However, the true scope of the iPhone's innovation extends far beyond the information contained in these patent documents. The product initiated a multitude of changes in consumer habits, business models, and even industry design standards, not all of which are captured in the patents .

This raises an important question: are patent databases, despite their wealth of information, sufficient to fully understand the repercussions of such an innovation?

The iPhone is an example that illustrates the need to go beyond patents to grasp the full impact of an innovation on the market and society.

Patents do not provide a complete picture of innovation

When we ask ourselves whether the patent bases are sufficient , we are tackling a central problem in the field of industrial property. In short, no, they are not sufficient to understand the landscape of past and present innovations, due to several key factors.

• Rapid technological change : The rapid evolution of technologies and industries means that patent bases can quickly become outdated, failing to reflect the very latest innovations or emerging trends.

• Increasing complexity of innovations : Today's innovations are often interdisciplinary and complex, making it difficult to fully capture their essence through patents alone.

• Unpatented Information : Many strategic innovations are not patented for reasons of trade secret or other intellectual property strategies, meaning that patent bases do not provide a complete view of the innovation landscape.

• Globalization and diversity of sources : With globalization, relevant information can come from multiple sources and jurisdictions, making patent databases too limited if not supplemented by other types of data.

TECHNOLOGICAL EVOLUTION AND LIMITS OF PATENT BASES

Technology is evolving at a dizzying pace, and patent databases are not always able to keep up with this tempo.

Take artificial intelligence (AI), for example , a field where innovations emerge faster than the patenting process can register them. In 2016, Google subsidiary DeepMind made a major breakthrough with AlphaGo, an AI program capable of defeating a world Go champion. While the techniques underlying AlphaGo, such as neural networks and deep learning, are partially patentable, the rapid pace of AI development means that many advances are not immediately patented , or even ever.

According to the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO), patent applications increased slightly in 2022, reaching 278,100, the highest number ever recorded in a single year. This statistic highlights the scale of patent filing activity , but it does not fully reflect the total volume of innovations .

Many important technological advances, particularly in rapidly evolving fields like AI, are not captured in these applications, either because they are kept secret or because the patenting process cannot keep pace with innovation.

This gap between technological developments and patent documentation raises challenges for companies that rely exclusively on these foundations to guide their innovation and intellectual property strategies.

THE COMPLEXITY OF MODERN INNOVATIONS

Today's innovations are characterized by their complexity and interdisciplinary nature , making them difficult to encapsulate entirely in a single patent.

Let us consider the development of electric vehicles (EVs). An EV, like those produced by Tesla, does not rely solely on a single invention or patent, but rather on a constellation of technologies covering areas ranging from the battery to the energy management system, including driver assistance software.

This complexity poses a challenge for patent bases. A typical patent is designed to protect a specific innovation or a set of closely related innovations. However, in the case of EVs, a comprehensive overview would require an analysis of multiple patents, often filed by various companies and covering several technology areas. This fragmentation makes it difficult to obtain a clear and comprehensive picture of the state of the art in such complex areas.

Additionally, how these technologies intertwine and evolve may not be evident in patent databases. Advances in battery materials directly influence the performance and efficiency of EVs, but the connections between these advances and specific vehicle improvements may not be immediately apparent in patent documents.

This situation highlights a crucial need for industrial property professionals: to go beyond patents to understand innovations , integrating market analyses, scientific publications and industry reports.

BEYOND PATENTS: STRATEGIC INFORMATION AND TRADE SECRETS

In today's industrial world, many key innovations are not patented, but rather protected as trade secrets .

A famous example is the Coca-Cola formula. It is one of the best-kept trade secrets. Although technically patentable, the company chose never to patent the formula, opting to keep it a trade secret. This strategy has allowed Coca-Cola to protect its recipe far beyond the 20 years a patent would have provided.

In the technology sector, the algorithms used by digital giants like Google or Facebook for their search engines and news feeds are other examples of valuable unpatented innovations. Patenting could require disclosure of technical details that these companies prefer to keep confidential. Furthermore, the speed with which these algorithms evolve would make a patent quickly obsolete anyway.

This reality highlights a gap in patent databases: they do not capture essential strategic information that is often hidden as trade secrets.

For businesses, this means that patent monitoring alone is not enough for a complete understanding of the competitive landscape.

A more in-depth analysis , incorporating market research, trend analysis, and competitive assessments, becomes essential to remain competitive.

TOWARDS A HOLISTIC APPROACH: INTEGRATION OF VARIOUS INFORMATION SOURCES

In the current context, it is a priority for companies to supplement information from patent databases with other sources.

A good example is the use of market analysis and industry reports to understand emerging trends.

In the renewable energy field, market reports can provide insights into technological advances, regulatory initiatives, and competitor moves, which are not always immediately visible in patents.

Another important tool is technology monitoring , which involves monitoring scientific publications, conferences, and industrial forums . Advances in specific areas such as nanotechnology and advanced materials illustrate this trend well: they are often explored and discussed in research articles and conferences long before materializing in patent filings. This monitoring allows companies to stay at the forefront of innovation and anticipate changes in their field.

Furthermore, professional social networks like LinkedIn and collaboration platforms like GitHub offer valuable insights into current trends, expertise, and ongoing collaborations across various technical fields.
Therefore, following thought leaders and innovators in the field of artificial intelligence on these platforms can reveal emerging directions and collaborations that are not yet formalized by patents.

This holistic approach, combining patent bases with diversified information sources, allows companies to develop a richer and more current understanding of the innovative environment in which they operate.

EXTENSION OF MONITORING FIELDS

The way we understand and manage intellectual property needs to change. Patent databases , while essential, are no longer sufficient to provide a complete view of the innovation ecosystem.

In the future, we can expect that the integration of data analytics, artificial intelligence , and machine learning into patent and innovation monitoring will open new avenues for capturing emerging trends more quickly and efficiently.

Furthermore, collaboration between different innovation actors, including universities, businesses, and research institutes, will likely become more integrated, creating a more dynamic and interconnected innovation ecosystem . Industrial property professionals will therefore need to broaden their skills to include the management of these complex collaborations and the analysis of diverse data.

Finally, given the accelerating innovation cycle, a more agile and proactive approach to intellectual property will be necessary . This implies not only protecting innovations, but also using them strategically to stimulate growth and continuous innovation.

By embracing these changes and challenges, intellectual property professionals will play a key role in shaping the innovation landscape of tomorrow.