Questel ORBIT IP - Fast and Effective at Finding Patents
Jinfo Blog

By Graham Southorn

Abstract

Questel ORBIT IP provides you with the tools not just to find patents but analyse them effectively as well - read our product review to find out more.

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Ideas can be worth their weight in gold. According to Joseph Hadzima of the MIT Sloan School of Management, up to 80% of a company's value comes from intangible assets including patents, trademarks and copyright.

For protecting your own patents, and surveying other companies', it's crucial that organisations have the best available tools.

That's why we've reviewed an array of patent search products, among them Questel ORBIT IP - read the Product Review of Questel ORBIT IP by our expert Scott Vine of global law firm Clifford Chance LLP.

Patent Info for Everyone

ORBIT IP is just one of several online intellectual property tools from Questel (a mini review of its recently acquired product Intellixir is coming soon to Jinfo). Consequently, Questel has something for everybody. As Scott points out, its customers include "anyone with a serious interest in patents: research scientists, design engineers or R&D managers, business analysts, marketing professionals, information professionals, and, of course, lawyers."

The ORBIT IP database splits patents into categories, grouping them by type of invention and country. These are compiled from over 100 patent authorities worldwide, while a full-text collection is compiled from 21 patent offices.

A useful function for finding patents is the product's semantic search. "This option allows you to write or paste in a paragraph of text, which the product then analyses for concepts," writes Scott.

Analyse Your Portfolio

Once you've found a patent, ORBIT IP provides tools to comprehensively analyse it. You can discover exactly what people or companies have patented, or those they've applied for, and see how yours measure up.

"It helps users identify the relative strength of their portfolio against competitors' portfolios, to help them determine whether it is likely to have the ability to exclude or dissuade others from entering the market," explains Scott in his review.

Useful though these features sound, many similar products are available and we've put together several full product reviews to help you make the best possible decision. We've looked at PatentAdvisor, LexisNexis TotalPatent, Minesoft PatBase, Thomson Innovation, and Innography. A review of PatSeer Premier is coming soon.

Find Out More

When we reviewed ORBIT IP, Questel was in the process of adding new evaluation modules. One, Licensable Art, analyses a patent portfolio and suggests small groups of patents that would benefit most from licensing.

Overall, Scott found ORBIT IP a "fast and effective tool for conducting fundamental basic or advanced patent searching, and for doing quick and easy analysis of your search data. It is helped by the inclusion of US litigation information and links."

For more on the contents of ORBIT IP's patent database, its user interface and analytical tools, read the full Product Review of Questel ORBIT IP.

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