Keywords

Search
Ma. Winelma M.
Garcia
IP Rights Specialist II
(IPSDD, DITT Bureau)
Patent Search
• Is an iterative process by which
prior inventions are examined, with
the goal of finding information that
bears close similarity to a given
patent or proposed invention

• Is a search conducted in patent

databases as well as in the
literature available to check
whether any invention similar to
your invention already exists
Basic Search Mechanisms
Three types of searching for conducting
a prior art search:

Classification Text
searching searching

Citation
searching
Keyword Based Search
One of the basic strategies

Synonyms, Industry Jargon, legalese or patentese truncations are used.

Iterative kind of search

Keywords are taken from different parts of the document.

It can be helpful to generate a variety of keywords before beginning the search.

Avoid broad and generic terms such as “device’’, “process” “system”, etc. Such
terms will tend to bloat your results.

Search strings are modified to converge towards the desired domain

Keywords

• describe essential
technical features of the
invention
Keyword
s • can be searched in the
title, abstract, description,
or claims
Keywords: Language, Synonyms and
Equivalents

Not all patent documents are

written in English

color vs. colour; plow vs. plough;

center vs. centre

truck vs. lorry;

backpack vs. rucksack;
diaper vs. nappy; elevator vs. lift
Keywords

• Include synonyms in the

keyword list.
Synony • Search for synonyms e.g.
using specialized
ms dictionaries
• synonyms are taken from
results of search
Keywords

• The keyword list should include

industry specific terminology.  
Industr • These terms are particularly

y useful because their use may be

limited specifically to a
Jargon particular industry.  
• If so, the search results will be
more focused on the invention.  
Patentese

Legal jargon used in patents

1. Comprise, comprising
2. Consist, consisting
 Legalese
the specialized language of the legal profession

An example of legalese

“Many lawyers find it difficult to use plain English”, and prefer are more archaic style of writing.
Here is an example of legalese found at the end of a deed:

In witness whereof the parties hereunto have set their hands to these presents as a deed on
the day month and year hereinbefore mentioned. (24 words)

And here is a plain language version of the same text:

Signed on (DATE) …………. (2 words plus the date)

https://www.translegal.com/lesson/an-example-of-legalese
Legalese / Patentese
• words or technical terms that are a generalization of the original
elements
• are invented and defined ad hoc by the patent writers and will
generally not end up in any dictionary or lexicon

• Many of the documents are written by patent attorneys meaning that

the documents are full of legalese
• To broaden applicability of the patent application, attorneys may use
generic terms instead of industry jargon to describe the invention

Legalese
• the formal and technical language of legal documents that is
often hard to understand

Patentese • The legal jargon used in patents

Legalese / Patentese

• “mouse trap” can also be a “rodent

extermination device”
Legalese / Patentese
Legalese / Patentese
Legalese / Patentese
Legalese / Patentese
Legalese / Patentese
For "camera" returns these patents that use very different phrases in
place of "camera":

 Photographing optical apparatus (US5727239)

 Image pickup device with facial region detector and method of
synthesizing image including facial region (US7440013)
 Digital photographing device with separate optical distortion
correction for dynamic images and still images (US7265787)
 Image sensing apparatus (US7671896)
 Recording apparatus and method, reproducing apparatus and
method, and program (US8520086)
 Image capturing system, image capturing device, and image
capturing method (US8369701)
 Eye examining instrument with photo-detecting system
(US4257687)
Legalese / Patentese
smartphon
e
you are searching for patent
documents using keywords
cellular phone, mobile phone
or smartphone
you are going to miss the
patent documents that
describe a smartphone with
a keyword like “handheld
device”, “portable
communication device”,
“portable communication
terminal” or “wireless
communication device”
Keywords: Truncation
Truncation/ word-stemming

Uses wildcard characters such as an asterisk * or a

question mark ? to substitute for any other character
or characters when added next to a string of search
terms

attach* - attach, attached, attaching, attachment, attachable

*attach - reattach (re-attach)
*attach* - reattaching (re-attaching), reattached (re-attached)
speciali?ation – specialisation, specialization
commerciali?ation – commercialisation, commercialization
Keywords: Truncation

Truncati • Restricts the maximum

on or length of strings
Word • Ex: elect* -> electric,
Stemmin electrical, electricity,
g etc.

But wait…
take extra care, because this might include irrelevant words,
such as election, elect, etc.
Keywords: Spelling

vulcanization

Option 1-vulcanization
or vulcanisation
Option II – vulcani?ation
Option III – vulcani*

vulcanisation
Keywords: Spelling

color

Option 1-color or
colour
Option II – colo*

colour
Keywords: Phrase Searching

Use quotation marks “ ” when

searching for a phrase

Examples:
“solar panel”
“electronic cigarette”
Keywords: Boolean Operators
(AND, OR, NOT)
• tennis AND racket: all docs having both the
word tennis and racket
• tennis OR racket: all docs having either the
word tennis or the word racket
• tennis NOT racket: all docs having the word
tennis but not the word racket
Keywords: Boolean Operators
(AND, OR, NOT)
Nesting

A OR B AND C

(A OR B) AND C A OR (B AND C)
Nesting
Keywords: Parenthesis/Brackets

• Used when keywords are nested to clarify the

order of search query elements

• For example, you want to find patent documents

on either red seaweeds or brown seaweed
 seaweed AND red OR brown  possible that a search database
may confuse the search as (seaweed AND red) OR brown
 seaweed AND (red OR brown)
Keywords: Parenthesis/Brackets

• Wrong format
– Dog OR cat OR pet AND cage OR
kennel OR housing
• Using proper brackets
– (Dog OR cat OR pet )AND(cage OR
kennel OR housing)
SCOPING THE SEARCH

Properly
Generating Text Queries
EXAMPLE: RFID

A shipping company would like to improve its

logistics management. You've been asked to
perform a search for inventions related to radio
frequency identification (RFID) tags used to
track the movement of containers.
Key Concepts

radio frequency identification

RFID
containers
Phrases

“radio frequency identification”

RFID
containers
Boolean Operators

“radio frequency identification”

OR
RFID
AND
containers

Indicate relationships between concepts

(synonyms and additional concepts)
Nesting

(“radio frequency identification” OR RFID)

AND containers

Resolve ambiguous logic

Wildcard Operators

(“radio frequency identification” OR RFID)

AND container*

Include variants (here: plural form)

mobile phone
• Bad search
– Title/Abstract: ‘mobile phone’

• Poor search
– Description: ‘mobile phone’
– Title/Abstract: electronic device
mobile phone
• Good search (exhaustive)
– Field search is combination of title, abstract,
claims and specs
– ‘mobile phone’ OR ‘cell phone’ OR ‘cellular
phone’ OR ‘hand phone’ OR ‘portable
telecommunication device’ OR ‘portable electronic
device’ OR ‘handheld communication device’ OR
‘handheld electronic device’
– Plurals
Exercise
• Construct a search string for eyeglass
Search string for eyeglass
Spellings
• eyeglasses, eye glass
Synonyms or word variations
• eyewear, spectacle, goggle, shades, lens
Phrase
• “eye glass”, “eye wear”
Truncation/word-stemming
• eyeglass*, “eye glass*”, spectacle*, goggle*
Boolean operator
• eyeglass* OR “eye glass*” OR eyewear OR “eye wear” OR spectacle*
OR goggle*
Search string for corrective eyeglass

• What if you need to search for patent docs

about corrective eyeglass?
• Nesting:
– (eyeglass* OR “eye glass*” OR eyewear OR “eye
wear” OR spectacle* OR goggle* OR lens) AND
(corrective OR ophthalmic)
– (eyeglass* OR “eye glass*” OR eyewear OR “eye
wear” OR spectacle* OR goggle* OR glass* OR
lens) AND (correct* OR ophthalmic)
 SAMPLE INVENTION
A patch for administering vaccines that comprises
microscopic projections made of silicon produced using
deep reactive ion etching, with a length adapted to reach
Langerhans cells, for improving immune responses
through delivery and eliminating the cold chain.

Build out concepts and terms around the technology area of

interest
CONCEPTS: Initial Text Queries
A patch for administering vaccines that comprises microscopic projections
made of silicon produced using deep reactive ion etching, with a length
adapted to reach Langerhans cells, for improving immune responses through
delivery and eliminating the cold chain.
• immune response
• cold chain
• patch
• microscopic projection
• silicon
• deep reactive ion etching
• langerhans cell
• vaccine
QUERY: QUICK AND DIRTY

"immune response" AND "cold chain" AND patch* AND

"micro* projection*" AND silicon AND "deep reactive ion
etching" AND "langerhans cell*" AND vaccin*
INVENTION: Scoping the Search

A patch for administering vaccines that comprises

microscopic projections made of silicon produced using
deep reactive ion etching, with a length adapted to reach
Langerhans cells, for improving immune responses
through delivery and eliminating the cold chain.

• What problem does the invention solve?

• What is the invention? (Describe what the invention physically is)
• What does the invention do?
INVENTION DIAGRAM
SOLUTION
PROBLEM
What it is: What it does:
(structure) (function)

immune response • patch vaccine

cold chain • microscopic
projection
• silicon
• deep reactive ion
etching
• langerhans cell
INVENTION: SOLUTION
(STRUCTURE, FUNCTION)
• vaccine
• patch
• microscopic projection
• silicon
• deep reactive ion etching
• langerhans cell
Invention: Brainstorm synonyms
and equivalents
• vaccine: inoculation, antigen, antibody generator
• patch
• microscopic projections: microprojections,
nanoprojections, microscopic needles, microneedles,
nanoneedles
• silicon
• deep reactive ion etching: DRIE
• langerhans cell: dendritic cell, antigen-presenting immune
cell
Query: Keywords
• vaccine inoculation antigen antibody generator
• patch
• microscopic projections microprojections nanoprojections
microscopic needles microneedles nanoneedles
• silicon
• deep reactive ion etching DRIE
• langerhans cell dendritic cell antigen-presenting immune
cell
Query: Place Boolean operator
• vaccine OR inoculation OR antigen OR antibody
generator
• patch
• microscopic projections OR microprojections OR
nanoprojections OR microscopic needles OR
microneedles OR nanoneedles
• silicon
• deep reactive ion etching OR DRIE
• langerhans cell OR dendritic cell OR antigen-presenting
immune cell
Query: Phrase
• vaccine OR inoculation OR antigen OR "antibody
generator"
• patch
• "microscopic projections" OR microprojections OR
nanoprojections OR "microscopic needles" OR
microneedles OR nanoneedles
• silicon
• "deep reactive ion etching" OR DRIE
• "langerhans cell" OR "dendritic cell" OR "antigen-
presenting immune cell"
Query: Apply stemming
• vaccin* OR inoculat* OR antigen* OR "antibody
generat*"
• patch*
• "micro* projection*" OR microprojection* OR
nanoprojection* OR "micro* needle*" OR microneedle*
OR nanoneedle*
• silicon
• "deep reactive ion etching" OR DRIE
• "langerhans cell*" OR "dendritic cell*" OR "antigen-
presenting immune cell*"
Query: Put parentheses
• (vaccin* OR inoculat* OR antigen* OR "antibody
generat*")
• patch*
• ("micro* projection*" OR microprojection* OR
nanoprojection* OR "micro* needle*" OR microneedle*
OR nanoneedle*)
• silicon
• ("deep reactive ion etching" OR DRIE)
• ("langerhans cell*" OR "dendritic cell*" OR "antigen-
presenting immune cell*")
Query: Nesting

(vaccin* OR inoculat* OR antigen* OR "antibody

generat*") AND patch* AND ("micro* projection*" OR
microprojection* OR nanoprojection* OR "micro*
needle*" OR microneedle* OR nanoneedle*) AND
silicon AND ("deep reactive ion etching" OR DRIE)
AND ("langerhans cell*" OR "dendritic cell*" OR
"antigen-presenting immune cell*")
Final Text Query

(vaccin* OR inoculat* OR antigen* OR "antibody generat*")

AND patch* AND ("micro* projection*" OR
microprojection* OR nanoprojection* OR "micro* needle*"
OR microneedle* OR nanoneedle*) AND silicon AND ("deep
reactive ion etching" OR DRIE) AND ("langerhans cell*" OR
"dendritic cell*" OR "antigen-presenting immune cell*")
Basic Search Strategy (I)
(applicable to any patent search)

1. Find keywords expressing the essential concept of

invention (alternatively, start with IPC, i.e. in step (4)
and then use keywords)
2. Find synonyms of these keywords from:
• technical dictionaries
• documents already found in this technical field
• patents classifications
• Tools such as CLIR
3. Carry search to see first broad results indicating
also more synonyms and classifications
Basic Search Strategy (II)
4. Find useful patent classification symbols
5. Use keyword search to find the most relevant
classification (compare different classifications if
necessary as regards their relevance to your search)
6. Carry out search to find relevant classified
documents
Basic Search Strategy (III)
7. Combine the results of the classification search with
additional features of the searched technology using
keywords
8. Iterate this procedure (1-7)
9. In general, start broadly (recall) and narrow down
(precision) to relevant documents as search progresses
10.Read carefully a manageable number of documents
In summary…
Build out concepts and terms of technology
Address invention in methodical way (Problem-Solution
Approach)
Brainstorm synonyms, word variations or equivalents

Apply “quotation marks ” when searching for specific phrases

Apply word-stemming

Regroup terms related to a concept using Boolean operator

Avoid broad and generic terms such as “device’’, “process”
“system”, etc. Such terms will tend to bloat your results.
Use (parentheses) to organize search