Tables

A table is a grid of records you can read, sort, and filter. It is the triage surface of a research: a few hundred patents and a handful of products produce thousands of mappings, and no one reads them all. The table is how you find the ones that matter.

Each row is a single record, and each table lists one kind: rows are either patents or products, never both at once. Every research starts with two tables, one of each, and you can add more.

The point of the surface is to narrow. You start with everything and cut, with filters and sorting, until only the rows worth opening remain. Everything below is in service of that move.

A table at a glance#

Here is a Patents table for a research. Each row is one patent. The first columns carry the patent's own fields; every product you are checking it against adds a column of mapping scores, colored by risk. Your eye goes straight to the color.

One look tells the story. The Toyota row matches the Aurora column outright, a couple of other patents score high, and the rest sit lower and can wait. That coloring is the whole point: it turns thousands of scores into something you can scan in seconds.

Rows and columns#

Both mean something specific. Every row is one record, a patent or a product, never a mix. Columns come in three kinds:

• The identifier column names the record and is always present.
• Attribute columns show the record's own fields.
• Mapping columns show how the record scores against each record on the other side.

Identifier column#

The left-most column of a table is reserved for the identifier. It stays pinned in place as you scroll the other columns sideways, and it is the one column you can never hide.

Patents: The identifier of a patent is the publication number.

Products: The identifier of a product is the name.

Attribute columns#

Attribute columns show the fields of the record itself. A patents table can show titles, applicants, dates, classifications and status; a products table can show websites, categories, manufacturers and the other product attributes. Add the ones you need and hide the rest.

Mapping columns#

Mapping columns are the reason the table exists. Each one stands for a record on the other side: on a Patents table, every product you are checking against adds a column. Where a patent and a product have been compared, the cell at their intersection holds the mapping between them.

A patent has many claims, but the cell leads with the strongest match: the claim that scores highest against the product, shown as a chip with its claim number and score. Any other notable claims sit beside it, with the remainder collapsed into a count. So a glance down the column tells you which patents come closest to reading on your product. Click a cell to open the full mapping behind it, claim by claim.

The color is the score's risk band. Four bands sort every cell, from critical down to low, so the dangerous matches stand out from the safe ones at a glance. The mappings page defines each band and the percentage range behind it.

The cell reads the same from either side. A Products table puts your products in the rows and patents in the columns, but a critical match is critical whichever way you came at it.

Filtering#

Filtering is how you narrow the field. Pick a column, choose an operator, and the rows that fail the test drop away. Every option carries a count, so you can see how many rows a choice keeps before you commit. Add a filter from the toolbar, or open any column's header menu to filter by that column directly.

The move that matters is filtering a mapping column to the critical and high bands. Thousands of rows collapse to the few patents whose claims actually threaten your product, and those are the ones worth opening.

Layer on a second filter to sharpen the shortlist further, say a single applicant or in-force patents only. Once the list is right, export it to CSV or Excel; the rows and columns travel with it.

Sorting#

Where a filter removes rows, sorting reorders the ones that remain. Open a column's header menu and sort ascending or descending. A small arrow on the header marks the active direction, and you can clear it just as quickly.

Sort a mapping column from high to low to float the patents that match your product to the top of the list, even before you filter.

Searching#

Search jumps straight to a record you already have in mind. Type a publication number, a title, or an applicant into the search box, and the table keeps only what matches the text.

A filter narrows by a rule; search narrows by free text. So when you just want to pull up one known patent, search is faster than building a filter at all.

Visualize a column as a chart#

Any column can become a chart without leaving the table. Open the column's header menu and choose "Visualize as chart". A preview appears, binned the way that column deserves: a status column as a breakdown, a date as a trend, an applicant as a ranking. Add it to a dashboard to keep it around.

Showing and hiding columns#

You will not want every column on screen at once. Hide one straight from its header menu with "Don't show on page", or open the display settings to manage them all: reorder columns, switch between a compact and an expanded row height, and add any column back when you need it again.