Scope Analysis Guide

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The Scope Analysis page supplements AI/ML IP search, trends, and IP overview by providing freedom-to-operate (FTO) and infringement-risk screening. Input a natural language description of subject matter of interest (e.g., product features, invention disclosures, draft claims, etc.) and run a semantic comparison against independent claims across patents in the SynapseIP database. The closest matches are returned with context-rich analyses.

What is Scope Analysis?

Traditional search tools require exact keyword matches. Scope Analysis dives into claim language, which is paramount in determining infringement exposure. Each independent claim in the SynapseIP database is embedded and indexed. Features:

  • Returns patents with claim scopes semantically closest to the input subject matter.
  • Quantifies proximity using cosine distance and similarity percentage.
  • Presents quickly and easily comprehensible visual indicators of risk, including assignee information.
  • Full text of semantically similar claims. Direct links to complete patents.
  • Export capability for all results in PDF format.

This workflow meaningfully reduces the cost and time of a formal infringement assessment.

How Scope Analysis works

  1. User input: Provide up to ~20k characters describing the feature(s) or claim(s) to semantically search. Embedding quality improves with richer technical detail.
  2. Embedding generation: SynapseIP generates an embedding vector for the input text (no data is stored beyond what is required to fulfill the request).
  3. KNN search: Generated embedding vector is semantically compared against those generated from independent claims of the patents in the SynapseIP database. Closest matches (top-k configurable) are returned.
  4. Visualization + evidence: Results populate both the similarity map and the results table to concurrently provide both macro and micro views.

Note: Start with 10–20 closest claims for rapid results. Increase # of claim comparisons input to broaden coverage.

Example workflow

1

Describe subject matter

Draft a description or list that captures subject matter of interest, inventive concepts, implementation details, etc. Including language tied to technical components is recommended for best results.

2

Choose sampling depth

Use the '# of claim comparisons' input to specify the number independent claims to be returned. Default is 15; expanding to 40-50 can be useful where an initial scope analysis run shows high risk.

3

Run the analysis

Click 'Run scope analysis' to execute embeddings search + KNN graphing operations. Results are returned with similarity scores, graph positioning, and risk tiles tailored to that query.

4

Check the graph

The graph displays nodes representing independent claims and graphically presents their distances from the input. Hover nodes to preview claim snippets, click to highlight a specific patent.

5

Review supporting claims

In the table, click any claim cell to expand the full text. Patent numbers link to Google Patents to view full documents.

6

Export Results

Results table can be exported as a PDF document for offline reference and review.

Interpreting the graph & table

Radial layout. The input text sits in the center. Nodes closer to the center represent higher similarity (lower cosine distance). The updated radius scaling exaggerates separation so critical risks pop immediately.

Tooltip previews. Hover any node to see the patent title and first 200 characters of the matched claim.

Selection sync. Graph, summary tiles, and claim text are synchronized. Clicking a node or claim row highlights both views.

Similarity column. Percent values are derived from 1 − distance. Scores ≥ 70% may indicate high overlap risks; 55–69% indicates moderate overlap; <50% is generally lower risk but may be relevant.

Expandable claim text. Click the claim snippet to read the entire independent claim text inline.

Tips & troubleshooting

  • Too few matches: Increase the # of claim comparisons slider or broaden the description with additional functional detail.
  • Mixed technology stack: Run separate analyses for each subsystem (e.g., hardware vs. software) to isolate potential infringement risks or clearance opportunities.
  • Monitor competitors & infringement risk: Use the table's assignee column to see which entities own the patents with the closest claims, and whether those patents are clustered near the same or similar technology areas.
  • Offline reference & review: Use the Export feature to save the results table as a PDF document. The exported document includes full claim text and similarity scores.