Changes
/* IP Activity */
[[Image:IP activity pub year.jpg|center|500px]]
The publications of patents in the last were nearly stagnant till 2007 after which one can witness a sudden surge in publication related to tight gas stimulation. For the years 1997 and 2001 there was no publication of patents related to tight gas stimulation. The last 3 years (2008-2011) has witnessed a sudden growth of publication activity, the highest being in 2011 with 35 patents published.
[[Image:IP activity prio year.jpg|center|500px]]
====Geographical Distribution of patents====
a) By unique families
Since the unique family retrieved from Thomson Innovation Database was downloaded by keeping US as a first priority, hence one can see that US leads in the chart with 109 patents.
[[Image:doc3.jpeg|center|500px]]
[[Image:doc4.jpeg|center|500px]]
As shown in the above figure, United States has the highest filing of the 514 patent families filed across the globe. China is the only country in Asia to have filed patents related to tight gas stimulation. The filing spread is seen across North and South America, Europe, Russia and Australia.PCT filing also remains an important choice of assignees when it comes to filing patent globally.
==Technology and Scientific Information Search Strategy==
