Search patents for relevance — try just the claims
What to do if you get too many hits in a full-text patents search? Cathy Rimer-Surles, expert patent searcher, recommends: “Look for ways to narrow results. One method would be to limit keywords to the Claims field (/CM).”
The Claims section of a patent defines the scope of protection granted by the patent and usually has focused terminology, albeit in legalese language. If a term appears in the claims, it usually means the term represents the focus or main intent of the invention. The claims section covers just the “metes and bounds” of the patent and what the attorneys stand on in court when defending the property. In some instances only the claims need to be searched, in which case the goal is typically to find patents that cover a specific invention a requester wants to practice so that he or she can determine whether anyone else is already claiming that area.
To search just the Claims field, enter S PHOTOTROP?(3N)(BIOMASS OR ORGANISM)/CM
To broaden the search, limit to the Title (/TI), Abstract (/AB) and Claims (/CM) fields without searching the full text of the patent: S PHOTOTROP?(3N)(BIOMASS OR ORGANISM)/TI,AB,CM
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What to do if you get too many hits in a full-text patents search? Cathy Rimer-Surles, expert patent searcher, recommends: “Look for ways to narrow results. One method would be to limit keywords to the Claims field (/CM).”