An investigation into analyzing patents by chemical structure using Thomson’s Derwent World Patent Index codes

Patent mapping usually involves an analysis of standard bibliometric measures such as inventors, patent assignees, patent countries, patent years or dates, and, of course, activities or uses found in the patents. In addition to these, of great importance to pharmaceutical chemists are the chemical structures patented and how they relate to the above measures. This article reviews our attempts to analyze pharmaceutical patents utilizing the chemical structure information provided in Thomson’s Derwent World Patent Index (DWPI).