Ben Buchanan Patent Informatics Manager The Intellectual Property Office UK IPO Newport

Ben Buchanan is a qualified mechanical engineer who joined the Intellectual Property Office as a patent examiner in 1997. His career examining mechanical, electrical and computer-implemented technologies combined with experience as a software developer underpins huge enthusiasm for the automated analysis of patent data through patent informatics. Ben became the inaugural Patent Informatics Team Manager in 2007, including managing UK input to the IPC, and he is currently acting Deputy Director for a chemical examination group. To date the team have produced reports on issues including nanotechnology, energy from waste, disruptive technology, environmentally sound technology, improvised explosive devices and swine flu.

Facilitating exploitation of work-sharing and disruptive technology through patent informatics: two case studies

The Intellectual Property Office supports innovation by making IP resources including patent informatics available to private and public sector organisations. Delivery of this non-statutory service is achieved through flexible project-based solutions undertaken by a team of cross-skilled patent examiners.

Two case studies cover:

(1)  Patent pendency comparison between IPOs in support of the case for mutual recognition;

(2)  Development of a toolkit for the analysis of potentially disruptive technologies to facilitate exploitation and investment.

The presentation concludes that the delivery of IP statistics through agile, responsive patent informatics projects helps government and industry exploit technology and resources.