Analyze patent data to benchmark R&D performance and filter by date, status, and IPC classifications.
Unlock deeper innovation insights with HitHorizons Patents - structured data for 145,000+ European companies integrated into profiles.
This use case explains how you can use HitHorizons Patent Data to identify innovators, monitor competitors, and validate potential partners.
Patent data can be filtered by filing date, status (granted vs. application), and industry via IPC classifications. This helps narrow down specific areas of interest and monitor fresh technological developments.
Use Case #1: Market Research
Patents show where companies invest their money into different tech areas, giving you a clear picture of what's happening in innovation at the moment. This lets you spot booming industries and watch how tech focuses shift over time.
Example: Industries showing strong innovation trends may be ideal investments of your time, as they are often driven to invest heavily in growth.
Use Case #2: Competitive Intelligence
Watching what patents your competitors file gives early clues about their research plans, helping you predict new products and get ahead in the market. HitHorizons makes it simple by adding patent data right into company profiles, so you can monitor numerous competitors at the same time.
Example: Some sectors may be overinvested in R&D. It may be a good idea to move to another, more promising sector.
Use Case #3: Lead Generation
Patents may turn into a simple lead generation tool: a way to spot promising, fast-growing companies in new areas before they hit the mainstream spotlight.
Example: Spot fast-rising startups through patent surges in emerging areas. Such companies often have extra cash to spend to accelerate their growth.
Use Case #4: Risk Assessment
Analyzing a company's patent portfolio reveals IP strength, identifies synergies, and uncovers risks during mergers and acquisitions.
Example: If a company historically active in patent filings suddenly stops for an extended period, this may reveal underlying risks.
Use Case #5: Partner Identification
Patent data uncovers companies with complementary technologies and robust R&D, ideal for partnerships in licensing, co-development, or joint ventures.
Example: Patent data can reveal companies with complementary innovations, such as a battery maker spotting graphene experts through patent filings.
Use Case #6: Application Trend
In the HitHorizons Screener, the Patents Application Trends column provides a quick snapshot of the current patent activity trend among your filtered companies. It categorizes trends into three types: increasing, stable, and decreasing. You can also use this column as a filter to narrow down companies based on their patent application trajectory.
Tip: Use the HitHorizons API to automatically import data on your preferred trending companies into your CRM, based on the patent application trend you prefer.
Patents show how much a company is innovating and where it's headed. HitHorizons may help you spot game-changers early.
Take advantage of our patent data to identify attractive investment opportunities with promising innovation pipelines, establish strategic partnerships with emerging leaders, and anticipate businesses launching innovative products.
Filters are also available in the HitHorizons Screener, where you can easily filter companies based on your criteria.
