating the commercial and investigative activity of the environment and attracting commercial partners.

It has been perceived that in the cases of research centers in underdeveloped countries, which do not have an advanced policy regarding Intellectual Property, they practically do not use this very important tool for technological, investigative and commercial knowledge of a company. Much of this consequence is due to insufficient management of intellectual property by the entity. Internal intellectual property systems offer greater organization in terms of action on the matter, and allow greater control of the intangible assets that companies have, in addition to encouraging research, surveillance and technology management activities.

Conclusions

It is necessary for research centers and companies in underdeveloped countries to intensify their innovative activities, as a measure to increase the social and economic development of a nation and to be able to face this globalized and monopoly market, which is increasingly voracious with small and medium-sized companies..

In unison with technological development and innovative activity, the technical information in the consultation sources increases, allowing a greater knowledge of the research lines in which they are working and the technologies that evolve or decline in their usefulness.

Intellectual Property information, and specifically that of patents, should constitute a main tool for future research projects, commercialization, or studies of competitors, among others.