The Visual Patent Citation Map
March 15, 2010
For the average inventor, creating a new invention may be the easiest part of the patent process. This is due to the complex system by which patents are filed and researched. The current reference structure is numerically based, which gives the researcher little, if any information about the patent prior to investigating it.
With the innovation of technology and a migration onto digital databases, patent research has become more easily accessible to the average inventor. However, this research is still a tedious process of looking up file numbers, and cross-checking citations.
The goal of this map is to demonstrate the concept of a visual patent citation structure. This method of illustrating the connections between inventions allows the researcher to immediately identify the relevance of existing patents both to each other and to a prospective patent.
Click Here for full-size pdf (8.5mb)
This process of visually mapping citations illuminates the evolution of inventions and how seemingly irrelevant inventions play a role in the development of other technologies. In this map of paper-clip patents, we can clearly see how different designs of paper-clips evolved over the last century, and how the technology for this simple invention was employed by other, more complex, inventions such as paint-brush holders, orthodontic headgear, or even a donkey harness.
Another discovery, gained through the process of creating this citation map, is that even the most simple things we use every day have become commonplace through a long evolution of innovation. The subject of a paper-clip was originally chosen to simplify the concept of citation mapping. However, through researching the history of this rudimentary object, it was found to have hundreds of relevant citations. If this basic, bent piece of metal can have such a large family of relevant patents, imagine what the map of a complex object, like a computer might look like. In fact, this poster has been scaled down in scope for clarity of concept.
Ideally, the final form of this visual citation structure would embody an interactive database. One which software would generate a 3-dimensional map based upon the user’s initial entry, and, through a graphic user interface, a researcher could navigate the space to find the necessary information.
This form of research facilitates the user to rapidly identify relevant citations through visual depictions and engages the user in a virtual space. This kind of non-linear display allows the researcher to see how seemingly irrelevant patents may have significant impact on each other by using spatial relationships.
Viewing citations in this manner is like looking at all the papers in a folder laid out on a table rather than one by one. Therefore, letting you expand your scope and see the big picture.
Special Thanks to Mo-Ran Park
for allowing me to collaborate
with her on this project.
