With a career that spans more than thirty-three years in the intellectual property (IP) field, Y.P. Jou is widely regarded as one of the most experienced and influential figures in the industry today.
As CEO and founder of InQuartik, he is leading a team of software developers and data engineers in developing solutions that utilize artificial intelligence (AI) and big data to deliver advanced analytics and actionable insights, in products like Patentcloud, InQuartik’s leading product brand.
So, with the year already past its mid-point, it seemed like a good time to sit down and talk with Y.P. about the state of the patent industry in 2018.
T: What do you think are the most important developments or biggest trends in the patent industry today?
Y.P.: To begin with, using patent big data to support patent life cycle management is a very important trend.
The patent life cycle encompasses everything from patent disclosure, prior art searching, deployment, filing preparation, filing, Office actions (OA), the granting of a patent, patent maintenance, patent portfolio management, and patent monetization.
In the past, no one was operating with the entire patent life cycle in mind.
This has changed, and the first important trend in the patent industry today is the use of global patent big data to support the entire course of patent life cycle management.
This support goes well beyond a basic patent search and delves into advanced analytics, and it encompasses not just software but an entire platform.
It also enables all those involved in a project to collaborate and share information in real-time.
This has changed, and the first important trend in the patent industry today is the use of global patent big data to support the entire course of patent life cycle management.
This support goes well beyond a basic patent search and delves into advanced analytics, and it encompasses not just software but an entire platform.
It also enables all those involved in a project to collaborate and share information in real-time.
T: What other important trends do you see in the patent industry?
Y.P.: The second major trend I see is measuring the quality and value of a patent and measuring patents on a large scale.
In the past, there simply wasn’t a tool or the data available to accomplish this. It was not possible to instantly measure the quality and value of a patent, and it was difficult to know all of the patents held by each company or in a specific field of technology.
Now, however, Patentcloud can do all of this.
Now, Patentcloud can review the quality and value of a patent, in particular published patents from the US and China, and in the near future, from the EU and Japan, as well.
So, measuring the quality and value of patents from major countries, instantly and at a glance, is the second big trend that I see in the patent industry today.
It should be noted that other patent software vendors mix these two concepts (patent quality and patent value) together, with some even adding in other elements, like price. This leads to less authentic and less precise results.
Patentcloud, however, has made sure to keep these two measurements separate. In fact, my team and I have spent the past fifteen years researching and developing the theories and methodologies for identifying the quality and value of each patent.
This is important because if a patent has no quality, it will have no value. If a patent has some quality, it may have some value. However, if a patent has some value, but no quality, it will still be useless.
So, the quality of a patent is the most basic of indicators. And Patentcloud’s Quality and Value Rankings are very powerful and very helpful.
In regards to this second trend (measuring the quality and value of a patent), when it comes to a specific patent, Patentcloud has a product called Quality Insights, which was formerly known as Validity Insights. And within the year, another new product—Value Insights—will be introduced to the market. These two products can be used to complement Patentcloud’s Quality and Value Rankings.
To explain, Patentcloud’s Quality and Value Rankings deliver quick analytics.
Patentcloud’s Quality Insights and upcoming Value Insights, however, offer advanced analytics, with a deeper dive into the details.
T: Can you elaborate a bit more about how these two trends you mentioned will affect the patent industry?
Y.P.: If these two trends come together and are built upon by Patentcloud, this can lead to a reduction in the number of patent applications globally.
In the past, the patent search tools that Patentcloud provides (big data analytics, Quality and Value Rankings, Quality Insights, and Value Insights, among others) were not available.
Now, however, these products and features can help to prevent companies from applying for useless or low-value patents.
This reduction in the quantity of patent applications around the world will lead to a reduction in costs and expenses. And then, this means that all applicants can deploy their patents precisely and in a reasonable quantity.
This will be the first real change.
Second, this will also make patent transactions and the patent transaction market healthier.
Currently, patent buyers and/or licensees usually end up buying and/or licensing many low-quality or even useless patents.
However, with Patentcloud, patent transactions, including the buying, selling, and licensing of patents as well as patent pledging and the use of patents as equity by start-ups, will become healthier, more transparent, and more efficient.
This will have a good effect on this market.
T: May I ask, why do some people or some companies end up buying low-value or even no-value patents?
Y.P.: In the past, in the patent transaction market, only a few patent claim charts were prepared to prove infringement, but hundreds and even thousands of patent were sold together at the same time.
However, 90 to 95 percent (and even up to 97 to 98 percent) of these patents are useless to the buyer. This occurs because there are no rankings or no deep data for these patents.
Patent transactions are always bundled transactions. Oftentimes, patents of limited quality and/or value are bundled together with many no-quality and no-value patents.
In fact, bundled transactions are actually unreasonable for buyers. They end up with many low-quality or no-quality patents, and after buying them, they still have to maintain them. These maintenance fees, service fees, official fees, and so on, can end up costing them quite a lot.
So, I believe that quality data will change patent transactions.
As well, quality data will also change patent litigation.
In the past, in patent litigation, 70 to 80 percent of patents are invalidated and/or unenforceable.
So, if a plaintiff can use Patentcloud, and in particular its Quality and Value Rankings, Quality Insights, and the upcoming Value Insights, before they file a suit, they can choose a patent with quality and value.
This will increase the likelihood of making that lawsuit a success, which, in other words, means that the chosen patent will not be invalidated by the defendant.
T: You mentioned that today 70 to 80 percent of these lawsuits are lost . . .
Y.P.: . . . because of patent quality.
This is because, in the past, almost all plaintiffs did not have the quality patent data or the tools to measure the quality and value of a patent before filing a suit.
This was a common situation.
This is why Patentcloud can change the litigation and transaction worlds, making them healthier, more transparent, and more efficient, with real results.
As well, both plaintiffs and defendants, buyers and sellers, and licensees and licensors can save a lot of money that would have otherwise been spent on lawyers, patent attorneys, technical experts, or service fees.
For these reasons and with these trends in mind, I believe that Patentcloud can change the patent industry.
T: Thank you for sharing your views.
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It was a pleasure to sit down with Y.P. Jou and hear his insights into the biggest trends in the patent industry today.
One key takeaway from the interview is the importance of determining the quality and value of patents (and having the quality patent data and advanced analytics tools to do this), especially when it comes to the patent transaction and litigation markets.
I look forward to discussing patent-related topics further with Y.P. and sharing these conversations with our readers on our InQuartik blog.
