Finding Global Patents
How to Ensure Your Questel Patent Search Has Complete Global Coverage (Including Recent and Non-English Filings)
When you’re doing a freedom-to-operate (FTO), novelty, or landscape search, “global coverage” means more than selecting a few major offices. To maximize completeness in Questel—especially for recently published applications and non-English filings—use the steps below as a repeatable checklist.
1) Start with the Right Data Scope: Patents + Applications + Legal Status (If Needed)
Before building queries, confirm your search includes the kinds of records you need:
Published applications (not just granted patents)
PCT (WO) publications (often the earliest global signal)
National phase / family members (to see where protection is actually pursued)
Legal status / events (optional, but critical for FTO)
Best practice: For novelty/landscape, start broad with applications + patents. For FTO, ensure you can see national coverage and status.
2) Use Patent Families to Capture Global Equivalents (and Avoid Missing National Phases)
A single invention can appear as multiple publications across jurisdictions and languages.
Do this:
Search broadly, then expand to the full family.
Review family members by country/office to confirm the jurisdictions you care about are represented.
When relevant, prioritize INPADOC / extended families (broader) over only simple families (narrower).
Why it matters: If you only search US/EP, you can miss JP/CN/KR equivalents—even when they’re the same invention.
3) Cover “Recent” Filings: Use Date Filters and Understand Publication Lag
“Recent applications” can be tricky because:
Most applications publish ~18 months after earliest priority (with exceptions).
Some offices have indexing delays depending on source feeds.
Do this:
Use a publication date filter (last 6–24 months, depending on your goal).
Also search by priority date when you’re tracking emerging activity.
Include WO (PCT) publications to catch newer inventions earlier in their global lifecycle.
Tip: If you’re monitoring a fast-moving space, set up saved searches/alerts using a rolling window (e.g., “published in the last 30 days”) and iterate.
4) Don’t Rely on English Keywords Alone: Combine Multilingual Search Tactics
To capture non-English filings (JP/CN/KR/DE/FR, etc.), avoid searching only in the English abstract/title.
Use a layered approach:
A) Use Classification First (CPC/IPC)
Classification is language-agnostic and one of the best tools for global completeness.
Do this:
Identify 2–6 core CPC/IPC classes relevant to your topic.
Search by classification + a few high-signal keywords to keep precision.
B) Search Across Multiple Fields
If your interface allows field selection, include:
Title
Abstract
Claims (where available)
Description (if supported)
Why it matters: Some records have short/weak English abstracts, but strong claims text.
C) Use Concept / Semantic Tools (If Available)
If Questel’s toolset you’re using supports semantic/concept search or AI expansion, use it to broaden beyond literal English terms.
D) Add Foreign-Language Keywords for High-Value Jurisdictions
For critical jurisdictions (CN/JP/KR/DE/FR), add a small set of translated technical terms.
Practical method:
Take 5–15 key technical phrases.
Translate them (or pull equivalents from known patent families).
Use them as OR terms alongside English keyword