Assessment of patentability by means of semantic patent analysis – A mathematical-logical approach

Abstract

To obtain patent protection, a patent must fulfill statutory patentability requirements examined by a patent office. Such examinations are mostly performed manually and are quite time-consuming. Therefore, we suggest a computer-based process for the assessment of patentability by means of a mathematical-logical approach comparing patents with semantic structures. In order to make such an assessment, we compare the feature combinations of patent claims with the pertinent prior art. For proof of concept, the process has been tested successfully on an US-application claiming a method for raising a crane boom which can be categorized as non-patentable with regard to the requirement of non-obviousness. The result is consistent with that of a USPTO patent examiner, which underpins that at least under certain conditions not only patent examiners but also applicants and third parties can assess the chance and scope of protection for claimed inventions and patent applications with regard to patentability by our process.