§Hoard Atlas
A patent analytics dashboard built by the analyst who did the research
Atlas turns a patent landscape into views you can explore: assignee skylines, classification overlap, filing timelines, and whitespace. An analyst builds and cleans every Atlas, so the picture rests on reconciled data, not raw counts.
§ 01Context
A dashboard is only as good as its cleanup
A patent analytics dashboard is easy to build and easy to get wrong. The same company files under many name variants. One invention publishes several times across offices. A raw count rewards whoever files the most continuations, not whoever is building the most. Put uncleaned data into handsome charts and you get confident pictures of the wrong thing.
So before Atlas shows you anything, an analyst reconciles assignee names and subsidiaries, groups publications into families, and records the queries and date cut-offs behind the dataset, as our method requires for every deliverable. Then the analyst builds the views and pins notes to the ones that matter, so you see the finding as well as the chart.
Every Patent Landscape & Whitespace engagement includes an interactive Atlas. It also supports startups and grant applicants who need a clear picture of the field for an investor deck or an SBIR/STTR proposal.
§ 02Interactive example
Try a mini-landscape
An illustrative battery-technology landscape with invented data. Pick a cluster and move the year to watch the skyline change.
Select a cluster and move the year to watch the skyline change.
Illustrative sample data for a battery-technology landscape. Assignee names are anonymized; counts are cumulative published families.
§ 03Overview
Five views and an analyst’s notes
Assignee skylines
Each assignee is a tower, its height set by published patent families. Move through time and see who is building where, and how fast.
Classification overlap
Where your classification groups intersect with competitors’, and which overlaps are growing. Useful for spotting convergence before it reaches the market.
Filing timelines
Families by earliest priority year, by assignee or technology cluster, with the not-yet-published band shaded so a publication lag doesn’t read as a slowdown.
Whitespace views
Sparse areas of the map, presented as hypotheses with the evidence for and against each one, not as conclusions.
Exports
Family lists as spreadsheets with links, charts as images for decks and proposals, and a PDF report with the audit trail.
Analyst notes
Short written findings pinned to the views: what changed, why it matters, and what to check next.
§ 04Context
Every landscape shows the past. The question is by how much.
Patent applications are generally published about 18 months after their earliest filing date, under 35 U.S.C. § 122(b). So the right-hand edge of any filing timeline is thin, not because activity has fallen, but because the newest filings are still invisible. A dashboard that ignores this tells you a field is cooling when it may be accelerating. Atlas shades that band and says so.
The same caution applies to whitespace. Whitespace is an unmapped valley: an empty area on the map can mean nobody has thought of it, nobody has published it yet, or nobody wants it. Atlas shows sparse areas with the evidence for each reading, and an analyst’s view of which is most likely. The decision to build, file, or walk away stays with you and your counsel.
§ 05Process
How an Atlas is built
- 01
Frame the question
A free 20–30-minute scoping call: the field, the competitors, and the decision the map should inform.
- 02
Build the dataset
AI-assisted semantic search, plus classification and citation expansion, with every query recorded.
- 03
Clean and group
Assignee names reconciled, publications grouped into families, and out-of-scope documents removed by an analyst.
- 04
Build views and notes
The analyst builds the views, writes the findings, and a second analyst reviews them.
- 05
Walkthrough
Your team is invited to the workspace, and the analyst walks through the map and the open questions.
§ 06Questions
Questions about Hoard Atlas
Something else on your mind? Call (505) 357-5188 or write to info@metadragons.com.
Is Atlas included with a landscape?
Yes. Every Patent Landscape & Whitespace engagement includes an interactive Atlas. It can also be part of a standalone Hoard subscription, quoted per scope.
Can we build our own views?
You can filter, explore, and export. The analyst builds and maintains the views, which keeps the data clean and the definitions consistent across your team.
How current is the data?
Each Atlas states its date cut-off in the audit trail. Refreshes can be scheduled, and Hoard Watch can keep the field monitored between them.
Can we use Atlas charts in investor decks or proposals?
Yes. Chart exports are designed for decks and proposals, and the audit trail lets a reviewer see exactly how each chart was built.
Keep reading
Where to go next
§Next step
See your field as a skyline
Request a walkthrough. We’ll show you how an Atlas is built and what a map of your competitors and classifications could reveal.