Patents on ‘Digital Library’

The concept of the digital library has gained prominence as an essential component of modern information access and knowledge management. Intellectual property in this area has been extensively protected through patents, reflecting the growing technological innovation and global competition in digital library systems, tools, and applications. This study presents a comprehensive metric analysis of patents related to “digital library” retrieved from the Lens database. A total of 18,099 patent records were analyzed across multiple dimensions, including year-wise distribution, jurisdictions, applicants, document types, classification codes, agents, inventors, and citations. The findings reveal the dominance of leading technology firms such as IBM, Microsoft, and Google in patent ownership, with the United States contributing the highest share of records. The study provides valuable insights into the technological trends and innovation patterns in the domain of digital libraries, thereby contributing tobibliometric research in patent literature

Intellectual property · Patent analysis · Patent visualisation · Through-the-lens metering · Copyright and Intellectual Property · Intellectual Property and Patents · Research Data Management Practices