SMITH & NEPHEW INC (US Patent Analysis Report) (US SDGs Patent Report)

The Applicant / Patent Holder "SMITH & NEPHEW INC" had 12 patent application filings in the most recent period (2023-01-01 to 2023-03-31). This is a significantly decreased of -12 filings (-50.0%) over 24 they had in the same period of the previous year (2022-01-01 to 2022-03-31).

The highest number of filings in 2021 with 153 cases, and their lowest number in 2017 with 98 cases.

The mean of the number of filings over the last 5 years (2018 to 2023, 716 cases in total) is 119, and the median is 124. The coefficient of variation (standard deviation/mean) is 0.25, and there have been small fluctuations in the number of filings from year to year.

The number of filings has been decreasing for the last 3 years (2020 to 2023).

This report provides the latest patent analysis information (the IP landscape, including a patent map) on the patent search results of the US patent database for SMITH & NEPHEW INC for the period of the last 10 years (2014-01-01 to 2024-11-30). You can compare the information in this report with the trends in your competitors’ patent filings and technologies, and use it to search for important patents.

This service provides, free of charge, a patent analysis report based on the latest patent data (Japanese, U.S., European, and PCT application publications) for use in patent searches, patent analysis, and IP landscaping. The service is offered by "Patent Integration" a firm specializing in patent search/patent analysis.

This report includes basic information to help you understand the IP strategy and management of SMITH & NEPHEW INC, such as changes in the number of patents/patent applications they have filed, comparisons of the numbers of patents/patent applications filed by their peers and competitors, their top coapplicants (joint research partners, alliance partners), and their most important patents. It can be used in various intellectual property business operations such as IP landscaping, patent search/patent analysis, preparation of intellectual property business evaluation reports, selection of M&A candidates, and selection of alliance partners.

Introduction

The concept of the "IP landscape" (IPL) has been attracting attention recently.

An IP landscape is not limited to patent information, but also integrates and analyzes business information (e.g., non-patent information such as papers, news releases, stock information, and market information). Intellectual-property-based business management is realized through the analysis of intellectual property information applied to the formulation of management strategies and business strategies. This is a comprehensive approach that includes but not limited to planning of open and closed strategies, selecting M&A candidates, searching for alliance partners, and formulating intellectual property strategies, through the exploitation of intellectual property information.

IP landscaping usually includes patent search and patent analysis. In patent search and patent analysis, it is important to grasp the market position of each company and the overall technological trends and development trends for each technology. More specifically, it is important to understand what intellectual property your own company and other companies hold, what the strengths and weaknesses of other companies are, and how other companies are trying to exploit their intellectual property. In other words, it is important to understand both the business strategy and the intellectual property strategy of each company.

After reading this search report, you may be interested in more detailed patent searches and patent analysis. We offer a service called Patent Integration, which is an integrated patent search and patent analysis service. With reasonable pricing and a simple user interface such that even beginners can quickly search for and analyze patent information by company or technology from a web browser, please consider using it for detailed patent searches, patent analysis, and IP landscaping.

Patent Integration has a patent-landscaping function that can visually represent a set of tens of thousands of patents/patent applications. This allows you to convincingly show the technical positions of your company and its competitors to your management and business strategists in order to formulate management strategies and business strategies.

The following shows US patents held by SMITH & NEPHEW INC that have had an invalidation trial against them demanded or an opposition filed against them by a third party, and SMITH & NEPHEW INC’s US patents/patent applications of high importance cited by Examiners in patent examination processes.

By noting the most important patents, you can obtain knowledge of the competitive business environment in which SMITH & NEPHEW INC is placed (e.g., whether it is a fiercely competitive environment or an oligopolistic market and the like). In general, it can be understood that a company with a large number of demands for invalidation trials is developing their business in a business environment where IP disputes are common.

If you want to search for more detailed information, you can use Patent Integration to retrieve and download by company cited patents/patent applications or patents undergoing invalidation trials. You can quickly extract important patents from a patent set that includes multiple competitors by cross-referencing with other keywords and patent classifications. Please consider using it for searches for important patents/patent applications.

Glossary

Cited

Indicates that the patent/patent application has been cited (by Examiners) in notices of reasons for rejection in the examination process of other (Japanese, U.S., or European) patent applications. The higher the number of citations, the more important the patent/patent application is considered to be.

Request for invalidation trial

Indicates that a third party has requested a procedure to invalidate the patent. It is likely to affect the business of third parties and is considered to be of high importance.

Opposition

Indicates that a third party has filed a petition with the Patent Office to hear the validity of the patent again. Like the trial for invalidation, it is considered to be of high importance.

Information provision

Indicates that a third party has provided the Patent Office with useful information for examination for the patent filed. It is usually considered to be of high importance because it is done to prevent the patent from being granted.

Browsing request

Indicates that a third party has requested the Patent Office to view the patent bag (a set of documents exchanged between the Patent Office and the applicant). The bag is often checked prior to trial for invalidation, opposition, and provision of information, and is considered to be a highly important patent.

Top Patents/Patent Applications with the Highest Number of Cited

Of the patent applications filed in the last 10 years (2014-12-01 to 2024-11-30), 399 patents/patent applications were cited more than once in the examination process of other patent applications. The mean of the number of cited is 8.3. The most cited patent is USP10748115 "Providing implants for surgical procedures" (234 times) , and the next most cited patent is USP10806506 "Vessel sealing algorithm and modes" (217 times) .