02 Technology Intelligence & Scouting
Technology Intelligence & Technology Scouting
Turn patents and literature into a directional view leadership can act on, and find the white space before competitors do.
Register your interest- Duration
- 1 to 3 days
- Delivery
- On-site or online
- Group size
- Up to ~15
- Languages
- Czech or English
- Location
- Across Europe (in-house)
- Investment
- Quote on request
Who this is for
Patent and literature data is abundant; direction is scarce. R&D and IP teams end up with dashboards nobody can act on. This workshop turns patents, scientific literature and the open record into a directional view, plus the scouting method to find white space and partners before competitors do. It's for R&D, innovation managers, technology strategy, IP-adjacent roles and founders.
Key takeaways
- Scope a patent landscape that answers a real R&D or partnering question.
- Read CPC/IPC classification without drowning in data.
- Combine patent and scientific-literature signals with citation analysis.
- Run technology scouting and detect white space.
- Set up technology monitoring and early-warning.
- Turn a landscape into a one-page directional brief.
What we cover
- 01
Scoping the landscape
Framing a patent landscape around a decision, and bounding it so it stays answerable.
- 02
Classification literacy
Reading CPC/IPC without drowning in data; building precise, defensible queries.
- 03
Literature & citation analysis
Scientific literature as a complementary signal; citation analysis for emergence.
- 04
Scouting & white space
Technology scouting method and white-space detection across patent families.
- 05
Monitoring & the directional brief
Standing up monitoring/early-warning, then turning the landscape into a directional brief.
Inside this track
IP Analytics & Patent Search
A specialist block for people who need answers, not a literature review: freedom-to-operate triage, query design, reading and comparing patent claims, and working with Espacenet, WIPO and national registers, trademarks included.
Tools we use
How it's taught
Hands-on database labs on real patent families, so participants leave having actually built and read a landscape, not just watched one.
About your lecturer
Jan Černý
Researcher & consultant, Competitive & Technology Intelligence
Jan Černý holds a Ph.D. in applied informatics (Prague University of Economics and Business) and a PhDr. in information science (Charles University). He has spent fifteen-plus years advising strategy, innovation and IP teams on competitive and technology intelligence, technology scouting and applied AI, and researches the same subjects academically, publishing in venues such as The Electronic Library, Review of Managerial Science, the Journal of Information Warfare and Online Information Review.
See research & publications- Ph.D., Applied Informatics, Prague University of Economics and Business
- PhDr., Information Science, Charles University
- 15+ years advising strategy, innovation and IP teams
- Peer-reviewed author in CI, OSINT, patent analytics and applied AI
- Delivered with the National Library and the Czech and Slovak Ministries of the Interior
Frequently asked questions
How is Technology Intelligence different from Competitive Intelligence?
Technology Intelligence (TECHINT) is the technology-focused branch of CI: monitoring and analyzing technological developments, frequently through patents and scientific literature, to inform R&D and strategy. Patent data has been used to surface industry and even smart-city technology trends (Potančok & Černý, Journal of Urban and Regional Analysis, 2020).
Why use patents as a data source?
Patents are a structured, near-global, time-stamped record of applied invention, which makes them powerful for trend detection and scouting. The EPO's free Espacenet database alone provides access to well over 150 million patent documents worldwide (EPO Espacenet).
What is technology scouting and 'white space'?
Scouting systematically searches for emerging technologies and the gaps, white space, where no one has built yet, to guide R&D and partnerships. Patent families are a practical unit for mapping this (Černý & Potančok, 'Patent families in technology intelligence processes', IMES 2020).
Which databases do we use, and do they cost money?
We work in free, authoritative databases, primarily EPO Espacenet and WIPO PATENTSCOPE, plus national registers and tools like Google Patents and Lens.org. No paid subscription is required to follow the course.
Can AI help read patents?
Yes, for search, extraction and reading claims at scale, but with care: AI-driven patent-claim work shows real promise and predictable failure modes that you have to design around (Černý, 'AI-Driven Patent Claim Construction', Business Information Systems / LNBIP, 2025).
Do I need a legal or IP background?
No. The core course is for R&D, innovation and strategy roles. The deeper freedom-to-operate and claims work sits in the optional IP Analytics & Patent Search block.
Register your interest
Tell me which track fits and a bit about your team, and I'll reply within 48 hours with formats, dates and a tailored quote.
- jan@cerny.ai
- Phone
- +420 773 482 560
Typical response: within 48 hours.
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