Project Context and objectives

In an increasingly knowledge-based economy it is vital for companies to be able to quickly research information regarding patents, trademarks, and designs rights (collectively known as industrial property). However, while this information is publicly available, the tools to research it are limited and using the services of specialized companies is expensive, especially for SMEs.

Innovall aims to bridge this gap by creating a service that enables direct search and analysis of industrial property databases via a low-cost, easy-to-use web-based tool. Innovall’s objectives are thus to:

• Provide an affordable alternative to organizations in need of performing patent research;
• Create an industrial property search tool that is easy to access and use;
• Provide relevant search by looking for concepts rather than just exact words.

The methodology used by the search tool, which is based on the eContent feasibility study INNOVATRIX, improves on the common word-only search model. The user is asked to insert an Action and a Subject (e.g. “reduce friction”), to which synonyms are then added (e.g. “decrease”, “reduce”, “grip”, “resistance”) to capture conceptually related documents, rather than just the ones where the exact words appear. In this way Innovall’s results are more relevant and allow an easier cross-over of industrial property information from different business areas.

Services to be offered

The Innovall tool is an Industrial Property research engine that uses an unique searching method that looks for ideas rather than just for words like other engines. The Innovall service provides efficient, cost-effective search of patent databases through a user-friendly web site.
The methodology used by the search tool, which is based on the eContent feasibility study INNOVATRIX, improves on the common word-only search model. The user is asked to insert an Action and a Subject (e.g. “reduce friction”), to which synonyms are then added (e.g. “decrease”, “reduce”, “resistance”) to capture conceptually related documents, rather than just the ones where the exact words appear. In this way Innovall’s results are more relevant and allow an easier cross-over of industrial property information from different business areas.
This powerful new way to research industrial property can save precious time and money by retrieving the documents that capture an idea rather than just a word. For example if a dishwasher company wants to find better ways to clean, it can just search for “clean object”, and all related documents will be retrieved: the engine’s answer depicts all patented ways related to “clean an object”.

The Innovall tool also allows to search information on the companies holding patents, allowing to research their activities on several ways.

Areas of deployment

The service is being initially deployed in 4 pilot countries: Belgium, Italy, Portugal and Spain. There it will be submitted to a 10 month period of tests and trials by a total of 60 SMEs and 8 public institutions. After this market validation phase, and based on the testers’ feedback, the service’s business plan for self-sustainability will be fully developed. It is expected that will be based on the offering of several search service packages, each of which presenting a different combination of cost, user access and features.
The users in each of the 4 pilot countries will be given manuals in their local languages and support in their activities involving the tool. They will use the tool freely until the end of the project, after which they will be given the option to purchase one of the packages at discount prices. It is expected they will constitute the first kernel of clients.
After the end of the project the tool’s coverage will be slowly expanded beyond the 4 initial countries. This expansion will be based on finding local partners in other European countries to serve as representatives off the service. In particular it is expected that the service will be able to expand into the Baltic States (Estonia, Lithonia and Lithuania) given that the project’s consortium includes a partner from the area.

Impact

Innovall aims to provide cost-effective search of patent databases through a userfriendly web site. It will allow the research of patents, trademarks, and designs rights in a simple and affordable manner, providing an alternative for organizations – especially SMEs – that need to consult such information but often have few effective ways to do so.
The Innovall complete intellectual property search engine offers:

• Powerful search methodology: search the concept rather than the word;
• Broad coverage: engine uses a database of over 10 million patent documents;
• Easy to use: the search engine runs on a regular Web-browser;
• User-friendly interface: results shown in clear and concise graphics;
• Confidentiality: all data entered in the software is kept strictly confidential.

Relevant impacts related to the services are:

• Companies can be supported in searching intellectual property to improve their own work or knowing that of its competitors;

Organizations that need proper search on patent database can rely on this services and do not have to struggle on the different available systems;

Future perspectives

The Innovall service is being designed to fill a gap in the range of services commercially available, which today consists of either very limited but free (the crude search boxes of the online patent databases) or very complete but expensive (dedicated search provided by specialized companies and attorneys). The middle-range target set to Innovall should provide it with a core group of clients composed or Small and Medium Companies (SMEs), University departments and other organizations which necessitate to do Intellectual Property (IP) search but lack the resources or the need for expensive solutions.

Giving the raising demand for IP, and particularly Business Intelligence, the Innovall consortium expects to achieve a market penetration that will enable the service to be profitable within the first 2-3 years of operation.

Duration of the Project

October 2007 – March 2009

Funding source

Public funding EU, Private sector

Project size

Cost: 550.000 €

Links

• Website
• eTEN portal
• ePractice portal

Themes

• Patents
• search
• innovation

Contacts: