10 most common pitfalls of patent research > 4. The patent’s owner isn’t who you think it is
Most patent data providers perform a basic level of data processing to correct company name misspellings or variations.
However, with complex corporate hierarchies, mergers and acquisitions and reassignments, the assignee name shown on a patent may not be its current 'ultimate owner.'
The company to which a patent was originally assigned could have been acquired and now be a subsidiary within a multinational corporation, or the original owner may have recently sold a business unit, along with its IP portfolio, to a private equity firm.
Knowing who actually owns a patent is critical when trying to anticipate how the owner may use the patent.
The answer of course will vary depending on the strategy of the patent’s actual owner.
Make sure your patent data is maintained using normalization rules that go beyond name corrections and incorporate reassignments, corporate hierarchies and recent M&A activity to correctly reflect current owners.
Clarivate applies 7,000 normalization rules to its patent data on a weekly basis to ensure the ultimate owner shown on the patent record is correct and current.
This normalization process incorporates patent reassignment data and uses corporate hierarchy trees that are continuously maintained to account for mergers and acquisitions.
Reliable ultimate assignee data helps you avoid surprises – such as when a relevant patent is acquired by a competitor or non-practicing entity (NPE).