INPI and CAS Collaborate to Improve Patent Application Examination Efficiency with new AI approach

CAS indexing data combined with advanced graph database technologies is proving to be an effective solution to improve patent pendency.

Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, and Columbus, Ohio — January 8, 2019 — The National Institute of Industrial Property (INPI) of Brazil and CAS, a division of the American Chemical Society that specializes in scientific information solutions, have initiated a collaboration to speed the processing of patent applications at INPI by improving the efficiency of the patent examination process.

CAS will apply data from its human-curated content collection in a new artificial intelligence (AI) solution. The technology combines scoring similarity, workflow classification and knowledge-space exploration capabilities to uncover a reliable set of prior art, or previously published information relevant to the subject innovation, which expedites patent examiners’ work.

“CAS’s technology can help INPI examiners quickly uncover relevant scientific information, a promising development for shortening the time of patent application processing,” said Luiz Otávio Pimentel, President of INPI Brazil.   

Improving Patent Application Pendency

“Addressing the timeliness of application processing at INPI is a top priority for the examination function,” affirmed Liane Elizabeth Caldeira Lage, Director of Patents, Softwares and Topography of Integrated Circuits. “We think CAS’s technology can help our examiners in application examination in chemistry and all other technical fields”.

As the new process is deployed, the INPI team will be able to significantly improve application pendency; however, this technology is likely to have broader implications. At a meeting in Brazil, Manuel Guzman, CAS President, commented that he believes the new technology can make a difference for patent pendency worldwide. 

“CAS’s semantically structured indexing data is the basis for the new solution,” Guzman said. “Our proficiency in AI and data analytics has grown as we focused on embracing big data opportunities during the development SciFinderⁿ, which introduced AI-driven answer relevance for text and substance queries.”  

Curating Patent Data to Accelerate Innovation 

CAS Senior Manager of Business Analytics and Insight, Yingqi Wu, further explains the impact of the collaboration between CAS and INPI. “As soon as patent applications are published, 18 months after filing, CAS scientists initiate the process of curating data from the patent into our Enterprise Big Data Hub. This curation includes indexing the full text of the patent, as well as collecting all examples and key claimed entities, such as chemical substances and inventive concepts.” 

AI techniques, including graph database neighbors and other similarity and machine learning techniques are used to present examiners with a set of relevant publications to inform their evaluation of the application novelty and inventive step considerations. “The teams are actively working together on workflow and processes that can make a significant difference in application pendency,” said Wu.

“The successful collaboration with INPI is the first of a number of potential alliances through which CAS may provide new graph database and AI capabilities,” Guzman explained. “Enhancing patent application examination efficiency is a critical opportunity to accelerate worldwide innovation against which we believe CAS is uniquely positioned to make a difference. CAS’s structured, curated data is like no other collection or technology ever applied to achieve these goals.”

About CAS

CAS, a division of the American Chemical Society, partners with R&D organizations globally to provide actionable scientific insights that help them plan, innovate, protect their innovations, and predict how new markets and opportunities will evolve. Scientific researchers, patent professionals and business leaders around the world across commercial, academic and government sectors rely on our solutions and services to advise discovery and strategy. Leverage our unparalleled content, specialized technology, and unmatched human expertise to customize solutions that will give your organization an information advantage. With more than 110 years’ experience, no one knows more about scientific information than CAS.

CAS – Where Science and Strategy Converge

About INPI

The National Institute of Industrial Property (INPI) is the official government body responsible for Industrial Property rights in Brazil being a federal autarchy of the Ministry of Industry, Foreign Trade and Services. INPI’s duties include: Trademarks registration, Patent grants, Technology Transfer and Franchising Contracts registration, Industrial Designs registration, Geographical Indications registration, Software registration and Topography of Integrated Circuits registration. Visit the INPI website at www.inpi.gov.br