Starting a start-up, uncovering what's not there
Analyzing technical literature to reveal the "white space".
Starting a start-up is a tough undertaking. Especially for technical founders. It can be difficult for a researcher who has been studying a technical area for many years to identify novel, non-obvious and useful technology that solves a real world technical problem. One way to do this is through white space analysis.
Technology white space analysis is an area of specialty for my IP analytics and strategy firm, IP Checkups. We have performed hundreds of white space analyses over the past 20 years.
The process to understand where gaps are in technology development or “what isn’t there” is quite straight forward, though time consuming.
Step 1: Define the technology area of focus as narrowly as possible.
Step 2: Perform patent and technical literature searches to build a database of prior art relevant to your area(s) of focus.
Step 3: Triage the results and create custom technology meta tags (categories) to further sub-divide the database into component parts.
Step 4: Review each relevant document in the categories and document key technical characteristics.
Step 5: Work closely with technical experts to assess what could be technically possible in light of what has been publicly disclosed.
As a specific example, for Algae biofuels we performed a case study for the Chemical Abstracts society to highlight our process and our software.
This process is iterative in nature. We have performed this alongside technical experts many times to identify potential solutions that have not been disclosed in published literature.
As for tools, we have developed a custom tool called PatentCAM for capturing, assessing, and monitoring the historical database of published literature related to any technology area.
Many firms use MS Excel, Google Sheets, or a homespun solution, however most of the time, especially for firms with multiple products, these are not the proper tool for the job.
The key benefit from this white space discovery process (beyond identifying white space) is the historical technical literature database is extremely valuable for the enterprise. IP departments benefit by gaining insight what to file, how to draft patents, where to file, all the while mitigating risks/costs associated with infringement discovery. Business development groups benefit through insights into who and what are already out there which helps make decisions about whether to build from scratch or buy/license, and how to achieve product market fit). In short, the technical literature database becomes a core resource for driving IP, R&D and corporate decision making & strategy.
Ignore the confusion!