Knowing and studying global patent data is an effective tool to avoid parallel developments and wasted R&D efforts in overcrowded research fields. By ignoring and/or undervaluing IP, businesses can be driven into risky situations; such as opening up your company to infringement proceedings which could result in further loss of profits and harm their long-term corporate survivability, or the possibility of competitors taking advantage of their technological innovations.
Regardless of the business’ IP strategy, Minesoft offers a variety of products to help. PatBase, its online searchable patent database, provides access to hundreds of millions of patent documents from all over the world. This amount of data might seem daunting, but with a powerful, unlimited Analytics platform and variety of tools available to help interrogate this information more effectively, it’s easier to extract actionable competitive intelligence to benefit a business.
Protecting, monitoring and investing in your company’s intellectual property is beneficial to companies of all sizes. A well-informed IP team can help decision makers adjust their patent strategy to strengthen business and IP value.
We had the pleasure of interviewing Ann Chapman-Daniel, co-founder of Minesoft. Below is an excerpt from the interview.
Why was the company set up and how have you expanded your company and its offerings over the years?
Minesoft’s history spans over 20 years of innovation and development – an achievement in itself. In 2003, Minesoft & RWS launched PatBase, a new searchable database of patent documents designed by experts in the complex art of patent information research. Since the first critically acclaimed public demonstrations in 2003, PatBase has gone on to attract over 70,000 users worldwide.
In 2009, Minesoft won the prestigious Queen’s Award for Enterprise for an outstanding achievement in rapidly growing export markets in the field of Intellectual Property (patent) information – a testament to the international success of PatBase and to the dedication of the development, sales and support staff behind it.
Minesoft has expanded its portfolio of innovative patent information products to include PatBase Express, PatentOrder, IPShare, PatentTracker, Legal StatusTracker, CiteTracker, Chemical Explorer, Pat-KM, PatDocs and PatBase Analytics. This continuous innovation was instrumental in Minesoft being awarded the Queen’s Award for Enterprise for a second time in 2015.
What challenges did you face in your initial years?
With leading corporations, patent offices and law firms as our customers, we’ve come a long way from the company’s humble beginnings. This was achieved without taking any outside investment and always being forward thinking in growing the company’s network and locating new partners.
We started from scratch, around our kitchen table and with an over riding desire to remain profitable. We have grown the company every single year for 21 years and now have clients all over the globe – in every corner, but especially in advanced manufacturing countries where patenting is an important activity to secure intellectual property and sell goods abroad.
‘Leaders cannot optimize results by themselves; they need employees’ support and assistance.’ How does your company interpret this saying?
At Minesoft, our people and our culture depend on two factors which we pride ourselves on 1. Putting our customer first. This is exemplified in the fact that we have the highest retention rates in the IP market and our product development is strictly influenced by customer feedback. 2. Our people. Many of the people at Minesoft have been with the company for extensive periods and for some, the majority of their careers. We enjoy a low staff turnover rate and this helps us maintain continuity with client relationships and product and market insight. The Executive Board has different skill sets and strengths, therefore complementing one another and bringing different perspectives to the table. There is some crossover, but no-one could replace someone else or operate in another person’s sphere fully.
What is the roadmap ahead for the company?
We recently launched PatBase 2.0 in September 2020 and we’ve already received a lot of positive feedback from Users. Our Business Development, Support and Development teams worked closely with clients to develop a solution that ticks all the boxes, including super-fast speeds, powerful capabilities and new ways to interrogate the data for greater insights.
The Development team is currently working on a new update for Chemical Explorer, a data mining solution for searching chemicals in the full text of patent documents. TextMine works as a viewer for chemical patents and was added to PatBase at the same time of adding chemical structure searching to Chemical Explorer.
In addition, we are working on LegalTech data and tools to improve use of patent information for the legal market and adding to the analytics and reporting options to share information more easily through an organization. Our goal is to keep Minesoft at the forefront of our niche with innovation and software solutions.
Knowing The Leaders
Ann Chapman-Daniel, Co-Founder
Ann Chapman-Daniel began her career with a large international publishing company (International Thomson, later Thomson Reuters), travelling all over the world to visit clients and secure business. Ann continued working in the publishing industry before moving into patents and sci-tech publishing with France Telcom Group. After 3 years as a Director and Managing Director, she took the plunge with husband, Ophir Daniel, to start their own company, Minesoft, in 1996.
Ophir Daniel, Co-Founder
Ophir Daniel began his career in the electronics and aviation industry in Israel before becoming an in-demand web-based developer working in the early internet era. Ophir worked closely with IP software company, Questel-Orbit and started his own company, Minesoft, in 1996 with wife, Ann Chapman-Daniel.
Rahman Hyatt, Director
Rahman Hyatt has over 15 years’ experience in the Information Industry. He is an experienced senior member of the management team and a shareholder of Minesoft.
For more details on protecting your company’s intellectual property, reach out to Minesoft @ https://minesoft.com/
