Competitor Intelligence: Using IP and Patent Data 

Whether your company is at the top of the world or on its way there, you know that you always have a competitor on your tail. You may already be aware of who that competitor is, or he or she may be an unknown who plans to disrupt your market. You could keep running without knowing how close your competitor is to passing you, or you could use patent analysis to develop competitor intelligence. 

If you follow our blog, you are aware that patents do far more than protect your innovations. Patents can provide you with a wealth of information that will help you understand what is going on in your industry. Let’s talk about how you can improve your competitor intelligence so you can stop running and start strategizing. 

Analyze Your Portfolio 

Before you can start comparing your company to others, you must first determine the worth of your existing intellectual property. A thorough examination of your patent portfolio will provide you with an understanding of your current holdings. You’ll discover the validity and strength of each patent, as well as the breadth of the claims and the stability of the terms contained therein. 

With this information, you can proceed to the next step. 

Management and Maintenance 

Using patent analytics, you can see which of your intellectual property is propelling you forward, and which is dragging you down. Why keep patents that no longer help your business interests? You can now either let your patent expire or find entities interested in licensing your technology in order to monetize it. 

You’ll also be able to identify potential flaws, giving you the option of creating or purchasing the technology in question. A patent landscape will assist you in identifying areas of your industry in which innovation is possible. By enabling you to stake your claim on market share, you gain an unfair advantage over your competitors. 

Investigate the Landscape 

The landscape that displays the white space in your industry can also display the movements of your competitors. You can formulate a hypothesis about their direction based on current information about the patents they’re filing. 

Consider Blockbuster for a moment. Some argue that the rental giant could not have known Netflix was on the way. If they had searched for media-related patents, they would have discovered an unknown startup filing for patents for a media delivery system. 

While the information gathered from a patent may not be obvious in every case, there are other hints you may discover. For example, simply discovering patents filed by your competitors should prompt you to conduct additional research. You can also obtain all patents in that patent’s family to get a better understanding of what is being developed. If there is still insufficient information, you may be warned in advance if well-known research organizations are associated. 

Investigate Citations 

It is critical to conduct regular examinations of your own patents. While you may not discover any new knowledge the first time you score your patent portfolio, competitors are always working to catch up with you. By regularly investigating your own patents, you’ll be aware if someone creates new technology that cites any of the patents you already own. 

A citation of your patent does not always imply that competition is on the way, but it almost always does. You might come across a company that is planning to launch a new technology that will outperform yours in the market. If nothing else, someone citing your patent may make you aware of emerging market trends. 

As you can see, intellectual property analysis is critical to corporate strategy. You’ll always be running from your competitors if you don’t have competitor intelligence. Instead, stop running and begin constructing barriers to entry using the information you’ve gathered. As you discover new trends through patent analysis, determine where and how to enhance your own technology. 

Our Methodology

Using XLSCOUT’s Company Explorer you can qualitatively analyze a competitor’s patent portfolio to help you gain solid information for competitive leverage. A statistical process, advanced patent analytics, and a semantic search engine effectively identify the quality of intellectual assets.

The report generated from the analysis can act as a supplement to your expertise. It provides you with new actionable perspectives on intellectual property, patent competition, the marketplace, and other topics.

What exactly are you waiting for?

A comprehensive competitor intelligence tool must mine as well as analyze data. Only when meaning is applied to data does it have value. XLSCOUT’s AI-based tools begin and conclude your searches with meaning. This gives you an advantage in understanding the competitive landscape, anticipating your competitors’ moves, and identifying market opportunities.

XLSCOUT provides you with a competitive dashboard where you can compare the portfolios of different competitors and extract different insights like their filing trends, top problems they are trying to solve, their technology investments, their collaborations, their core patents, etc. With just a few clicks, it creates a patent landscape report tailored to your needs.