Classification overlap-based patent searching technique using hierarchical classification structure

Abstract

As technology continues to develop, the number of patents in each technical field continues to increase. It becomes increasingly difficult to accurately search for patent sets on specific technologies. Many studies on patent search have proposed many methodologies. However, due to the semi-structured nature of patent documents, these methods all have limitations. This study attempts to develop a method that uses patent classifications system to collect a wide range of patents for a specific technology while maintaining accuracy. This paper improves the COM method and proposes a New COM, which makes use of the hierarchical structure of the patent classification system. The proposed method raises the level of patent classifications that make up the search query to expand the scope of the search. And add more classifications to the search query to guarantee accuracy. In the end, the method is tested by a patent set about solar photovoltaic searched by keyword. The results show improvement compared to the COM