Friday food for thought: Trend spotting on Google
Google is really a wonderful tool. The depth that lies below that simplistic interface is truly amazing. This bit of Friday Food is a great example.
Did you know that you can analyze search trends on Google? Take a look at this trend history for the search term ‘patent.’ It’s interesting to me for several reasons. First, under the ‘Regions’ tab, look at the lead India currently enjoys. Where does the United States rank? Fourth (currently), behind India, South Korea, and Singapore. Very interesting.
Second, note that English barely has a lead over Turkish for search language (look under the languages tab). This despite the fact that both US- and India-based searches would be conducted in English (presumably, searches from several other areas would be conducted in English as well).
Third, take a look at the graph. Searches for the term ‘patent’ have been on a steady decline for years, despite an overall increase in news reference volume. Several things could explain this decline, including the possibility that people are performing more narrow patent-related searches these days (e.g., ‘patent reform,’ ‘patent legislation,’ etc.).
Keeping things in perspective is, of course, critical to all good trend analyses. Get some perspective on the patent issue with this report comparing ‘patent’ and ‘Paris Hilton.’ We can only hope to be as popular as her someday.
Happy Friday.
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Comments
Bah, hum-bug!
Don’t buy into this Chicken Little “all patent drafting is going to India” thing.
What does India have?
They “fluently” speak English! Oh, wait..the Canadians speak English too. Hmm…we don’t seem to see a max exodus of patent drafting work to Canada. So…it isn’t “speaks English.”
What else is there? Oh yeah…cheap labor. I don’t know about you, but it’s pretty unlikely that cheap labor is ever REALLY going to take over “arts” like patent drafting. Seriously.
When people start flying to India to have open heart surgery done to take advantage of the cheap labor…then we can start worrying about it.
Until then…the sky is not falling.
cK - Thanks for the comment. India is a focus of the patent world today for many reasons, outsourcing of patent drafting being only one. Bob adds an interesting perspective to that issue. I don’t dismiss it as quickly as he does - some patent applicants will always be attracted to lower costs. Those that want craftsmanship, though, will likely continue their relationship with US counsel. That said, the strategically-minded US counsel will look for ways in which they can add value to the process, including staying up to date on current developments in the law affecting patent preparation and prosecution, learning the business environment of the client and its industry, and helping the client with strategic patenting initiatives.
What’s the future for patent-related outsourcing? Searching might be amenable to efficient outsourcing, particularly when plugged into an internal corporate system. As I hinted at above, application drafting in India (and probably elsewhere, sooner or later) will have a future with applicants who simply want to crank out reams of patent applications that aren’t necessarily prepared with an overall business strategy in mind….or current law, for that matter.
Bob - settle down. I don’t think cK ever implied that the sky is falling. Outsourcing is a pink elephant in the room…you’ve got to acknowledge it and talk about it. Dismissing it doesn’t change the fact that it’s already here and will continue walking around the room for some time to come.
cK - The outsourcing issue seems to have peaked and retreated in recent months. I suspect that a significant part of the focus on India in the patent world is due to the recent changes to its patent laws that bring that country into full TRIPs compliance. The international pharmaceutical industry, for one, has been watching India closely as the country begins to provide patent protection for pharmaceutical compositions.
Visit the India archives on Promote the Progress for more information on that subject.
It’s neither the cost nor the English literacy that will ensure India becoming a legal outsourcing destination of the world. It is the diversity of talent pool and the synergy that service providers want to create that is unbeatable.
Saw the google trends for Patent. Yup, India is fast emerging as a destination for Patent work. Today’s article in Business world says it all “Invented in US drafted in India”
In fact, I am also working as a patent analyst in IP consultancy company in India.
How do you see the future od patent related outsourcing? Maybe not drafting of patents, but what about prior art searches? Patent landscapes?…..
Hope to have a new post for this topic.
best of luck and keep blogging.