white-space-analysis

Research

Identify patent coverage gaps — feature cross-matrix blank areas revealing unprotected technology combinations. Budget: 150 patent families, 10 claim parses, 60 web searches.

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Source SKILL.md: https://github.com/yogsoth-ai/de-anthropocentric-research-engine/blob/HEAD/skills/white-space-analysis/SKILL.md

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White Space Analysis

Identifies gaps in patent coverage by constructing feature cross-matrices and finding blank areas where no patents exist. Reveals opportunities for new filings.

Purpose

Map the patent coverage landscape as a multi-dimensional feature matrix and identify unprotected technology combinations — areas where innovation is possible without infringing existing IP.

Budget

Metric	Target
Patent families analyzed	150
Claim parses	10
Web searches completed	60

State Ledger

Metric	Target	%
Patent families analyzed	150	0%
Claim parses completed	10	0%
Web searches completed	60	0%
Feature dimensions defined	—	—
White spaces identified	—	—

HARD-GATE: Cannot exit iteration loop until 80% of patent families (120) and web searches (48) budget met.

Available Tactics

Tactic	When to Use
patent-family-tracing	Fill coverage map by tracing families in each matrix cell
classification-navigation	Define feature dimensions from IPC/CPC hierarchy
claim-decomposition	Extract feature elements from key patents to define matrix axes

Available SOPs

SOP	Role in This Strategy
patent-query-formulation	Generate queries for each feature combination
patent-categorization	Assign patents to matrix cells
white-space-mapping	Construct cross-matrix and identify blanks
claim-parsing	Extract features from key patents for axis definition
trend-analysis	Identify which white spaces are trending toward filling
saturation-detection	Confirm matrix coverage is complete
patent-synthesis	Produce white space opportunity report

Execution Guidance

Domain scoping — Define the technology domain boundaries
Feature extraction — Use claim-decomposition on key patents to identify feature dimensions
Matrix construction — Define 2-3 feature axes using white-space-mapping
Systematic search — Query each matrix cell using patent-query-formulation
Family tracing — Use patent-family-tracing to ensure complete cell coverage
Categorization — Assign all patents to cells with patent-categorization
Gap identification — Identify empty and sparse cells
Trend overlay — Use trend-analysis to assess which gaps are closing
Synthesis — Produce opportunity report ranking white spaces by attractiveness

Output Format

# White Space Analysis: [Technology Domain]

## Feature Dimensions
[Axis definitions with rationale]

## Coverage Matrix
[Cross-matrix with patent counts per cell, blanks highlighted]

## Identified White Spaces (ranked by opportunity)
| Rank | Feature Combination | Adjacent Patents | Trend | Opportunity Score |
|------|--------------------|--------------------|-------|-------------------|

## Opportunity Assessment
[For each top white space: technical feasibility, market potential, filing risk]

## Recommendations
[Prioritized list of filing opportunities]

Available Tactics

Optional, no fixed order; the final leaf is always a sop.

Tactic	When to use
classification-navigation	IPC/CPC hierarchy drill-down and lateral expansion for patent discovery
knowledge-acquisition-claim-decomposition	Independent/dependent claim parsing, element extraction, and feature mapping to technical domains
patent-family-tracing	Forward/backward patent citation and priority tracing until saturation

Available SOPs

Optional, no fixed order; the final leaf is always a sop.

SOP	When to use
claim-parsing	Patent claim syntax parsing — independent/dependent relationships and element extraction
knowledge-acquisition-saturation-detection	Determine when additional searching yields diminishing returns. Analyzes the latest expansion batch against existing corpus to judge continue/near-saturation/saturated. Used by snowball and systematic-survey.
patent-categorization	Classify patents by tech subdomain, application scenario, and value chain position
patent-query-formulation	Construct keyword + IPC/CPC + assignee combination search strategies for patent databases
patent-synthesis	Produce final structured patent intelligence report from all analysis results
trend-analysis	Patent filing volume time-series, technology lifecycle stage, and S-curve analysis
white-space-mapping	Feature cross-matrix construction and blank area identification for patent opportunity mapping