Software Solution Analyzes Patent Rights

Innovation is the lifeblood of many manufacturing companies, and with that innovation comes the need for information on patents and patent rights. Business intelligence firm SAS Institute Inc. has introduced a software solutions that it believes can help firms analyze their own and their competitors' patent rights to make better strategic business decisions. SAS Innovation Analysis is an application service provider (ASP) solution that provides patent intelligence to life sciences, high-tech, consumer-packaged products and other manufacturers that need comprehensive patent analysis. The solution, says Cary, N.C.-based SAS, uses a concept-based pattern recognition algorithm to search a 15-terabyte database of patent submissions from patent offices around the world. The search extends beyond simply matching key words to also locate similar concepts. A search for "cup" for example, would return patents for "goblet," "tumbler," and others as well, SAS explains.