Image search in patents: a review

摘要

To verify the originality of an invention in a patent, the graphical description available in the form of patent drawings often plays a critical role. This paper introduces the importance, requirements, and challenges of a patent image retrieval system. We present a brief account of the work done in the specific and related areas of the patent image domain. We begin with a review of work done dealing specifically with retrieval and analysis of images in the patent domain. Although the literature found dealing with patent images is small, there is a significant amount of work that has been done in related areas that is useful and applicable to the patent image area. From a methodological point of view, we present an overview of the algorithms developed for the retrieval and analysis of CAD and technical drawings, diagrams, data flow diagrams, circuit diagrams, data charts, flowcharts, plots, and symbol recognition.