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A D V A N C E D M A T E R I A L S & P R O C E S S E S | N O V E M B E R / D E C E M B E R 2 0 1 9 2 1 of interest might be entities that have cited patents within the metals compa- ny portfolio and are therefore develop- ing closely related technologies. Figure 5 shows various entities with patents that cite the metals com- pany’s portfolio. Ordered by their re- cency (from least to most recent) are citations classified as “highly relevant.” Patent Intelligence: The pro- cess of monetizing patents is driven by the significant costs for both filing and maintaining a patent portfolio, espe- cially if the patents are filed in multiple global jurisdictions. As illustrated in this scenario, the first step in this process is to identify patents in the portfolio that might attract the greatest amount of in- terest externally—and presumably the highest license or sale price. The second step of identifying po- tentially interested parties from cita- tion analysis yields a list of possible target entities to contact for licensing or sales negotiations. Several business and strategic factors need to be consid- ered in addition to the interest of these entities, including the degree to which they compete with the metals compa- ny or, alternatively, the likelihood that they have the resources to successfully complete the license/sales transaction. Based on these criteria, the four gas tur- bine manufacturers might be obvious entities to target, whereas the global metals competitor would not. Although the Japanese government research lab and the university tech transfer office may not be good candidates for a li- cense/sales transaction, they may still be worth contacting to explore options for connecting with their partners or university-industry consortia. PUTTING PATENT INTELLIGENCE TO WORK In all the examples shown here, the underlying needs of an organization are addressed through the examination of large patent collection data to uncov- er meaningful patterns, trends, and re- lationships, and then the interpretation of these to address those that are most pressing. Because business needs vary across organizations, technologies, and timeframes, the specific analytics de- veloped for any single study will like- wise vary. For any study, however, the overall framework of business drivers, questions, patent analytics, and pat- ent intelligence remains the same. The desired end result is always a higher quality, data-informed decision-mak- ing process for big-bet investments in technology development and commer- cialization. Whether this study is per- formed in-house using patent search and analytics tools or through services provided by external vendors, the costs in terms of money, resources, and time should be far outweighed by the value of increased investment success rates. ~AM&P Formoreinformation: JeffreyM.David- son, consultant – Patent Analytics, Der- went, 1500 SpringGarden, Philadelphia, PA 19130, 215.386.0100, jeff.davidson@ clarivate.com, https://clarivate.com/ derwent. References 1. Journal of Thermal Spray Technol- ogy, 13(4), December 2004, pp. 473-476. 2. World Intellectual Property Organi- zation (WIPO), PatentScope, http:// patentscope.wipo.int/search/en/search. jsf. 3. UnitedStates Patent andTrademark Organization (USPTO), www.uspto.gov/ patents/process/search/index.jsp. 4. European Patent Office (EPO), Espacenet, http://worldwide.espacenet. com. 5. Google Patents, https://patents. google.com/. 6. PatentLens, www.lens.org . 7. Derwent Innovation, www.derwen- tinnovation.com. 8. Orbit Intelligence, www.orbit.com . 9. PatSeer, www.patseer.com. 10. Derwent Data Analyzer, https:// clarivate.com/products/derwent-data- analyzer. 11. Taylor, R.P. and Germeraad, P., “Visualize Your Intellectual Property,” Research-Technology Management, Vol. 51, Issue 4, 2008. Fig. 4 — The metals company’s DSI patent portfolio profile. Fig. 5 — Patents citing the metals company’s patent portfolio related to AM for aerospace applications (circle size represents volume of citing patents).