Patent analysts spend a lot of effort building queries with care when conducting patentability or invalidation searches. They test different keywords, refine operators, and hope the string captures the right set of patents. But even after all that effort, they often end up sifting through dozens of results before they uncover the Tier-1 patent.
In time-sensitive projects, every extra patent or NPL document read is a delay. Analysts waste hours on pages that lead nowhere, while the one patent that matters remains buried deep in the list. It is a frustrating race against the clock.
Now imagine this turn of events. You craft a detailed query, and instead of scrolling through tens of pages, the Tier-1 reference surfaces right at the top. How wonderful would that be?
What if I told you this dream can come true for you? With one feature in the Global Patent Search tool, the most relevant patents surface instantly. So analysts can then focus on claim mapping instead of spending endless hours reviewing documents.
Two Paths, One Goal: Smarter Searches with GPS
GPS makes searching simple for both beginners and experts. Even if you are a novice conducting a patentability search, you can simply enter the patent number or describe the technology in natural language. The GPS tool will surface all the relevant patent and NPL literature.
For expert searchers and patent analysts, GPS also supports keyword searches. These allow the use of operators and rules to capture every possible variation and collapse results into sharper sets. Both options are possible with GPS.
Next, we will see how the tool can push the top references right to the front of your results.
When the Right Reference Hides Too Deep
Consider this instance. We want to uncover Tier-1 references around seamless playback in media players.
An expert searcher would frame a detailed keyword query on the below lines, and wait for tools like GPS to return the results.
The tool returns 97 results.
Now when our team downloaded and analyzed all the results shared by GPS tool, we found the Tier-I reference was located at position #44.
For an analyst, that means sifting through page after page, reading dozens of documents, before finally landing on the reference that really matters.
But this new feature in GPS can now change the game entirely.
Sorting by Relevance: The Feature That Changes The Way You Search
Once you have your results, GPS gives you the option to sort them by filing date, published date, priority date, and the most amazing feature: sort by relevance.
This feature lets you define what is relevant for your specific search. In our case, the focus was on media players optimized during the rendering of files. So we specified our requirements in simple terms and entered this as our relevance criteria.
The tool then re-ranked all ninety-seven results. And here is what happened next.
The Tier-1 patent, US2006218195A1, which had been buried at position forty-four, now appeared right at the top of the list.
That shift changes everything for an analyst. Instead of scrolling through dozens of results, the most critical reference surfaces instantly.
Why This Feature Is a Game Changer
Patent analysis is tiring, time-consuming work.
Analysts often spend long hours digging through results, with time always in short supply. By sorting results by relevance, GPS takes away much of that grind. Analysts can move faster, handle more projects, and focus their energy where it creates the most impact.
And the value goes beyond Tier-1. In cases where no single Tier-1 patent exists, the Global Patent Search tool still surfaces strong Tier-2 results. These references give analysts the combinations and context they need without losing days to unproductive review.
GPS is an ever-evolving tool. Our goal is to make patent searches easier for everyone, from novices checking prior art for an idea to experts running advanced invalidation queries. By making searches intuitive yet powerful, GPS helps every user surface relevant results faster.
Want to see how it works on your own searches? Reach out to our team, and we will help you get started.
