Patent monitoring

Patent monitoring that shows which technology is pulling ahead.

GetFocus monitors a technology domain on the cadence you choose: weekly, monthly or quarterly. Each run adds the newly published patents, recomputes each technology's improvement rate and maturity, and re-answers your standing questions.

Built on peer-reviewed MIT research · Last updated November 2026

01 · The summary02 · Versus filing alerts03 · What runs04 · Competitor watch05 · FAQ
01 · The summary

What does a monitoring update show?

Each update reports changes against the baseline: rate movements, verdict moves and new entrants in each route.

Monthly summary · Battery technologiesExample layout

Improvement rate per route, per year

Sodium-ion~125%FUND
Lithium-sulfur~70%FUND
LFP~65%FUND
Solid-state46–53%PHASE OUT
NMC46–53%PHASE OUT
Lithium-metal46–53%PHASE OUT

All six are past TRL 5. The median rate splits them: three to fund, three to phase out.

In every summary

What changed

Movements in the rates against last month's baseline.

Verdict moves

Any route that crossed TRL 5 or the median rate, with the new quadrant.

Who entered

New applicants in each route, and what kind of company they are.

Your questions

Standing deep-dive questions, re-answered over the newly published patents.

Rates from the public sodium-ion radar. Your summary covers your own domains and questions.

02 · Versus filing alerts

How is GetFocus monitoring different from filing alerts?

Filing alertsGetFocus monitoring
What you receiveEvery new filing that matches a queryA summary of what changed, and why it matters
The signalFiling activityImprovement rate and maturity, per route
VolumeGrows with the fieldOne update per run, on the cadence you choose
What it tells youSomething was filedWhether a verdict moved: fund, monitor, phase out, ignore
CompetitorsWho filedWho entered each route, and which parts they control
03 · What runs

What happens on every monitoring run?

01Add the new patents

Newly published patent families enter each monitored dataset, and your saved filters are applied to them.

02Recompute every rate

Each route's improvement rate and maturity are re-estimated with the fresh data.

03Move the radar

The TRL × TIR radar and its version history update. Each quarter we re-scout for newly emerging routes.

04Re-answer your questions

Deep-dive agents work through the new patents against every standing question.

04 · Competitor watch

Can you monitor competitors' patents?

Yes. Each dataset carries standing questions you define, such as who entered a route. Deep-dive agents re-answer them over the newly published patents on every run.

EntrantsWho moved into the route?

New applicants in each technology, and what kind of company they are.

ControlWho holds the parts that matter?

Ownership of the components and steps your product depends on.

MomentumIs a rival route speeding up?

Rate changes in the technologies competing with yours.

ReadinessDid anything cross TRL 5?

Routes moving from the lab into relevant environments.

05 · FAQ

Patent monitoring: common questions

What is patent monitoring?

Tracking new patent filings in a technology area over time. GetFocus also recomputes each competing technology's improvement rate and maturity on every run, so you see when a verdict moves.

How often does it run?

Weekly, monthly or quarterly, as you choose. Monthly suits most domains. On each run new patents enter the monitored datasets, rates are recomputed and standing questions are re-answered.

Can we monitor competitors and suppliers?

Yes. Each dataset carries standing questions you define, such as who entered a route or who controls the parts that matter. Deep-dive agents re-answer them on every run.

How is this different from filing alerts?

Filing alerts tell you that something was filed. GetFocus shows whether it changes which technology is pulling ahead.

Is monitoring part of the subscription?

Yes. Monitoring comes with the annual domain subscription. GetFocus customers can switch it on for an existing project in a 15-minute setup session.

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