Even if you do not have a PatSnap license, you can receive links or emails alerts from users of the platform.
If you click on a link for a patent, you will be taken to a page that looks like the following:
If you have previously used the PatSnap platform, you will notice that some features are missing from this page. However, there is still useful information aplenty here.
Firstly, you will see by default, the "Abstract" option selected which will give you various different pieces of information about the patent as well as being able to see the abstract for it.
The first thing you might notice on the abstract tab is the patent timeline. The patent timeline shows you all the key dates related to an application's history in one place. It includes priority, application, publication, grant, divisional, continuation (numbers and dates).
Additionally, you can also see an image on the right of the screen, which if selected will allow you to look at the other images contained within the patent.
The next option is "Claims", where you are able to view the claims of the patent.
The next option is "Description", where you are able to view a broken-up description for the patent.
The next option is "Images", which is another place where you can see the images contained within the patent.
The next option is "PDF", here you see the official PDF for the patent. Here you can zoom in/out of the PDF by clicking the options that appear on the screen once you hover over the result. You can also export or view a copy of this document on your computer.
The next option is "Legal", where you can view the legal status of this patent and it's family overall for each type.
The next option you can go to is "Citation", where you can view a citation list for the patent. Here you can see both the cites within this patent and which patents cite this particular patent.
The next option is "Family", where you can view the other patents that are members of the same family as this patent (Simple/INPADOC/PatSnap).
There are 2 other options you can utilize on this page.
The first option is "PDF Download" which allows you to download the patent as a PDF file.
The second option is "Translate" which allows you to view a translation for this patent's full text.
Why is this useful?
Being able to access a (albeit limited) patent view page is useful as it helps with collaboration for large teams within companies which contain both PatSnap and non-PatSnap users.
The reason for this is because it means a PatSnap user can setup email alerts or share links with non-PatSnap users and the latter can still garner useful information. As mentioned above, they can click on the link and will be able to both read through the patent and find some key information about it. They can then feed back this to their colleagues.