A State of the Art (SOA) or Collection Search is a comprehensive search performed to understand the most recent development in a technology by identifying all relevant prior-art references in that domain.
This is usually performed to understand the recent stage in the development of a product or technology, to determine R&D activities in a particular domain and to further research and commercial development. It is particularly important for client entering a new domain in order to understand the scope of development in a technology so as to invest on the research accordingly. Besides, it also helps in understanding how and why certain technologies evolved and solutions that have been deployed for certain problems in technology.
A SOA or collection search is effective in reducing time and cost by focusing and particularly allocating resources on technology that are still in their nascent stage or are commercially exploitable thereby minimizing unprofitable moves.
The search is generally limited with specific class codes, keywords, assignee and/or other parameters, as per the requirement, to narrow down to a specific technology of interest and the obtained result set is scanned further to determine their level of relevancy.
A SOA or collection search report is customized according to client’s preference and is generally provided in an easy-to-understand spreadsheet for further analysis.