PATSTAT revisited: Suggestions for better usage

• This study provides a comprehensive summary of and guidance for PATSTAT.
• Knowledge on patent data analysis is learned by doing or through consultation.
• Such methods are very time intensive.
• This paper helps accustom in performing patent data analyses.

This study provides a comprehensive summary of and guidance for using the EPO Worldwide Patent Statistical Database (PATSTAT), one of the most widely used patent databases for researchers. We highlight the three most important issues that PATSTAT users must consider when performing patent data analyses and suggest ways to deal with those issues.