A similarity search may be conducted from the hitlist on selected records of one or several families (up to 1 000) to find similar patents or refine the result sets.
Similarity searches allow you to broaden your search using advanced algorithms based on the following criteria, when present: codes (CPC, IPC, US classifications), common citations (cited and citing), extended families (priority numbers in common) and concepts. We sometimes refer to the 3Cs: codes, citations and concepts and priority numbers in common too.
This is a widely used and very useful strategy for identifying patents that are similar to the underlying data set. The results of a similarity search can be reviewed to identify potential licensees, partners and/or companies working in very similar technologies.
The records found are automatically ranked by relevance (relevance score) and share at least one of the criteria.
Two options are available:
Option 1: Search similar patents:
The search is conducted to find similar patents in the entire worldwide databases.
Option: 2 Restrict to similar patents:
The search is conducted to find similar patents within the underlying dataset of the selection list.
Use the KWIC (Keyword in context) tab to determine similar values of each families.