This case study is the fourth in a series of studies that cover benchmarking of PatSeer’s AI Search against invention descriptions from different fields of science.
The aim is to demonstrate the effectiveness of PatSeer’s AI search by manually examining the top 10 results and their Title, Abstract, Claims, and Summary of Invention against the input invention description.
In our previous case study, we did a benchmarking on Topical Skin care Composition related patents. In this case study, we have chosen an invention from Water Treatment and Desalination domain and more specifically – Salt water desalination equipment.
Salt water desalination equipment involves multiple components working together to convert saltwater into freshwater. It has wide applications in providing a sustainable source of freshwater for drinking and domestic use in areas facing water scarcity.
Our invention description of Salt water desalination equipment contained the following key elements:
Key elements of the invention description:
1. Salt water supply unit
2. Osmotic membrane component
- Reverse osmosis membrane component
- Forward osmosis membrane component
3. Concentrated salt water
4. Assisting device
To evaluate the AI Semantic search results and their relevance, an analysis was conducted on the first 10 search records that showed up in the result set against the elements mentioned above. We followed the same method as in our previous case studies.
The following table shows the manual analysis based on the key elements for the first record that appeared in the AI search (US2015352497A1 – SALT WATER DESALINATION EQUIPMENT):
Key Elements | Claim Numbers matched | Reference from the claim | Overlap | Matched with Title, Abstract, and SOI |
---|---|---|---|---|
Salt water supply unit | 1, 2, 3, 7, 9, 11 | Salt water supply unit | Full overlap | Full overlap |
Osmotic membrane component | 1, 3, 4, 11, 12, 13 | Reverse osmosis membrane component, Forward osmosis membrane component | Full overlap | Full overlap |
Concentrated salt water | 1, 3, 4, 5, 6, 12, 13 | Concentrated salt water, concentrated water, concentrated sea water | Full overlap | Full overlap |
Assisting device | 1, 4, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11 | Assisting device, assisting component, assisting electric power | Full overlap | Full overlap |
The table lists all the elements from the paragraph, followed by the patent claim numbers where these elements appeared. The subsequent column shows the exact text from the patent claims that matched the respective key elements. For instance, “concentrated salt water” was matched with “concentrated sea water.” Similarly, the key components of an osmotic membrane component, like reverse osmosis and forward osmosis membrane components, were appropriately matched and, an assisting device was matched with an assisting component. The fourth column assesses the degree of similarity between the paragraph and the claims of the patent document. The last column of the table indicates the extent of overlap between each element and the corresponding Title, Abstract, and Summary of Invention. This alignment was determined through manual examination.
It is evident that all the key elements mentioned in the paragraph were precisely covered in the Title, Abstract, Claims, and Summary of Invention of the first record identified through the AI Semantic search.
A similar evaluation was conducted for the remaining set of records, and we have compiled all the results into a single table provided below.
To calculate the final semantic performance score for the top 10 results, a scoring system was employed: assigning 1 point for full overlap, 0.5 point for partial overlap, and 0 point for no overlap and positional weightage was given based on the position of the result in top 10. Based on the calculations done the final semantic performance score for the top 10 results in this case was 82.27%.
Key Elements | |||||
Patent Number | Title of the patent | Salt water supply unit | Osmotic membrane component | Concentrated salt water | Assisting device |
US2015352497A1 | Salt water desalination equipment | Full Overlap | Full Overlap | Full Overlap | Full Overlap |
WO2010004819A1 | Salt water desalination equipment using reverse osmosis membrane, and method for producing desalinated water using salt water desalination equipment | Full Overlap | Partial Overlap | Partial Overlap | Full Overlap |
KR101869030B1 | Desalination Apparatus and Method Using Forward Osmosis and Reverse Osmosis Having Multi-step Energy Recovery | Full Overlap | Full Overlap | Full Overlap | Full Overlap |
CN212731714U | Seawater desalination equipment | Partial Overlap | Full Overlap | Full Overlap | Full Overlap |
WO2012099074A1 | Salt water desalination apparatus | Full Overlap | Partial Overlap | Full Overlap | No Overlap |
WO2004065308A1 | Water Desalination Installation | Full Overlap | Partial Overlap | Full Overlap | Full Overlap |
US2012234760A1 | Desalination apparatus and desalination method | Full Overlap | Partial Overlap | Full Overlap | No Overlap |
JP2014034005A | Salt water desalination apparatus and fresh water production method | Full Overlap | Partial Overlap | Full Overlap | No Overlap |
JP2013252502A | Device for desalination of salt water and water producing method | Full Overlap | Partial Overlap | Partial Overlap | Partial Overlap |
US2007181473A1 | Water Desalination Installation | Partial Overlap | Partial Overlap | Full Overlap | Partial Overlap |
You can refine original search results based on records that you identify as highly relevant, and these additional steps can significantly improve the quality of the results. However, in the case study above, we conducted the benchmarking without employing any such refinements.
In conclusion, conducting a thorough evaluation of semantic search performance using your own invention descriptions is crucial. Our approach involved benchmarking the invention description against Title, Abstract, Claims, and Summary of Invention.