10 most common pitfalls of patent research > 3. You can't see a patent's full history
Basic patent data don’t make key details readily accessible. For example, it is not easy to ascertain whether a patent has been litigated, or see its full prosecution history or if maintenance fees have been paid.
This information could tell you how valuable a patent is to its owner, or how likely they may be to enforce it.
Without it, you might underestimate the risk associated with entering a new market, launching a new product or acquiring a company.
Use patent data that correlates information from additional sources to the patent record.
Supplementary patent data, such as global litigation case data, prosecution data and estimated maintenance cost data, will help you to see the complete picture without having to stitch together data from multiple, disparate sources.
You'll also be able to use this data to filter your results to identify key patents or see a patent’s complete history.
Correlated data provides the in-depth perspective and context your team needs when launching new products, filing patents in new technology domains or entering new markets.