Patent retrieval architecture based on document retrieval. Sketching out the Spanish patent landscape

Abstract

A patent is a property granted to any new shape, configuration or arrangement of elements, of any device, tool, instrument, mechanism or other object or part thereof, that allows for a better or different operation, use or manufacture of the object that incorporates it or that provides it with some utility, advantage or technical effect that it did not have before. As a document, a patent really is a title that recognizes the right to exploit the patented invention exclusively, preventing others from making, selling or using it without the consent of the owner. The fact of making a patent is motivated by the fact of promoting creativity, hindering competition in the market as only one person holds the patent, thus protecting the initial investment and fighting against plagiarism. Patents are available to the public for dissemination and general knowledge. It is generally recognized in the specialized literature that patents can be used as an indicator to calculate the results generated by research and development activities, being a very useful indicator to measure various social, economic or technological aspects. For this reason, it is of relevant interest to have tools or systems that allow us to obtain the patents developed in a specific period of time and to carry out analyses of various economic and social factors. These analyses can serve to obtain a social perspective of society’s progress in the technological field, and this is why an analysis of patents is of our interest. This paper proposes a platform specifically designed to obtain knowledge about patents as an indicator of Spanish social, economic or technological aspects. For this purpose, the platform retrieves, analyses and visualizes functionalities that represent data on the landscape of patents obtained from the Spanish Patent and Trademark Office (OEPM) as a particular case of study.