How can you get the most out of the Ambercite AI patent search engine?

People sometimes ask - how can we get the best out of Ambercite AI, for example in prior art searching?

Ambercite is an AI-powered patent search system that applies unique algorithms to a database of over 120 million patents to find similar patents to one or more starting patents. It has been independently shown to outperform other AI systems, and when used in combination with conventional keyword/class code patent searching, to produce higher quality results than keyword searching alone.

OK, this all sounds great - but - this is an additional process to go through, and we all know that time is short. So how can a skilled user, for example, a patent searcher or examiner, get the most out of the Ambercite? And maximise their patent searching productivity by getting better results in less overall time?

Ambercite can be used at any time during a search, but we suggest the following applications are most time-efficient:

1) Using Ambercite at the beginning of a search, when a good reference patent is known

The most obvious case of this is when searching any published patent, for example, a PCT patent such as shown below. Simply plug the patent number into Ambercite, such as shown below, and a group of similar patents, in ranked order of similarity, are shown.

The obvious benefit of this is that the patents shown may be what you are looking for, such as the patent highlighted below (which has not been previously cited against the Nike patent, but appears to be relevant).

But even if not, the terminology and class codes for these similar patents can help you develop keyword and class-code queries for your conventional search queries.

Need to filter these results down a bit? In some specialized areas, it can be helpful to export these patent numbers into a conventional search engine and applying a keyword filter on the results - although the top-ranked patents are always worth looking at, regardless of keywords.

2) Using Ambercite at the beginning of a search, when a good reference patent is not known

This is a bit counter-intuitive, but sometimes I just take a stab at a few good keywords in Google Patent and look at the first page or two of results. If one or two of these patents seem relevant, I copy these patent numbers into Ambercite - and can end up with a whole lot more relevant results. And again, we can then look at the terminology and class codes for the best patents that we found in Ambercite, and use these terms and class codes to help build our conventional search queries.

If you prefer to use other initial search systems than Google Patent to find starting patents, that is fine - whatever works for you.

3) Using Ambercite when you think you have finished a conventional search

This is a different picture. You have done a comprehensive search using keywords and class codes, and you think you have found what are the best patents out there. But are you sure? This a very common question for patent searchers.

There is an easy way to check. You can add these best patents into Ambercite, maybe put the other patents you have found into the hide box, and run a search for similar patents:

The results will either tell you:

a) None of the similar patents are any better than the patents you have already found. Well done! You have obviously done a good search.

b) You find patents that are better, or just as good as the patents that you have already found. Well done! The patents you used in Ambercite were obviously relevant, but you have improved on them.

Either way - in just a short period of time, you have double-checked your search results.

Can Ambercite reduce the total amount of time spent patent searching?

Applying an additional process can seem like a way of adding additional time, but this does not have to be the case. Any of the above steps can help take time out of the overall process. Even the last step - if you end up with a good set of results, this means that you may reduce the amount spent on conventional patent searching.

As an analogy, imagine that a cook acquires a microwave oven as well as a conventional oven. Using both ovens appropriately gives flexibility and can speed up the overall cooking process - which is why so many kitchens have both types of oven.

Other applications for Ambercite

Ambercite can also be used to identify licensing prospects and litigation risks, as discussed in this case study in relation to a $1.9 billion court judgment against Cisco.

Want to try Ambercite for yourself?

Ambercite offers free trials, but to get the most of this, please contact us for a demonstration. You can try either option via the links below: