Measuring textual patent similarity on the basis of combined concepts: design decisions and their consequences

For certain tasks in patent management it makes sense to apply a quantitative measure of textual similarity between patents and/or parts thereof: be it the analysis of freedom to operate, the analysis of technology convergence, or the mapping of patents for strategic purposes. In this paper we intend to outline the process of measuring textual patent similarity on the basis of elements referred to as ‘combined concepts’. We are going to use this process in various operations leading to design decisions, and shall also provide guidance regarding these decisions. By way of two applications from patent management, namely the prioritization of patents and the analysis of convergence between two technological fields, we mean to demonstrate the crucial importance of design decisions in terms of patent analysis results.