What is my competitor really up to

Released on: October 3, 2007, 5:21 am

Press Release Author: Evalueserve

Industry: Telecommunications

Press Release Summary: Evalueserve research, using multiple patent databases to
collect competitive intelligence, leads to very interesting revelations. Evalueserve
found several patent applications which provide hints that Google may be developing
a Google Phone and also targeting the TV and video games market.

Press Release Body: Ever wondered what Google has been up to lately? How about
Yahoo!, Microsoft, IBM or other high tech companies? Many professionals, companies
and organizations frequently have the same questions about their key competitors.
However, since this information is proprietary and highly confidential, there is
almost no likelihood of getting these answers directly from the companies.

Since these leading edge companies are constantly innovating and creating barriers
for their competitors, they are also continuously filing patent applications and
getting many - if not most - of these granted. Hence, searching through databases,
such as those provided by the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO),
which contain recently published patent applications and granted patents, is one way
of gaining an insight into the strategic direction of these companies.

Companies try to keep their strategies secret for as long as possible. Especially in
the technology sector, where changes and innovations take place very fast,
preventing competitors from knowing about their future products and services can be
critical.

Evalueserve, a global research and analytics firm, recently used a combination of IP
search techniques and found, for example, that as much as 88 percent of Google's US
patent portfolio may not be uncovered by simply searching traditional databases. In
addition, Evalueserve has discovered several interesting patent applications, which
provide hints that Google may be in the process of developing its own Google Phone.
Finally, the patent applications Evalueserve has tracked also suggest that Google
might be targeting the TV and video games markets and may be developing a device
that can facilitate supermarket shopping with mobile phones.

Evalueserve research shows that traditional search techniques that only use
databases such as the USPTO database, which comprises granted patents and published
applications, for analysing a company's patent portfolio may not be sufficient.

Evalueserve suggests the following complementary techniques:

. One technique is searching through patent-assignment databases, some of which are
freely available while others are provided by Intellectual Property (IP) database
vendors as licenses. For example, a complementary search within the USPTO
patent-assignment database can yield some of the missing ownership information,
especially if the granted patents and published applications were filed by one
entity and later acquired by another.
. Another technique is checking accuracy by using complementary databases, e.g., by
correlating Patent Cooperation Treaty (PCT) filing information with USPTO filing
information.
. Yet another technique is performing inventor-based searches along with
assignee-based searches which often yield more meaningful results. This technique
really works well because there are many published applications for which ownership
information may not have been recorded earlier.

By using a combination of the techniques mentioned above, firms such as Evalueserve
can provide clients with a more holistic view of a company's IP activities and
innovation efforts. This information is more valuable than ever in today's
fast-paced world of innovation.

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About Evalueserve: Evalueserve provides custom research and analytics services to
over 1000 corporations and other organizations in the following five areas:
Intellectual Property, Market Research, Business Research, Financial/Investment
Research, Data Analytics and Modelling. Executives from IBM and McKinsey founded
Evalueserve in December 2000, and it has completed over 13,000 projects till date
for its globally dispersed client base. Approximately one thousand of these research
engagements have focused on emerging markets including India, China, Latin America
and Eastern Europe. Evalueserve currently has over 2,100 professionals in the
following four research and analytics' centres: Delhi-Gurgaon, India; Shanghai,
China; Santiago-Valparaiso, Chile; and New York, USA. Additionally, a team of 50
client engagement managers is located in all major technology, business, and
financial centres globally - from Silicon Valley to Sydney.


Web Site: http://www.evalueserve.com

Contact Details: 2nd Floor, Unitech World, Cyber Park
Jharsa, Sector 39
Gurgaon - 122002 Haryana, India
Phone: +911240000
email: prcc@evalueserve.com

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