Design patent map visualization display

Design patent map is an important strategic tool for establishing design strategies. Of types of patents, design patents occupy a unique patent field, since design patents are not as definitive as other patent fields. Therefore, the construction of design patent map is extremely difficult. Until now, in world-renowned patent periodicals, studies on design patent map have not been found; thus, this study is very innovative. In this study, design patents from between 2005 and 2007 in the United States were selected, 74 patent samples in the car industry were selected as research subjects. Ten design patent examiners who have an average of 10 years of patent evaluation experience in the Taiwan Intellectual Property Office (TIPO) and 29 industrial designers who have had an average of over 3 years of design experience are enlisted to assist in construction of design patent map. Corporations can use the concrete steps provided by this Study, with the multi-dimensional scale, to establish a design patent map and use this to form patent strategies. This strategic tool will become a new tool for competition for firms facing the knowledge economy era! (C) 2009 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.