How to switch between Visual Search and Search Syntax
Introduction
Use PatentSight’s Search Syntax for a more efficient patent search workflow! PatentSight’s Search Syntax is a tool consisting of four components that enhance your patent search.
Syntax
Switch from Visual Search to Syntax, which allows you to directly type in or copy and paste a search query.
Syntax Assistant
An integral component of the Syntax, the Syntax Assistant analyses the search query as you type to provide suggestions in a drop-down menu for an enhanced user experience.
Saved Searches
Save your search queries in your user folder to have them ready at hand at any time. You can use your Saved Searches as filter elements to freely combine them with other searches.
Search History
The Search History will automatically save your last 1000 searches ready to use later at any time.
How to switch between Visual Search and Search Syntax
Easily switch between Visual Search and Syntax – as often as you like!
Click on “Visual Search” or “Syntax” displayed on top of the search filter to switch to the respective format.
The Visual Search will be automatically translated into Syntax format and vice versa.
You can adjust the size of the Search Filter to your needs:
Syntax Denotation
Structure-wise, the Syntax works in the same way as the Visual Search – this is precisely why you can freely switch back and forth between these two modes
Different types of filter elements require different kinds of denotation:
Listings
Listings, such as Owners, IPC, or authorities, can be denoted using the logical operators “AND”, “OR” and “NOT”/”AND NOT” and parentheses “(…)”. In this, comma “,” has the same meaning as “OR”.
Note that items containing any of the symbols
# = & < > ( ) { } [ \ ] ! “ , ; : | ~ % have to be set in quotation marks (e.g., Owner=(“P&G”)).
Dates
Accepted date formats are “YYYY-MM-DD” and “YYYYMMDD”. Date ranges can be defined by the use of “TO”.
Note: MM and DD or only DD can be omitted. E.g., the query “GrantYear=(2018)” will return patents granted throughout the year 2018, while “GrantYear=(2018 TO 2019)” will return patents granted between 2018-01-01 and 2019-12-31.
Measures
The range of measures, such as PatentSight indicators or numeric Custom Fields, is denoted by the help of less than “<“, greater than “>” and “TO”.
Listings with Dates
Listings with dates require one or more listing items to be stated first. The date range has to be separated from the listing item(s) by a semicolon.
Click here to download Syntax Cheat Sheet
Search Assistant
The Syntax Assistant will provide you with automatic suggestions for filter elements as you type
Note: You can open and close the drop-down menu manually using the shortcuts “Ctrl + Space” and “Esc”.
The Syntax Assistant will also provide you with automatic suggestions for items within some of the filter elements:
Some drop-down menus offer an additional search option:
Note: When searching for IPCs and CPCs, any space formatting can be used. The slash “/”, however, is mandatory. Possible formats:
- A61M 3/00
- A61M3/00
- A6 1M 3/0 0
Some items are provided with alternative spellings:
Tags and Custom Fields are special filter elements:
Tags:
Custom Fields:
Saved Searches
Save a search query in your user folder to have it ready at hand for future usage!
Note: Queries that reference searches from your Search History (“#”) cannot be saved as Saved Searches.
Open a search from “My Saved Searches” – this will add the entire search query to the search filter:
Add a saved search to another query – this will combine the saved search of your choice as filter element with the existing query:
Search History
Your searches are automatically saved in the search history:
Your latest 1000 searches will always be saved automatically in chronological order. Note that 1000 is the maximum number of searches that are saved in the Search History. Once this number has been reached, older searches will start to be automatically deleted.
Open a search from My Search History – this will add the entire search string to the filter:
Add a saved search to another query – this will combine the search of your choice as filter element with the existing query
