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When managing global IP rights, it’s crucial to understand how a single invention evolves across jurisdictions. The TIP Tool™ simplifies this with a Patent Family View showing how a U.S. application relates to its foreign counterparts, continuations, divisionals, and parent filings.
What is a Patent Family?
A patent family is a group of related applications that share a common priority such as a continuation, divisional, or foreign filing derived from the same original invention.
The TIP Tool™ automatically identifies and displays these family connections based on:
- U.S. serial number relationships
- International counterparts via Espacenet
- Priority claims and filing structures
Where to Find the Patent Family View
There are two ways to see the patent families:
- Go to Portfolio Manager
One way of doing it: Spot the application whose patent families you want to view. There’s a column at the end labeled ‘Foreign Families’.
- Another way: Click on the application you want to explore
- Scroll to the bottom of the application page
- Locate the Continuity Data where you find Gantt Chart view of patent families.
- Or at the top of the Application detail page, you’ll see an option for the Family Tree. Clicking on it will take you to the tool’s patent family tree feature.
🔗 Learn more about Family Tree here: How to Understand Patent Families Using the TIP Tool™ Family Tree?