Guangdong releases software to boost patent searches

Two types of intellectual property service software were recently released in South China'sGuangdong province, as part of efforts to accelerate the development of its IP service industryand boost technological innovation.
The products are the mobile app Patent Know, developed by Guangzhou Aokai InformationConsulting, and patent search and analysis system ISPATENT from Guangzhou HengchengZhidao Information Technology.
Both of them are designed to help companies and individuals explore the enormous patentinformation pool.
Patent information resources are the carrier of technical innovation and market competition, butdo not yet fulfill their important role, local officials said.
"Patent information is important, combining technical, legal and economic information," said LiQiang, director of the Guangdong Intellectual Property Research and Development Center.
"The analysis of patent information can help predict the trend of technology development, avoidinfringements upon others' intellectual property rights and interests, follow the technology andmarket trends, and develop products with more competitive advantages," Li said
Currently, the patent search tools of some businesses are still very simple, with insufficient dataanalysis abilities. The connection between patent information and product research anddevelopment is also not close enough, according to industry sources.
Statistics show that Chinese companies' utilization rate of patent information is about 35 percent,while in some developed countries such as the United States and Japan, the rate is as high as90 percent.
To fully explore the potential of patent information resources and allow companies, especiallymedium and small-sized businesses, to utilize patent information to its fullest, the Guangdonggovernment started a pilot project to construct a patent big data service base in 2014.
Through the integration of online and offline services and a combination of public andcommercial service models, the project aims to promote the exploration and use of regional andeven national patent information.
In addition to the two new software products, the province has established other serviceplatforms, such as a regional patent information center search and online application system andthe Guangdong province intellectual property public information comprehensive service platform.
The province has completed the construction of a regional patent information service center,which is the first of its kind in China. It has more than 100 million entries of global patentinformation and 30 specialized theme data bases, synchronizes with the national data center andcovers a huge amount of basic data resources.
"The exploration and use of patent information will promote the deep integration betweenintellectual property services and technological development, and plays a positive role for societyand economic development," said Xie Hong, vice-director of the Guangdong Intellectual PropertyOffice.