9 Reasons Why I'm Excited About the PQAI - Patent Quality Artificial Intelligence Project

At Hackernoon, we celebrate Hacktoberfest, dedicating the entire month of October to content around open source. So, naturally, I jumped upon the opportunity to share my favorite open-source project.

My Favorite Open Source Initiative - PQAI

PQAI stands for Patent Quality Artificial Intelligence.

It is a not-for-profit initiative focused on creating an open-source AI-powered library of software components to accelerate innovation and improve patent quality.

Nine Reasons Why PQAI is My Favorite Open Source Initiative

1. It makes it easy for inventors to find out if their idea is new enough for patenting

I have massive respect for people who solve problems. For instance, kudos to the innovator for coming up with good-tasting medicines. Especially beneficial for children as a counter to bitter ones. I am sure all parents would understand what a relief it is.

What’s impressive is that one of the products in PQAI’s library is a prior art search engine designed specifically for inventors to find out if their idea is new. Imagine wasting money on patent prosecution only to find out someone already has a patent on an idea like yours.

2. Drives Diversity and Inclusion

There are very few patents in the name of women inventors or people from minority and other diverse backgrounds, especially the under-resourced segment. Open access to advanced tools created under the PQAI initiative shall empower the under-resourced, thereby driving diversity and inclusion.

3. Levels the Playing field

Many innovators feel that their idea is novel if they do not see a product matching their idea in the market. In contrast, patent examiners can access millions of patent documents and humongous amounts of technical literature with advanced search tools. The chances of examiners finding prior art to reject an innovator’s patent application are very high. Open access to advanced patent tools can level the playfield for innovators.

4. Allows Ph.D. students to be a part of a game-changing live project

Many research papers also talk about advancements in patent search AI. However, research papers are much more in number than live projects. One of the reasons is that six months is not enough time for Ph.D. students to create a product from scratch. PQAI provides a great starting point for university researchers by giving them access to a code base and data sets for training AI, well-defined challenges that work great as thesis topics, detailed documentation, API access, and more. Isn’t that amazing?

5. Led by a Prolific Team

The initiative started at AT&T a few years ago. Sam Zellner is the project lead at PQAI—a prolific inventor with 200+ patents. Sam has also served many prestigious positions in innovation and patents. Various IP alliances across the USA support PQAI, including GIPA. Some enterprises like GreyB, FoundersLegal, and InspireIP are also associated with the initiative in numerous ways.

6. Powered by Artificial Intelligence

Intelligent home assistants or driverless cars are no more fiction. The advancements in AI have brought these and many more such innovative products to reality. So it’s intriguing to know how AI will shape the future of patent search.

7. It’s Open Source

Open source is a significant driver of freedom, trust, and innovation in the digital space. For example, it’s the only way to create a world-class patent search AI that benefits every member of the patent ecosystem.

8. It’s Not-for-Profit

Happiness is seeing people working selflessly to make the world a better place.

9. Allows contributing to the future

Before We Meet Again

The world is changing at such a fast pace. With so many new and upcoming open-source projects, almost everyone has more opportunities. Therefore, I feel delighted to see people discussing various open-source projects on Hackernoon.

My favorite open source project, of course, after Linux and Mozilla, is PQAI - Patent Quality Artificial Intelligence. Which one is your favorite? Do let me know in the comments.