Patent families and beyond: how to uncover all interrelated patents and applications

An adequate patent search to uncover all interrelated patents and applications is paramount to improving the chances of obtaining a patent.  

The lecture introduces the general concept of patent families and the way they are used at the EPO for Espacenet and other products or services. Examples and case studies illustrate how they are created and how they can be interpreted by patent information users.  

Beyond patent families are other closely interrelated patents and patent applications. This lecture presents simple but effective techniques which anyone can apply, using inventor names to retrieve related applications and scientific articles at pre-search stage based on techniques commonly used at the EPO. 

This training activity is planned in Q2. Exact dates and details to be announced.