James H. Moeller - Moeller Ventures LLC - https://www.moellerventures.com/
Date: 2020-02-16

Overview:

• The principle focus of this report is to create a broad patent landscape around the technology domain of noninvasive pulse oximetry. In the previous report entitled “Patent Landscape Around 10 Patents Involved in the Masimo / Cercacor vs. Apple Lawsuit” ( https://www.moellerventures.com/index.php/blog/25-2020-articles/42-masimo-cercacor-v-apple-10-patents-report) a narrow domain was created in essentially the same technology area by identifying the most similar patents to the 10 patents involved in the lawsuit, which happens to focus on the pulse oximetry technology used in the Apple Watch. However, this report creates a broader domain collection to determine if there is additional strategic business information to be derived by analyzing a broader collection of patent documents.
• The broad domain collection for this report was created by simply matching the phrase “pulse oximetry” (case insensitive) ANDed with the keyword “noninvasive” or “non-invasive” in the abstract, description or claims of the patent documents available in Google’s BigQuery data warehouse in the “patents-public-data:patents” dataset, “publications” table. Both “pulse oximetry” and “noninvasive” (or “non-invasive”) must be found in a document section in order to be included in the domain collection. The Google patent dataset used in this analysis is current with patent documents filed through December 5, 2019. The resulting domain collection consists of 5,118 patent applications, of which 2,978 have been granted as patents.
• The report sections below consist of a results summary and a market intelligence brief, as well as tables presenting the details of the patent document landscape. These patent document landscape tables cover a profiling of the domain collection (Exhibits 1, 2, 3, 4), tabulations of inventors (Exhibit 5) and assignees (Exhibit 6), an analysis of the most referenced citations (Exhibits 7, 8), and a break-down of the technology classification CPC codes (Exhibits 9,10,11,12). All of the tables in this report (as available on https://www.moellerventures.com/) are interactive and can be sorted and searched via the column headings and available keyword search boxes with each table.

Results Summary:

• Overall, Masimo Corporation, and its sister company Cercacor Laboratories, have the leading position in the IP landscape for pulse oximetry technology. These companies have the most prolific inventors, are assignees on the most patent applications, and have the widest breadth of CPC group code coverage. But the most significant indicator of the intellectual property position is the extent to which Masimo dominates the citations list. This indicates the extent to which many other patents in this area either reference or are built upon patents by Masimo.
• The domain collection for this analysis is largely U.S. focused, as can be seen in the geographic breakdown of Exhibits 2 and 3. This is due to two factors. 1) the concentration of U.S. companies that have focused on pulse oximetry IP development. 2) The fact that the Google BigQuery datasets used for this analysis contain full text info for U.S. patents, and only abstract and bibliographic information for international patents (i.e. all information except patent description and claims).
• The tables of inventors (Exhibit 5) and assignees (Exhibit 6) also demonstrates the significant IP position of Masimo, with five of the top 10 inventors and the #1 position in the assignees list. Medtronic also shows with a notable IP position via inventors associated with and assignments to Nellcor and Covidien. Both companies are now part of Medtronic via its merger with Covidien. The ranked list can be a bit deceptive in regard to companies for which the IP assets have been reassigned through corporate acquisitions or other transactions. Below I’ve included brief summaries of many of the top assignees and changes in IP asset ownership. BodyMedia, for example, shows as the #7 ranked assignee and with individuals near the top of the inventors list. However, BodyMedia was acquired by Jawbone in 2013. Jawbone has since gone through a liquidation and restructuring to reemerge as Jawbone Health. The original IP assets of BodyMedia were reassigned to JP IP Acquisitions LLC where it looks like many of the patent applications have been abandoned. See below for more information on other assignees.
• The citation list of Exhibits 7 and 8 exemplifies the dominant position of Masimo in the intellectual property landscape. Essentially the top 100 citations are all Masimo patent document references either through original Masimo patents or via patents that Masimo has acquired over the years.
• CPC Group Codes (Exhibit 9), as uses in this analysis, are best interpreted as the macro technology categories into which the patent documents of the domain collection are classified. The CPC Group Codes on an assignee basis (Exhibit 10) provide an indication of the breadth of application areas that an assignee pursues and is thus a rough indication of the market and/or product scope potential of a corporate assignee.
• CPC Group Code “A61B” entitled “DIAGNOSIS; SURGERY; IDENTIFICATION”, is by far the most significant category concentration and looks to encompass the core photoplethysmograph or "PPG" pulse oximetry techniques as well as many other inventions focused on the applications of PPG sensors. Most of the other group codes included in Exhibit 9 cover other aspects or applications of pulse oximetry. For example, code “G16H” entitled “HEALTHCARE INFORMATICS” encompasses the collection and processing of data (where BodyMedia seemed to focus). Another example is code “A61N” entitled “ELECTROTHERAPY; MAGNETOTHERAPY; RADIATION THERAPY; ULTRASOUND THERAPY” encompassing applications that are further removed from the core pulse oximetry (topic areas where Zoll Medical and Physio Control focused). Search the interactive tables of Exhibits 9 and 10 for more detailed information.
• Below are summaries of the pulse oximetry intellectual property profiles for select companies on the assignees list.

MASIMO / CERCACOR:

• 34 inventors list in top 250, #1 on the assignee list, dominates the citations list, presence in ~14 different CPC group code technology areas.
• These two companies dominate the core pulse oximetry technology intellectual property landscape. They have the most prolific inventors, are assignees on the most patent applications, and have the widest breadth of CPC group code coverage. But the most significant indicator of the intellectual property position is the extent to which Masimo dominates the citations list. This indicates the extent to which many other patents in this area either reference or are built upon patents by Masimo.

MEDTRONIC:

• Medtronic has accumulated the pulse oximetry intellectual property assets of both Covidien and Nellcor via its acquisition of Covidien.
• COVIDIEN: 16 inventors within the top 250, #2 on assignee list, no citations in the top 100, 5 CPC group codes. Merged with Medtronic January 2015.
• Medtronic Closes Covidien Deal: https://www.meddeviceonline.com/doc/medtronic-closes-covidien-deal-0001
• NELLCOR PURITAN BENNETT INC: 28 inventors within the top 250, #3 assignee, no citations in the top 100, 7 CPC group codes.
• TYCO SPINS OFF COVIDIEN / NELLCOR PURITAN BENNET - Jul 2, 2007: https://www.rtmagazine.com/miscellaneous/tyco-spins-off-covidien/
• Masimo retools Nellcor royalty deal with Medtronic: https://www.massdevice.com/masimo-retools-nellcor-royalty-deal-medtronic/

ZOLL MEDICAL CORP:

• 4 inventors in top 250, #6 on assignee list, no citations, 6 CPC group codes.
• Zoll Medical is a subsidiary of Asahi Kasei Group. Zoll is a diversified medical device company including products for patient monitoring and is a Masimo OEM partner.
• About: https://www.zoll.com/about-zoll/company-overview
• Masimo OEM Partner- Zoll Medical: https://www.masimo.com/oem/partners/zoll-medical/

JAWBONE HEALTH:

• BODYMEDIA INC: 11 inventors within the top 250, #7 on assignee list, no citations, 11 different CPC Group Codes.
• BodyMedia was acquired by Jawbone in 2013. Jawbone began liquidation in 2017 and was re-born in 2018 as Jawbone Health (https://www.jawbonehealth.com/). According to Google Patents, many of the pending patent applications for Bodymedia (that are included in the domain collection) were reassigned to “JB IP Acquisitions LLC” and many were subsequently abandoned.
• Jawbone Acquires BodyMedia For Over $100 Million To Give It An Edge In Wearable Health Tracking – April 30, 2013: https://techcrunch.com/2013/04/30/jawbone-will-acquire-bodymedia-for-over-100-million-to-give-it-an-edge-in-wearable-health-tracking/
• Jawbone, Once Valued at $3 Billion, Is Going Out of Business. Here's What Went Wrong: https://www.inc.com/emily-canal/jawbone-going-out-of-business.html
• JAWBONE PATENTS COULD BE LEVERAGED BY A COMPETITOR: http://patentvue.com/2017/07/11/jawbone-patents-could-be-leveraged-by-a-competitor/
• Wearables pioneer Jawbone is back with a new mission: Warning you about health problems you didn’t know you had: https://www.vox.com/2018/9/26/17904022/jawbone-health-hosain-rahman-wearables-healthcare-salesforce-kara-swisher-decode-podcast

STRYKER CORPORATION:

• PHYSIO CONTROL INC: 9 inventors in top 250, #8 on assignee list, no citations, 9 CPC group codes.
• Physio Control was acquired by Stryker in 2016.
• Stryker closes $1.3B Physio-Control deal - APRIL 5, 2016: https://www.massdevice.com/stryker-closes-1-3b-physio-control-deal/ ARC DEVICES LTD:
• 9 inventors in top 250, #9 on assignee list, no citations, 14 CPC group codes.
• ARC Devices Ltd is the parent company of Vital Inc.: https://vvvital.com/
• ARC Devices Obtains $5 Million in Funding from Avnet - May 21, 2019: https://www.marketwatch.com/press-release/arc-devices-obtains-5-million-in-funding-fueling-accelerated-launch-of-breakthrough-products-2019-05-21

GOOGLE:

• HELLO INC: 4 inventors in top 250, #10 on assignee list, 14 CPC group codes.
• Hello Inc. shut down in 2017 and it patents were acquired by FitBit. In November of 2019 Google announced plans to acquire FitBit.
• Sense sleep tracker maker Hello is shutting down - June 12, 2017: https://techcrunch.com/2017/06/12/sense-sleep-tracker-maker-hello-is-winding-down-and-looking-for-a-buyer/
• Sleep Tracking Startup Hello to Shut Down After Fitbit Deal Falls Through - June 12, 2017: https://fortune.com/2017/06/12/hello-sleep-tracking-shut-down/
• Hello’s patent acquired by Fitbit - November 15 2019: https://www.lexology.com/library/detail.aspx?g=ceb8aaa5-f9b0-487f-a50d-3b6cf59f5b01
• Fitbit to Be Acquired by Google – November 1, 2019: https://investor.fitbit.com/press/press-releases/press-release-details/2019/Fitbit-to-Be-Acquired-by-Google/

SOTERA WIRELESS INC:

• 5 inventors in top 250, #16 on assignee list, no citations, 2 CPC group codes.
• Sotera Wireless competes in the market for patient monitoring systems. https://www.soterawireless.com/

PHILIPS ELECTRONICS:

• 2 inventors in top 250, #12 on assignee list, 2 CPC group codes.
• Philips offers a variety of pulse oximetry product in the medical device market. In 2014 Philips lost a patent infringement lawsuit to Masimo that initially resulted in a $466 million judgement and was subsequently renegotiated into a $300 million plus royalties licensing deal.
• Philips pulse oximetry products: https://www.usa.philips.com/healthcare/solutions/breathing-and-respiratory-care/pulse-oximetry
• Philips slapped with $466M verdict in Masimo patent battle – 2014-10-02: https://www.fiercebiotech.com/medical-devices/philips-slapped-466m-verdict-masimo-patent-battle
• Philips, Masimo End Legal Disputes, Sign $300M Partnership – 2016-11-08: https://www.meddeviceonline.com/doc/philips-masimo-end-legal-disputes-sign-m-partnership-0001

BOSTON SCIENTIFIC:

• CARDIAC PACEMAKERS INC: 2 inventors in top 250, #17 on assignee list, no citations, 2 CPC group codes.
• Cardiac Pacemakers does business as Guidant Cardiac Rhythm Management and is a division of Boston Scientific.
• Crunchbase: https://www.crunchbase.com/organization/cardiac-pacemakers-inc#section-overview

RESMED LTD:

• 3 inventors in the top 250, #22 on assignee list, no citation, 2 CPC group codes.
• Resmed is a medical device company principally focused on products for sleep apnea, COPD and other breathing disorders.
• Resmed >> About: https://www.resmed.com/en-us/about-us/
• Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ResMed

ABBOTT LABORATORIES:

• PACESETTER INC: 4 inventors in the top 250, #24 on assignee list, no citation, 2 CPC group codes.
• Pacesetter is now part of Abbot Laboratories via Abbot’s purchase of St. Jude Medical, which purchased Pacesetter from Siemens.
• St. Jude Medical to Buy Siemens Pacesetter -JUNE 29, 1994: https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1994-06-29-fi-9988-story.html
• ABBOTT COMPLETES THE ACQUISITION OF ST. JUDE MEDICAL - Jan. 4, 2017: https://abbott.mediaroom.com/2017-01-04-Abbott-Completes-the-Acquisition-of-St-Jude-Medical

VALENCELL INC:

• 3 inventors in the top 250, #26 on assignee list, no citation, 11 CPC group codes.
• Valencell (https://valencell.com) is a private company based in Raleigh, North Carolina that focuses on biometric sensor technology for wearables and hearables. It has a sizable patent portfolio and intellectual property licensing business in the market for biometric sensor and heart rate monitoring. In 2016 Valencell sued Apple for patent infringement of its heart rate monitoring patent and settled out-of-court in January of 2019. Valencell most recently raised a Series E financing of $10.5 million in June of 2018, and has raised a total of $35 million since 2010. The company was founded in 2006.
• Valencell > About: https://valencell.com/about-us/. Valencell > Patents: https://valencell.com/patents/
• Valencell > Crunchbase: https://www.crunchbase.com/search/funding_rounds/field/organizations/funding_total/valencell
• Valencell / Masimo Ref: Towards a novel single-LED pulse oximeter based on a multispectral sensor for IoT applications: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0026269217305232
• Apple settles Apple Watch heart rate sensor lawsuit with biometrics firm Valencell – January 22, 2019: https://appleinsider.com/articles/19/01/22/apple-settles-apple-watch-heart-rate-sensor-lawsuit-with-biometrics-firm-valencell

IMPACT SPORTS TECHNOLOGIES INC:

• 3 inventors in the top 250, #56 on assignee list, no citations, 1 CPC group code.
• Impact Sports Technologies was a provider of pulse monitoring fitness wearable devices that achieved notable levels of popularity in the 2009 to 2016-time frame. More recently, without much fanfare, the company’s business ramped down to the point where the intellectual property assets were sold and reassigned. Many patents were reassigned to the inventors and some where sold and reassigned to Health Watch LLC. Health Watch is a patent holding group of Dominion Harbor, a patent acquisition, licensing, and assertion NPE (non-practicing entity). Some of the Impact Sports Technologies patents (via Health Watch LLC) were asserted in lawsuits against Samsung and Huawei. Neither lawsuit looks to have progressed very far.
• Impact Sports Technologies Patent Assignments: https://assignment.uspto.gov/patent/index.html#/patent/search/result?id=IMPACT%20SPORTS%20TECHNOLOGIES,%20INC.&type=patAssigneeName
• Impact Sports Technologies Assigns Patents to Health Watch, LLC: https://insight.rpxcorp.com/news/details?news_browser_controls%5Bfrom%5D=02%2F25%2F2018&news_browser_controls%5Bpage%5D=30&news_browser_controls%5Bto%5D=02%2F25%2F2019&page=31
• Health Watch patent challenged as likely invalid: https://www.unifiedpatents.com/insights/2019/1/4/health-watch-patent-challenged-as-likely-invalid
• Health Watch, LLC v. Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd. et al: https://insight.rpxcorp.com/lit/txedce-182456-health-watch-v-samsung-electronics
• Health Watch, LLC v. Huawei Device USA Inc. et al: https://insight.rpxcorp.com/lit/txedce-182453-health-watch-v-huawei-device

TRIAGE WIRELESS INC:

• 1 inventor in the top 250, #59 on assignee list, no citation, 2 CPC group codes.
• Triage Wireless, Inc. Becomes Sotera Wireless, Inc.: https://www.mobihealthnews.com/5501/triage-wireless-inc-becomes-sotera-wireless-inc
• See Sotera above.

SEARETE LLC:

• 8 inventors in the top 250, #65 on assignee list, no citation, 3 CPC group codes.
• Searete LLC is a patent holding division of Intellectual Ventures.
• Searete LLC - Bill Gates, top Microsoft executives do some of their inventing on the side: https://www.bizjournals.com/seattle/blog/techflash/2008/11/Gates_top_Microsoft_executives_do_some_inventing_on_the_side34192179.html

THOR TECHNOLOGY CORPORATION:

• 2 patents in top 100 citations.
• Thor Technology Corporation was liquidated in 2000 and Masimo acquired the two patents on the citations list in 2003.
• Wisconsin Energy to sell faltering Thor Technology: https://www.bizjournals.com/milwaukee/stories/2000/06/05/story3.html
• US-4964408-A: https://patents.google.com/patent/US4964408A/en?oq=US-4964408-A
• US-5069213-A: https://patents.google.com/patent/US5069213A/en?oq=US-5069213-A

VITAL INSITE INC.:

• 1 patent in the top 100 citations. Masimo acquired Vital Insite in 1999.
• Masimo Corporation Announces Acquisition of Vital Insite - December 10, 1999: https://www.masimo.com/company/news/news-media/1999/#news-28977de2-8bd2-40bd-b750-6bcae75a59db

SENSIDYNE, INC.:

• 3 patents in the top 100 citations. Masimo acquired these patents in 2005.
• US-6343224-B1: https://patents.google.com/patent/US6343224B1/en?oq=US-6343224-B1
• US-6684091-B2: https://patents.google.com/patent/US6684091B2/en?oq=US-6684091-B2
• US-6519487-B1: https://patents.google.com/patent/US6519487B1/en?oq=US-6519487-B1

Market Intelligence:

• Pulse Oximetry is a non-invasive technique for measuring a person’s blood oxygen saturation level. This technology is used in a variety of specialized hospital products, but people may be more familiar with its use in monitoring heart rate in broadly available commercial products and, more recently, in smart watches. Pulse Oximetry is accomplished via a technique known as photoplethysmograph or "PPG", which uses specialized LED light to illuminate a person’s surface skin and then measure the light through or reflected from the skin. Signal processing techniques are then applied to this received and reflected light to derive blood oxygen saturation characteristics and ultimately a person’s pulse rate. Historically this technology, particularly the non-invasive skin surface device implementation, was prone to inaccuracies when a patient moved or experience low surface skin blood flow. Masimo’s research resulted in a solution to these problems that the company has marketed as Masimo Signal Extraction Technology (“Masimo SET”).
  • Pulse Oximetry: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pulse_oximetry
  • Masimo Signal Extraction Technology (SET) Pulse Oximetry: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/12580205
  • Masimo Signal Extraction Pulse Oximetry: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/12580205-masimo-signal-extraction-pulse-oximetry/
  • Signal processing and calibration improve blood measurements: https://www.edn.com/signal-processing-and-calibration-improve-blood-measurements/

• Most industry analysis reports expect the pulse oximetry market to grow at compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of approximately 6%-7% reaching $2.3 billion to $2.8 billion in the 2025-2026 timeframe. This growth will be driven by factors such as higher prevalence diseases such as Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD), sleep apnea, cardiac arrhythmia, respiratory diseases such as asthma, as well as the increased popularity of smart watches, fitness devices and other wearables, hearables and handheld devices with pulse and blood oxygen monitoring technology.
  • Pulse Oximeters Market Size Worth $2.8 Billion By 2025 | CAGR: 6.3%: https://www.grandviewresearch.com/press-release/global-pulse-oximeters-market
  • Global Pulse Oximeter Market was valued at approximately USD 1.65 billion in 2018 and is expected to reach approximately USD 2.8 billion by 2026: http://www.digitaljournal.com/pr/4583479
  • Pulse Oximeters Market – 2020 Global Market Growth, Size, Outlook, Supply, Segments, Share, Demand, Trends and Forecasts to 2026: https://www.medgadget.com/2020/01/pulse-oximeters-market-2020-global-market-growth-size-outlook-supply-segments-share-demand-trends-and-forecasts-to-2026.htmlMa

Overview of the Patent Landscape Process:

• A patent landscape study is a research process that filters and analyzes patent and patent application information to produce strategic business information that provides overview insights into competitors, technologies, and markets.
• The patent landscape process for this report utilizes data science analytics and semantic analysis for the grouping of similar patents based on feature information, as well as common feature analysis to derive insights. This report utilizes Google's BigQuery cloud-based data warehouse service and the patent datasets provided in BigQuery. This project architecture enables the integration of the analysis into modern data science platforms. The results of this report have been produced via Python programs executed within Jupyter notebooks that access the BigQuery data warehouse via remote SQL queries.
• The diagram in Exhibit xi below shows the general analysis process. A collection of patent documents is created that represents the intellectual property domain to be analyzed. That collection of patent documents is then further grouped by specific feature information (e.g. assignees, inventors, citations, and class codes). Finally, the feature information is tabulated and analyzed to identify the trends and show insightful results focused on significant strategic business information (competitive landscape, key intellectual property experts, notable prior art, existing patents, and technology profiles). See the tables below for more information.

Exhibit xi: Patent Landscape Process

Exhibit 1: Domain Collection: Date Coverage

• This is a table summarizing the date coverage, listing the earliest and most recent dates for filed patent applications, published documents, and granted patents.
• Click on column headings to sort.
• Use the Search box to search on any column.

Exhibit 2: Domain Collection: Geographic Coverage

• This is a table summarizing the geographic distribution of patent applications and granted patents by country contained in the domain collection.
• Total number of patent applications = 5,118
• Total number of granted patents = 2,978
• Click on column headings to sort.
• Use the Search box to search on any column.

Exhibit 3: Domain Collection: Geographic Breakdown of English Patent Application Sections

• This table shows the geographic breakdown of the number patent applications with English abstracts, descriptions, and claims. This table is designed to provide context on the English-searchable patent documents from which landscape semantic-search results are derived and the documents that can be queried for additional intellectual property research.
• Google's BigQuery patents.publications data table contains full text information on U.S patent documents as well as abstract and bibliographic info on international patent documents. As of the date of this report, the BigQuery data table does not contain full text descriptions and claims for international patent documents.
• Total number of patent applications with English abstracts = 5,117
• Total number of patent applications with English descriptions = 5,089
• Total number of patent applications with English claims = 5,089
• Click on column headings to sort.
• Use the Search box to search on any column.

Exhibit 4: Domain Collection: Frequency of Patent Application Filings Timeline

• This shows a bar chart timeline of the frequency of patent application filings and provides a concise view of the historic trend of application filings embodied in the domain collection.
• More specifically, the bar chart shows the number of patent applications filed on a quarterly basis beginning with the earliest filed application in the domain collection and ending with the most recent application filing in the domain collection as queried from the Google BigQuery patents.publications dataset table.

Exhibit 5: Domain Collection: Top Inventors and the Principal Assignees

• This table identifies the top inventors listed on the patent applications contained in the domain collection and essentially identifies the top intellectual property experts of the domain area profiled. This table also lists the entities (corporations, educational institutions, etc.) to which those inventors have assigned the predominant number of patent applications, and thus identifies relationships between inventors and those assignees.
• The “Total Num of Patent Apps” column indicates the total number of patent applications on which the individual is listed as an inventor. The default sorting of the table is on this column in descending order.
• The “Num of Patent Apps per Assignee” column indicates the number of patent applications, on which the individual is listed as an inventor, that have been assigned to the indicated assignee.
• Click on column headings to sort.
• Use the Search box to search on any column.

Exhibit 6: Domain Collection: Top Assignees

• This table identifies the top assignees of patent applications contained in the domain collection and largely shows the competitive landscape from an intellectual property perspective.
• The “Total Num of Patent Apps per Assignee” column indicates the total number of applications that have been assigned to the indicated assignee.
• Click on column headings to sort.
• Use the Search box to search on any column.

Exhibit 7: Domain Collection: Top Patent Document Citations

• This table identifies the most cited patent document references across the domain collection and is designed to identify the most significant patent documents to the domain area profiled.
• A cited patent document is typically a patent application or granted patent that is considered as significant (prior art, or in some way relevant) to the patent application that cites it. This table below thus represents the list of most cited patent document references on patent applications in the domain collection. These cited patent documents may or may not be in the domain collection, but nonetheless represent notable references relevant to the domain collection.
• The “Number of Patent Apps” column indicates the number of times the citation was referenced across all applications in the domain collection.
• Click on column headings to sort.
• Use the Search box to search on any column.

Exhibit 8: Domain Collection: Top Patent Document Citations, Sorted by Assignee

• This tables shows the same information as the previous Top Patent Document Citations table except this table is sorted by assignee and is designed to identify the assignees with most significant intellectual property position across the domain.
• Like the previous table, the “Number of Patent Apps” column indicates the number of times the citation was referenced across all applications in the domain collection.
• The “Tot Num of Patent Apps” column indicates the total number of patent application citations on an assignee basis. This number is computed by examining the citations per assignee and then summing the number of times those citations are referenced across the domain collection. The default sorting of the table ranks assignees in descending order of “Tot Num of Patent Apps” and thus provides an indication of the assignee’s intellectual property position in the domain area.
• Click on column headings to sort.
• Use the Search box to search on any column.

Exhibit 9: Domain Collection: Top CPC Group Codes

• This is a table of the top CPC Group Codes (and the Group Code titles) that are assigned to patent applications across the domain collection and thus provides a ranking of the significant technology topics that are utilized in the domain area profiled.
• CPC codes are assigned to every patent application to categorize the inventive ideas embodied the application. The CPC code consists of at least 7 characters and digits as defined by the Cooperative Patent Classification code system. The first four characters and digits are referred to as the CPC Group Code, which happens to provide an appropriate level of descriptive detail useful in profiling the technology.
• The “Number of Patent Apps” column indicates the total number of times the CPC Group Code was assigned across all patent applications in the domain collection. Patent applications can be assigned multiple CPC codes representing potentially different inventive ideas embodied in the application.
• Click on column headings to sort.
• Use the Search box to search on any column.

Exhibit 10: Domain Collection: Top CPC Group Codes by Assignee

• This is a table of the most significant CPC Group Code - assignee combinations of patent applications in the domain collection and thus provides an indication of the significant focus technologies for the various assignees.
• The “Number of Patent Apps” column indicates the number of patent applications, designated to the indicated assignee, to which the CPC Group Code was assigned. The default sorting of the table on this column in descending order thus ranks the most significant focus technologies for the indicated assignee.
• Click on column headings to sort.
• Use the Search box to search on any column.

Exhibit 11: Domain Collection: Top CPC Codes Heatmap Timeline

• This shows a timeline heatmap of the number of patent applications that utilize the top CPC codes as filed on a quarterly basis spanning the domain collection application filing timeline. This heatmap is designed to provide visibility into the technology trends represented by the most used CPC codes in the domain collection.

Exhibit 12: CPC Codes Timeline Heatmap - Top CPC Group Code Titles

• This is essentially the titles legend table for the CPC Group Codes in the timeline heatmap of previous exhibit and shows the titles of the top CPC Group Codes used in the heatmap.
• The patent application totals represent the total number of patent applications for the respective CPC Codes across the entire timeline.

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