Hello,
We were hoping to use the Inventor ID field to disambiguate inventors with similar names. However, some inventors are associated with different IDs and some IDs are associated with different inventors depending on the search query.
Using William Pao as an example, if we use a POST request with the inventor endpoint and the query {"_and": [{"name_last": "pao"},{"name_first": "william"}]}, we get this in return:
{ "error": false, "count": 1, "total_hits": 1, "inventors": [ { "inventor_id": 3150580, "name_first": "William", "name_last": "Pao", "num_patents": 2, "num_assignees": 1, "lastknown_city": "New York", "lastknown_state": "NY", "lastknown_country": "US", "first_seen_date": "2011-11-29", "last_seen_date": "2013-08-06", "years_active": 2, "inventor_years": [ {}, {} ] } ] }
Now if we do a get request with the patent endpoint and the query {"inventors_at_grant.inventor_id": "3150580"} and add "inventors_at_grant" to the default f field, we get this in return
{ "error": false, "count": 1, "total_hits": 1, "patents": [ { "patent_number": "5209826", "patent_title": "Method of separating sesamin and episesamin", "patent_date": "1993-05-11", "inventors_at_grant": [ { "inventor": "https://search.patentsview.org/api/v1/inventor/125846/", "name_first": "Tatsuhiko", "name_last": "Ozaki", "city": "Aichi", "state": null, "country": "JP", "latitude": 34.8506, "longitude": 137.133 }, { "inventor": "https://search.patentsview.org/api/v1/inventor/615348/", "name_first": "Hirokazu", "name_last": "Matsueda", "city": "Aichi", "state": null, "country": "JP", "latitude": 34.8506, "longitude": 137.133 }, { "inventor": "https://search.patentsview.org/api/v1/inventor/3150580/", "name_first": "Yasunari", "name_last": "Hoshii", "city": "Aichi", "state": null, "country": "JP", "latitude": 34.8506, "longitude": 137.133 } ] } ] }
The inventor Yasunari Hoshii has the same ID as William Pao, but they are different individuals. The URL in the "inventor" field also leads to William Pao instead of Yasunari Hoshii. Why is this 3150580 associated with both of these individuals?
Instead of inventor ID, if we do a get request with the patents endpoint with the query {"_and": [{"inventors_at_grant.name_last": "pao"}, {"inventors_at_grant.name_first": "william"}]}, we get this in return:
{ "error": false, "count": 4, "total_hits": 4, "patents": [ { "patent_number": "5548995", "patent_title": "Method and apparatus for detecting the angular position of a variable position camshaft", "patent_date": "1996-08-27", "inventors_at_grant": [ { "inventor": "https://search.patentsview.org/api/v1/inventor/164463/", "name_first": "Hsien C.", "name_last": "Pao", "city": "Plymouth", "state": "MI", "country": "US", "latitude": 46.4647, "longitude": -89.9796 }, { "inventor": "https://search.patentsview.org/api/v1/inventor/1390808/", "name_first": "Eric L.", "name_last": "Clinton", "city": "Southfield", "state": "MI", "country": "US", "latitude": 42.4799, "longitude": -83.2603 }, { "inventor": "https://search.patentsview.org/api/v1/inventor/1593538/", "name_first": "William", "name_last": "Allen", "city": "Redford", "state": "MI", "country": "US", "latitude": 42.3834, "longitude": -83.2966 }, { "inventor": "https://search.patentsview.org/api/v1/inventor/2342323/", "name_first": "Valerian M.", "name_last": "Nita", "city": "Warren", "state": "MI", "country": "US", "latitude": 42.4928, "longitude": -83.0264 } ] }, { "patent_number": "5572049", "patent_title": "Multi-layer collector heterojunction transistor", "patent_date": "1996-11-05", "inventors_at_grant": [ { "inventor": "https://search.patentsview.org/api/v1/inventor/466741/", "name_first": "Cheng P.", "name_last": "Wen", "city": "Mission Viejo", "state": "CA", "country": "US", "latitude": 33.5966, "longitude": -117.659 }, { "inventor": "https://search.patentsview.org/api/v1/inventor/717650/", "name_first": "William E.", "name_last": "Stanchina", "city": "Thousand Oaks", "state": "CA", "country": "US", "latitude": 34.1706, "longitude": -118.838 }, { "inventor": "https://search.patentsview.org/api/v1/inventor/786475/", "name_first": "Chan-Shin", "name_last": "Wu", "city": "Torrance", "state": "CA", "country": "US", "latitude": 33.8341, "longitude": -118.342 }, { "inventor": "https://search.patentsview.org/api/v1/inventor/912991/", "name_first": "David B.", "name_last": "Rensch", "city": "Thousand Oaks", "state": "CA", "country": "US", "latitude": 34.1706, "longitude": -118.838 }, { "inventor": "https://search.patentsview.org/api/v1/inventor/1802110/", "name_first": "Cheng-Keng", "name_last": "Pao", "city": "Torrance", "state": "CA", "country": "US", "latitude": 33.8341, "longitude": -118.342 } ] }, { "patent_number": "8067175", "patent_title": "Methods and compositions for detecting a drug resistant EGFR mutant", "patent_date": "2011-11-29", "inventors_at_grant": [ { "inventor": "https://search.patentsview.org/api/v1/inventor/306093/", "name_first": "Vincent A.", "name_last": "Miller", "city": "New York", "state": "NY", "country": "US", "latitude": 40.6931, "longitude": -73.8784 }, { "inventor": "https://search.patentsview.org/api/v1/inventor/2410565/", "name_first": "Harold", "name_last": "Varmus", "city": "New York", "state": "NY", "country": "US", "latitude": 40.6931, "longitude": -73.8784 }, { "inventor": "https://search.patentsview.org/api/v1/inventor/2555540/", "name_first": "Katerina", "name_last": "Politi", "city": "New York", "state": "NY", "country": "US", "latitude": 40.6931, "longitude": -73.8784 }, { "inventor": "https://search.patentsview.org/api/v1/inventor/3261576/", "name_first": "William", "name_last": "Pao", "city": "New York", "state": "NY", "country": "US", "latitude": 40.6931, "longitude": -73.8784 } ] }, { "patent_number": "8501413", "patent_title": "Methods and compositions for detecting a drug resistant EGFR mutant", "patent_date": "2013-08-06", "inventors_at_grant": [ { "inventor": "https://search.patentsview.org/api/v1/inventor/306093/", "name_first": "Vincent A.", "name_last": "Miller", "city": "New York", "state": "NY", "country": "US", "latitude": 40.6931, "longitude": -73.8784 }, { "inventor": "https://search.patentsview.org/api/v1/inventor/2410565/", "name_first": "Harold", "name_last": "Varmus", "city": "New York", "state": "NY", "country": "US", "latitude": 40.6931, "longitude": -73.8784 }, { "inventor": "https://search.patentsview.org/api/v1/inventor/2555540/", "name_first": "Katerina", "name_last": "Politi", "city": "New York", "state": "NY", "country": "US", "latitude": 40.6931, "longitude": -73.8784 }, { "inventor": "https://search.patentsview.org/api/v1/inventor/3261576/", "name_first": "William", "name_last": "Pao", "city": "New York", "state": "NY", "country": "US", "latitude": 40.6931, "longitude": -73.8784 } ] } ] }
The William Pao in the latter these patents has the ID 3261576 instead of 3150580 as we see with the first search; however, when we use a get request with the URL provided this time ("https://search.patentsview.org/api/v1/inventor/3261576/"), we get this in return:
{ "error": false, "count": 1, "total_hits": 1, "inventors": [ { "inventor_id": 3261576, "name_first": "Henrik", "name_last": "Daub", "num_patents": 2, "num_assignees": 1, "lastknown_city": "München", "lastknown_state": null, "lastknown_country": "DE", "first_seen_date": "2009-12-15", "last_seen_date": "2015-02-24", "years_active": 5, "inventor_years": [ {}, {} ] } ] }
Again, Henrik Daub and William Pao seems to be different individuals that share the same ID. I believe the “inventor” field under patents’ “inventors_at_grant” field is incorrect for many patents. Please let me if I can modify my search to get the right ID and inventor match.
Best,
Anh