This project is concerned with maintaining and updating patent data, to enable the McNair Center staff to extract meaningful data for academic papers and reports. Currently, there are two primary sources for this data - the US Patent and Trademark Office as well as the Harvard Dataverse. Data from the LexMachina online database has been added to provide information on [[Guide to Patent Litigation (Wiki Page) | patent litigation]]. All the acquired data is stored in normalized tables to be accessed and modified using SQLPostgreSQL. The patent data has been separated into multiple databases based on data source or subject matter. Each database consists of several tables for which the known [[Patent Data Issues | issues]] have been recorded.
==Data Sources==
Data has been extracted from the '''[[USPTO Bulk Data]]''', the '''[[Harvard Dataverse]]''', and '''[[Lex Machina]]''', an online patent litigation database. {{#section:USPTO_Bulk_Data_Processing|bulk}}{{#section:Harvard_Dataverse|dataverse}}The [[Patent|Patent Database]] contains the merged datasets from sources used were intended to follow the USPTO bulk data and Harvard Dataverse using SQL. Specifics on how the datasets were merged are given in overall [[Patent Data Processing - SQL StepsModel]]established by the McNair Center.
==Database Specifics==
The [[Patent|Patent Database]] contains the merged datasets from the USPTO bulk data and Harvard Dataverse using PostgreSQL. Specifics on how the datasets were merged are given in [[Patent Data Processing - SQL Steps]].Patent Database focuses on patents, patent litigation, patent maintenance, patent assignment, and other details on patent owners. The [[USPTOAssigneesData|USPTO Assignees Database (version 2)]] focuses on patent assignments, a transaction between one or more patent owners with one or more parties where ownership or interest in one or more patents is assigned or shared. The database consists of historical assignment data provided by the USPTO in XML files. Specifics on how the database are given on the [[USPTO Assignees Data Processing]] Page. == Sources of Data=====[[USPTO Bulk Data]]======[[Harvard Dataverse]]======[[Venture Xpert]]======[[Lex Machina]]======[[Data Model]]===
==Academic Projects==
Issue Brief: Based on an analysis of the litigation data from Lex Machina, an issue brief, tentatively titled [[The Truth Behind Patent Trolls Issue Brief| The Truth Behind Patent Trolls]], on patent troll activity may be written to report on how best to curve abuses through [[Innovation Policy| innovation policy]] and reform.