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Bringing Ideas to Market with the Help of Artificial Intelligence
If you ask ChatGPT about the importance of artificial intelligence in the field of intellectual property, you will get the following answer: “The world of patents is a complex and detailed one.” It requires precision, accuracy, and a deep understanding of technical innovation. “Artificial intelligence has fundamentally changed the way companies work with patents in recent years,” says the intelligent chatbot. And he's not entirely wrong, because using artificial intelligence also raises new questions and challenges in patent work. We spoke to our IP experts at thyssenkrupp about this.
The core task of thyssenkrupp Intellectual Property is to protect the intellectual property of thyssenkrupp businesses effectively and efficiently through patents, trademarks, and designs. At thyssenkrupp, our engineers and developers research innovations across departments and industries every day.
From idea to reality
“The use of artificial intelligence offers a multitude of opportunities and possibilities to improve efficiency, accuracy and strategic orientation in the field of intellectual property,” confirms Dr. Stephan Ising, Head of IP Strategy & Research at thyssenkrupp Intellectual Property, ChatGPT's statement. Artificial intelligence also opens up a broad spectrum of new application possibilities in the field of patent development. On the one hand, AI can serve as an essential component of the solutions to be patented, and on the other, it also functions as an extremely valuable tool for the patent work itself.
With the help of artificial intelligence, Dr. Stephan Ising, Head of IP Strategy & Research at thyssenkrupp Intellectual Property, and his team can act more efficiently on the market, monitor trends and better protect intellectual property rights.
“Plenty of examples of work with artificial intelligence can be found in plant engineering, for example at thyssenkrupp Uhde and thyssenkrupp nucera,” the IP specialist continues. “Here, topics such as condition and wear monitoring, pattern or anomaly detection and predictive maintenance offer a wide range of use cases for AI support.” In this context, machine learning is often used, in which AI models are trained with the help of data to make predictions or decisions. This technology supports researchers and developers in finding creative solutions and exploring new product concepts.
Further examples can also be found at thyssenkrupp Automotive Technology and thyssenkrupp Materials Services. “At Material Services, for example, thyssenkrupp Materials DataflowWorks GmbH is developing the AI-based supply chain solution 'pacemaker' . This demand forecasting solution collects, organizes, and analyzes data within the supply chain to enable demand forecasts for data-based decisions.”
The AI-based software ‘pacemaker’ captures production data in real-time, detects deviations from plans based on patterns, and visualizes the data to ensure smooth material flow and reduced resource consumption.
So, there is a lot of potential for patenting the many different solutions developed. However, several requirements and conditions must first be met to obtain patent protection for such solutions. "First, a specific technical problem must exist in the real (analog) world," explains Dr. Stephan Ising. "The solution to this problem, which may involve AI, must then meet the requirements of so-called novelty and inventive step." An innovative AI algorithm alone would probably not meet these requirements. If, for example, an AI model is used to control a chemical plant that enables improved plant operation based on real process data, this solves a technical problem and fulfills the criterion of technicality.
Artificial Intelligence and 'White Space Detection' to drive new ideas
Another benefit: AI is not only used as part of the innovations, the thyssenkrupp Intellectual Property team also uses artificial intelligence to make its work more efficient. This is because AI applications can also help to identify potential gaps in technology fields and thus point the way for new inventions. By analyzing the existing research and patent landscape, AI can identify potential 'white spaces' or gaps where little or no research and development activity has taken place. These gaps often offer untapped opportunities for innovation.
“The capabilities of an AI in this context include, for example, complete data analysis,” says Dr. Stephan Wolke, Head of thyssenkrupp Intellectual Property GmbH. “AI systems can process and analyze large amounts of data from patent databases, scientific publications and other technological resources. By using advanced algorithms, they are able to recognize patterns, trends and relationships that would be difficult or very, very time-consuming for human analysts to identify.”
Especially helpful: AI models can also be used to predict the development of technology trends and identify areas that are likely to become more important. “Such predictions can help to make strategic decisions about research and development priorities,” adds the IP manager. “In addition, AI can help to combine knowledge and technologies from different disciplines to create innovative solutions. By analyzing data across traditional disciplinary boundaries, unexpected applications for existing technologies can be found.” The quality and quantity of available data is important here. This is because the effectiveness of AI in white space detection depends on various factors, such as the specificity of the technology area under consideration and the performance of the algorithms used.
Patenting with Artificial Intelligence: Accelerated Development
Another advantage of working with AI is its efficient way of working and the associated opportunities to provide inventors with the best possible support in the invention process, for example, in the context of invention workshops. Both creative methods and structured methods such as SCAMPER or TRIZ are utilized in this process.
“From a technical standpoint, AI systems generate 'new' ideas by analyzing large amounts of data and recognizing patterns, connections or concepts in this data, which they can then apply or combine in new contexts. This ability enables AI systems to suggest innovative solutions or approaches that might not have occurred to human users,” explains Dr. Stephan Ising. “Once these ideas are available, artificial intelligence can be used to conduct a structured interview with the inventors and support the completion of invention disclosure forms with targeted questions. This can significantly shorten the time from the idea to the invention disclosure, which also means that the innovation can be protected more quickly.”
However, it is particularly important for the IP expert to differentiate between humans and artificial intelligence. “Even though AI can accelerate and enrich the process of identifying and evaluating innovation opportunities, it should always be seen as a complement to human expertise, as creative and strategic decision-making always remains a human domain.”
The future of patents: A new approach to innovation
However, artificial intelligence is not only an important assistant for new inventions but also their protection. “AI applications can point out aspects that were not previously taken into account when creating property rights, recognize connections that may not yet be conclusive, uncover inconsistencies or simply create an additional perspective,” emphasize the employees of the IP department.
AI applications can also support improved patent research and analysis by searching through extensive patent databases with large amounts of data in a short time and identifying the relevant state-of-the-art faster and more accurately than conventional methods. “In addition, AI systems can be used to identify patent infringements by monitoring products, services and patents worldwide. By using image recognition technologies and text analysis, potential IP infringements can be identified at an early stage, enabling the company to react in good time,” says Dr. Stephan Wolke.
And what are the plans for the future? ChatGPT believes in even greater integration of artificial intelligence in all patent protection processes. Our experts have a slightly different view. "We have no intention of using AI to generate our inventions in the future," says Dr. Stephan Wolke. "At thyssenkrupp, innovations are generated exclusively by our employees, so the intellectual property rights also belong to our company.”
Nonetheless, we agree with ChatGPT on one point: Artificial intelligence has great potential and many use cases when it comes to optimizing processes.