Introduction - Patent Graphs, Maps, Tables and Outlines

This section summarizes relationships between many variables in the RFID patent database.  Four formats are used to present this information:

Maps

The word “map” gets overused with regard to patents.  In mathematics, a “map” is a relationship that turns one value into a second value in a unique way.  That is, one value can be turned into a second value using a formula.  Geographical maps are a typical example.  They transform large measurements in the real world into small measurements on a sheet of paper.  Maps can relate any kind of variables.  But if the variables being related do not have the same general property, the result may not be intuitively useful.  For example, notes on a piano can be “mapped” to colors.  Watching the result of converting the notes of a song to color may be pretty, but without the sound, may be unrecognizable.

This report uses the word “map” in only two ways.  One is the conventional geographical form.  Specifically, a map of the U.S. is used which shows activities related to state boundaries.  The second form is a block diagram.  The diagram relates data to a block diagram of an electronic circuit.

Graphs

Graphs present information where two or more variables can be compared.  They are helpful when the visual nature of the graph helps show patterns in the data.

Tables

Tables are typically used to list data where the data can be grouped according to a small number of variables.  Tables are useful where there is a lot of data and substantial detail needs to be shown.

Outlines

Outlines are typically used to list groups of data where there are a lot of groups to be considered.

 

The summaries in this section were derived from data which can be found in a separate appendix document.  The separate Data Base Appendix is different from the included appendix.

Graph of Number of RFID Related Patents

 

This graph shows the number of patents issued on an annual basis related to RFID found during the patent search and analysis process.  The patents shown were all issued pre-2004.  The total number of patents covered by this graph is xxxx.  (greater than 4000) The axes have been modified for this sample presentation.

 

 

 

 

Graph of RFID Applications in year 2003 patents, by Category

This graph shows the quantity of stated applications for various application categories. The total application count equals xxx.  The category names have been covered for this sample.

This total needs to be explained in relation to …...

The categories shown are discussed in detail in the introductory material.