NL Patent Office

What is information from patents?

The majority of the global technical innovative developments are described in patent literature. By searching patent literature, you can therefore glean surprising information.

What type of information does patent literature contain? Patent literature allows you to:

• Find various solutions that have already been invented in your specialist field
• Check what companies are using a particular technology
• Discover the trends and developments in your field
• Get an idea of your (future) competitors
• Discover (potential) collaboration partners
• Examine which countries may be of interest for your product(s)

Patents as a source of knowledge
If you want to carry out a successful update, you must have your business in good technical and commercial order. You must timely carry out research into technical developments, activities of competitors and necessary investments. Patent information can be found in the patent databases.

Every innovation should start with a (patent) search. After all, in the case of innovation, it is important to be well-informed of technological developments that already exist.