**4. Results**

E21B patent applications is much stronger, than the growth in both oil production and total patent applications in Brazil. Accordingly, E21B was selected for being a highly representative IPC subclass for the upstream oil and gas industry. As such, **Figure 3** displays a strong

**Figure 2.** Brazil's total patent applications: 2001–2013 (source: WIPO Statistical Country Profile, Brazil, 2015).

**Figure 3.** Patent applications related to upstream oil and gas technologies in Brazil: 2001–2012 (source: adapted from [9]).

increase in patent applications in Brazil concerning the E21B.

6 Drilling

After examining the characteristics of the patent system and the context associated with the pre-salt discovery, we take up the patent applications in Brazil for the period between 2001 and 2012. As stated by Cavalheiro et al. [9], market opportunities for the oil and gas industry in Brazil associated with the pre-salt announcement motivated a substantial increase in patent filings in Brazil concerning upstream oil and gas technologies. As such, we applied the following search strings within INPI's SINPI environment to select all patent applications of interest concerning the period between 2001 and 2012—"Filing date: 01012001-31122012" and "IPC:E21B." In total, 4804 patent applications were retrieved. **Table 1** lists all groups belonging to the E21B subclass and also provides a distinction of subfields within the upstream oil and gas technologies, as proposed by WIPO's IPC diagram.

#### **4.1. Most protected technologies**

Beyond the six technical subareas within upstream oil and gas technologies listed in the table, it is also worthwhile to zoom in further into the IPC groups that attracted the largest number of patent applications. In order to better illustrate the dominant technical areas, we have also opted to graphically represent the most active groups. As such, **Figure 4** displays the groups that account for more than one percent of all E21B patent applications.

Since **Figure 3** indicates significant differences in terms of the number of patent application per IPC group, it is worthwhile to examine the technical characteristics of each group. As such, **Table 2** displays the total number of applications for the most active IPC groups. To this end, we selected the subgroups that received more than one percent of total E21B patent applications, which corresponds to IPC groups with more than 48 patent applications, to draw histogram.

in Brazil. Here it is worthwhile to mention that two IPC groups received special attention from firms operating in the upstream oil and gas industry. In particular, E21B 43 "Methods or apparatus for obtaining oil, gas, water, soluble or meltable materials or a slurry of minerals from wells" accounts for 1080 patent applications, representing approximately 22% of all E21B applications. Similarly, E21B 33 "Sealing or packing boreholes or wells" was responsible for 707 patent applications, or approximately 15% of all E21B applications. As such, these figures can be interpreted as an indication of the strategic importance of these technologies

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9

Another IPC group that received substantial attention from firms regards E21B 17 "Drilling rods or pipes; Flexible drill string" and E21B 47 "Survey of boreholes or wells," as both IPC groups obtained approximately 10% of total E21B patent applications. It is possible to deduce that technologies for drilling pipes and surveying boreholes are also key areas for the compa-

Despite the strong increase in E21B patent applications reported by Cavalheiro et al. [9], several IPC groups belonging to E21B did not attract a large number of patent applications at all. As such, we have selected the IPC groups that received less than one percent of the total E21B applications between 2001 and 2012, which corresponds to a number of patent applications

As indicated in **Table 3**, several IPC groups received less than one percent of the patent applications related to upstream oil and gas technologies. Typically, these groups represent technical areas that do not attract the attention of both operating and service companies and, as a result, are not active. More specifically, a more technical interpretation of these results points out a mismatch between the requirements posed by the pre-salt reserves and the solutions

for exploring the offshore ultra-deep reserves of the Brazilian Pre-Salt.

**Figure 4.** Total number of patent applications per IPC group (source: the authors).

nies involved in the pre-salt exploration.

**4.2. Least protected technologies**

lower than 48.

According to Ernst [20], the information available in patent data reveals strategic decisions of firms regarding a market for a certain technologies. Accordingly, the IPC groups listed in **Table 2** can be regarded as the most strategic technologies for exploring the pre-salt reserves


**Table 1.** Total number of patent applications concerning upstream oil and gas technologies between 2001 and 2012 in Brazil.

Proposing a Patent Information Approach for Identifying Technological Trends in the Brazilian… http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.75377 9

and 2012. As stated by Cavalheiro et al. [9], market opportunities for the oil and gas industry in Brazil associated with the pre-salt announcement motivated a substantial increase in patent filings in Brazil concerning upstream oil and gas technologies. As such, we applied the following search strings within INPI's SINPI environment to select all patent applications of interest concerning the period between 2001 and 2012—"Filing date: 01012001-31122012" and "IPC:E21B." In total, 4804 patent applications were retrieved. **Table 1** lists all groups belonging to the E21B subclass and also provides a distinction of subfields within the upstream oil

Beyond the six technical subareas within upstream oil and gas technologies listed in the table, it is also worthwhile to zoom in further into the IPC groups that attracted the largest number of patent applications. In order to better illustrate the dominant technical areas, we have also opted to graphically represent the most active groups. As such, **Figure 4** displays the groups

Since **Figure 3** indicates significant differences in terms of the number of patent application per IPC group, it is worthwhile to examine the technical characteristics of each group. As such, **Table 2** displays the total number of applications for the most active IPC groups. To this end, we selected the subgroups that received more than one percent of total E21B patent applications, which corresponds to IPC groups with more than 48 patent applications, to

According to Ernst [20], the information available in patent data reveals strategic decisions of firms regarding a market for a certain technologies. Accordingly, the IPC groups listed in **Table 2** can be regarded as the most strategic technologies for exploring the pre-salt reserves

> E21B 15, E21B 17, E21B 19, E21B 21, E21B 23, E21B 25, E21B 27, E21B 28, E21B 29, E21B 31, E21B 33, E21B 34, E21B 35,

**Table 1.** Total number of patent applications concerning upstream oil and gas technologies between 2001 and 2012 in

Methods for drilling E21B 1, E21B 3, E21B 4, E21B 6, E21B 7 268 Drilling tools E21B 10, E21B 11, E21B 12 198

E21B 36, E21B 37, E21B 40, E21B 41

Obtaining fluids from wells E21B 43 1080 Automatic control of wells E21B 44 77 Surveying or testing E21B 45, E21B 47, E21B 49 660 Total number of E21B patent applications 4804

**IPC groups Number of patent** 

**applications**

2521

and gas technologies, as proposed by WIPO's IPC diagram.

that account for more than one percent of all E21B patent applications.

**4.1. Most protected technologies**

draw histogram.

8 Drilling

**Technical subareas within upstream oil and gas technologies**

Well equipment or well

Source: the authors

Brazil.

maintenance

**Figure 4.** Total number of patent applications per IPC group (source: the authors).

in Brazil. Here it is worthwhile to mention that two IPC groups received special attention from firms operating in the upstream oil and gas industry. In particular, E21B 43 "Methods or apparatus for obtaining oil, gas, water, soluble or meltable materials or a slurry of minerals from wells" accounts for 1080 patent applications, representing approximately 22% of all E21B applications. Similarly, E21B 33 "Sealing or packing boreholes or wells" was responsible for 707 patent applications, or approximately 15% of all E21B applications. As such, these figures can be interpreted as an indication of the strategic importance of these technologies for exploring the offshore ultra-deep reserves of the Brazilian Pre-Salt.

Another IPC group that received substantial attention from firms regards E21B 17 "Drilling rods or pipes; Flexible drill string" and E21B 47 "Survey of boreholes or wells," as both IPC groups obtained approximately 10% of total E21B patent applications. It is possible to deduce that technologies for drilling pipes and surveying boreholes are also key areas for the companies involved in the pre-salt exploration.

#### **4.2. Least protected technologies**

Despite the strong increase in E21B patent applications reported by Cavalheiro et al. [9], several IPC groups belonging to E21B did not attract a large number of patent applications at all. As such, we have selected the IPC groups that received less than one percent of the total E21B applications between 2001 and 2012, which corresponds to a number of patent applications lower than 48.

As indicated in **Table 3**, several IPC groups received less than one percent of the patent applications related to upstream oil and gas technologies. Typically, these groups represent technical areas that do not attract the attention of both operating and service companies and, as a result, are not active. More specifically, a more technical interpretation of these results points out a mismatch between the requirements posed by the pre-salt reserves and the solutions


Source: the authors

**Table 2.** Most protected upstream oil and gas technologies in Brazil.

provided by the technologies belonging to the IPC groups listed in **Table 3**. As an illustration of this interpretation, Hu et al. [2] stress that the technologies belonging to E21B 1 "Percussion drilling (drives used in the borehole)" are suitable to explore onshore oil reserves with very small depths, as opposed to the offshore ultra-deep pre-salt conditions.

conditions or, in some cases, may even be perceived as obsolete in the oil and gas industry, thereby not motivating firms to commit R&D resources to further develop these technologies.

**Description Number of patent** 

Proposing a Patent Information Approach for Identifying Technological Trends in the Brazilian…

E21B 15 Supports for the drilling machine, e.g., derricks or masts 37 E21B 4 Drives for drilling, used in the borehole 33 E21B 3 Rotary drilling (drives used in the borehole, rotary drilling machines in general) 28 E21B 31 Fishing for or freeing objects in boreholes or wells (provisions on well heads for

E21B 25 Apparatus for obtaining or removing undisturbed cores, e.g., core barrels,

E21B 27 Containers for collecting or depositing substances in boreholes or wells, e.g.,

E21B 28 Vibration generating arrangements for boreholes or wells, e.g., for stimulating production (for drilling, for transmitting measuring signals, for geophysical

E21B 12 Accessories for drilling tools 7 E21B 1 Percussion drilling (drives used in the borehole) 5 E21B 6 Drives for drilling with combined rotary and percussive action (drives used in the borehole, portable percussive machines with superimposed rotation)

E21B 11 Other drilling tools 4 E21B 45 Measuring the drilling time or rate of penetration 4 E21B 35 Methods or apparatus for preventing or extinguishing fires (cutting or deforming pipes to control fluid flow, controlling flow of fluid to or in wells, firefighting in

E21B 40 Tubing catchers, automatically arresting the fall of oil-well tubing 1

introducing or removing objects, locating or determining the position of objects in

core extractors (core bits, using explosives or projectiles in boreholes, side-wall

bailers for collecting mud or sand, drill bits with means for collecting substances,

**applications**

11

27

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12

8

5

1

The effective management of a patent portfolio is an increasingly complex challenge in our current knowledge-based society, especially for firms with a large number of patent applications. As such, using patent information as secondary data, we have provided rich insights regarding the specific technical interest of technology-based firms operating in the Brazilian upstream oil and gas industry [20]. More specifically, we have employed patent application figures as a performance indicator representing technological hotspots [35]. To this end, we have explored a large number of patent documents by carrying out pattern analysis to iden-

tify relevant business insights (Madani and Weber [51]).

**Table 3.** Less protected upstream oil and gas technologies in Brazil.

**5. Discussion**

Source: the authors

**IPC groups**

boreholes or wells)

sampling or coring)

e.g., valve drill bits

measurements)

general)

Consequently, given the particular conditions of the Brazilian oil reserves, only five patent applications were filed in Brazil between 2001 and 2012 related to percussion drilling. Our interpretation is that the less protected technologies within the E21B group result from the fact that these technologies are to some extent inadequate to be deployed in the Brazilian


**Table 3.** Less protected upstream oil and gas technologies in Brazil.

conditions or, in some cases, may even be perceived as obsolete in the oil and gas industry, thereby not motivating firms to commit R&D resources to further develop these technologies.
