How combining blockchain technology and AI could benefit patent analysis

There has been much heated debate over the co-existence of blockchain technology with IP management. In simple terms, the blockchain technique can be described as “a system in which a record is maintained across several computers that are linked in a peer-to-peer network”. This illustrates the manner in which bitcoins or digital currency are monitored by distributing the data over various hubs or stations.

In a competitive world, where the value of time and information is so great, disputes often arise over the ownership of inventions and the grounds for infringement of such ownership.

Requirements of blockchain

In the IP world, any small difference – from the time or date of filing to the field of invention or modification of any conventional art – tends to define the novelty of a patent application. The time of implementation of any invention is a major concern. The foremost issue during the scrutinisation of any patent is generally the date or time at which the application was filed at the patent office. Thus, the primary concern of the patent application is often ensuring that the invention had similar features on the date of filing.

The main driver behind the use of blockchain technology in regard to intellectual property is to feed all relevant data of an invention into the respective databases. The storing of information for a patent application can be done directly by the appellate board or the patent office. As mentioned above, blockchain technology distributes the entered data over various hubs and stations so as to provide a higher level of security than that of storage techniques in a centralised database.

Fusion of AI and blockchain

With ongoing technical advancements, IP processes are becoming swifter and easier. There have been numerous developments with regard to the integration of data from intellectual property into blockchain technology. A combination of AI and blockchain technologies would be very exciting from an IP standpoint. The main purpose of the AI would be to assist in the analysis of various applications submitted at the patent office. As stated above, blockchains provide data with a higher precision but users are still required to create a query of keywords to find the most relevant data for their needs. With the involvement of AI, the amount of labour and time required for patent analysis or scrutiny would be reduced.

Patent analysis or scrutiny involves recording the results of patentability tests and many other types of analysis, such as landscape or freedom to operate. In daily practice, an analyser creates a list of queries or scripts in a search engine to find the relevant results for the invention. The results are then analysed and submitted with the conclusion of the analysis for the respective patent application. This process is costly and time consuming. From varied databases, the analyser reviews each individual prior art based on the query in order to submit a conclusive result. In the case of scrutinisation, data for the analysis is retrieved from the various data sets that are present in the blockchain technology.

AI technologies can bypass the task of analysing every relevant prior art and quickly reach a final conclusive result after the data is provided through the blockchain technique. AI technologies can also help to design better search queries, thereby saving time and costs for users and reducing the likelihood of human error when preparing a search strategy.

Inventors and researchers focus on the conclusive results obtained from a patent analysis in order to make decisions on further proceedings. The simultaneous use of blockchain technology and AI in the world of intellectual property will provide a much more advanced method of analysing and managing prior art and concurrent applications. From a controller perspective, this amalgamation of technology will reduce the likelihood of human error. The data stored through the blockchain technology will be much more secure and intact than that stored in centralised databases or data sets. The data field of knowledge and inventions, as well as any other research material, is vast and there is no guarantee of finding a result with existing technology. However, by using blockchain and AI, results may be achieved at a 95% accuracy.

Source: Lexology