For entities with patent portfolios numbering between ten and a hundred, a one-page summary of each key patent can be most helpful to patent review committees and IP managers.  Such reports were championed by Harry Gwinnell.  The one-page summary is an organized visual display of a patent relationships to Raw Materials, Processes of Making Products and Uses.  It has an area devoted to Competitive/Complementary Technologies, a Technology Tree, and the Company’s Position vis-à-vis the State of the Art Position.  Thus the “Patent Evaluation Map” figure has sections for the identified set of from material categories, identified set of components categories, identified set of process step categories, and identified set of use categories. The display also contains a brief abstract of the advance the patent really represents compared to the state-of-the-art, and the legal entity owning the patent. The advantage of this display for smaller portfolios is that enables a team to get their brain around an entire technology area in minutes and enables them to understand where particular patent fits into that technology area in seconds. It’s like a technology textbook for that area of technology and is thus a tremendous timesaver. When put in electronic form it is conveniently searchable

This first pass selects patents for further review, as well as candidates for potential maintenance savings. An internal patent assessment is recommended before any patent is dropped.