Report:PatBase/Viewing Results/Viewing Patent Citations
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Viewing Patent Citations
PatBase displays results by family record. This naturally complicates citation searching, because each individual family member that makes up the larger hit will have its own individual set of both forward and backward patent citations.
Fortunately, a flexible user interface gives PatBase users some options when it comes to reviewing citations. Citation searching is initiated and performed in a separate window, just like full text viewing. This leaves the original hit list intact in the main window. The citation window displays the bibliographic record for the “master patent” on the right, and a menu for citation navigation appears to the left. A drop-down menu at the top of the navigation pane defaults to “all,” meaning that all forward and backward citations on record for all family members are automatically displayed. An example is displayed in the figure below.
From here, there are two ways to perform citation review: the first is one-by-one bibliographic review from the citation window, and the second is using the citation window’s features to create a new search query containing only the records of interest, for in-depth review. The second method will erase the original hit list and generate a new one in the main page, effectively running a new search string. Given the advantages/disadvantages to each approach, the most beneficial way to perform citation searching in PatBase may be to quickly view bibliographic records for the citations, and then select preferred documents for further viewing based on this initial information.
To browse the citations one-by-one, the user may choose to view the aggregated list of “all” citations made by each document in the family, or they may choose to view only those citations from any single family member in the record (via a drop-down menu). The citations can then be reviewed one at a time by clicking the “view” link that appears to the right hand side of the document number, which will load the family number and master patent for the record (the records will load in accordance with the “display” scheme chosen for the main window – full text review is not possible). Caution is needed to avoid accidentally navigating into a new family record: clicking on any citation document number itself will erase the current family data, and will cause the window to display citation information for the newly chosen family. However, if desired, the user may choose to load citation data for a particularly relevant citation itself, thereby “branching out” into more distant generations of the citation family tree.
Running a new search query on the records of interest is performed via the “search selected” link at the top of the window. This command wipes out the current search results in the main window, and runs a new query that consists of family hits for the documents on the list of selected citations. With this function, PatBase has a distinct advantage over systems that simply provide links next to the citation numbers for one-at-a-time lookup.
There is one further way that users may choose to investigate citation data: in some display formats, a list of cited document numbers (backward citations) is shown as part of a family record. Selecting one of these document numbers will load the record into the citation window, displaying its bibliographic data for quick review. A quirk of the system: this cited document’s own forward/backward citation data is loaded into the navigation pane on the left, and users should take care not to mistake it for the original family record’s citation data.
Editor's Note:There are natural advantages and drawbacks to each method of citation viewing in PatBase. When reviewing documents from the citation view window, users may only view bibliographic data for the citation, not the full text. Additionally, because of the interface design, there is the possibility that the user could accidentally load a new list of citations for one of the cited documents, navigating away from the original data of interest without intending to. Overall the citation window offers limited functionality to effectively review citations in-depth, but provides a way to browse citation data quickly, even jumping through multiple generations of citations with speed.
For in-depth review, PatBase provides a way for users to generate a new search query from cited documents of interest. Unfortunately, this may completely interrupt searching within the query that was being reviewed previous to the citation search. To avoid getting off-course, it is advisable for searchers to review an entire query, mark all references that may be of interest, and then methodically perform a citation search for each of the records of interest; this way the original document reviewing process does not have to be interrupted in order for the user to explore new avenues opened by citation searching.
In general, the best use of the citation search features in PatBase is probably to use them both together. The citation window provides a way to quickly preview the content of cited documents, and the “search selected” command lets users create a new search string to view them in depth. The two features work together to promote efficiency when choosing which citations are likely to contain relevant content. Overall, including both methods in its interface is a mark of the system’s flexibility.
It should be noted that although non-patent citation data can be viewed in PatBase, it is not text-searchable. This puts the system at a disadvantage when compared with other systems that do offer this feature, such as Delphion and MicroPatent PatentWeb. In addition, PatBase does not include any citation relevance indicators that might have been associated with these citations, as some other systems, like Questel QPAT, do.
In addition, PatBase is NOT able to link its non-patent citation data out to any source where users might be able to obtain a copy of the document, or to other patents within the system that may have cited that document. These features are currently available, for example, in Thomson’s Delphion product, which links to Thomson’s major literature resource, the ISI Web of Science.
Viewing Citations Graphically
A new feature was added to PatBase in October 2007 that allows users to view family “citation trees” graphically. This feature is accessed by selecting “Tree View” link from the top of the citation search screen; once activated, it generates a representation of the relationships between a patent family and its forward and backward cited/citing documents. The citation window will split between the graphical” tree” representation, above, and the traditional bibliographic view, below.
The citation tree display can be altered to display only those family members with forward or backward citations, or to display all family members (even those for which no citation data is available). Alternatively, if a user needs to focus in on a particular family member, it can be chosen from the drop-down menu available at the top of the screen.
Next to each forward or backward citation represented in the display, there is a magnifying glass icon, and a checkbox. The checkbox allows user to select documents of interest to be searched, using the same “search selected” feature which functions from the regular citation view window, and is described above. The magnifying class will re-center the tree on that document’s family, generating a new tree (and changing the bibliographic data in the window below to contain citation data for the newly chosen document). If the citation window is re-focused on a new family, the original document will appear in blue in the new tree, to show that its citation relationships have been previously viewed.
Finally, an image of the citation tree can be exported and downloaded by selecting the “export” option that appears at the top of the page.
