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Full URL: https://consultas.oepm.es/

Strategic Imperative

The OEPM portal is our primary tool for investigating the intellectual property landscape in Spain. The trademarks, patents, and designs registered by a company are a direct reflection of its commercial strategy and technological capabilities. This intelligence is fundamental for:

  • Identifying Litigation-Dependent Assets: Some firms’ entire business model is based on monetizing IP through litigation. 111 The OEPM portal allows us to identify these assets and the companies that hold them, presenting opportunities for us to facilitate funding, purchase, or a strategic challenge.
  • Competitor Analysis: A company’s patent and trademark filings are a forward-looking indicator of its new products, target markets, and strategic direction. This is a key input for our “Benchmarking” and “Porter” analysis frameworks. 22
  • Evidence for Competition Cases: IP rights can be used anticompetitively. For example, a dominant company might file a dense web of defensive patents to block new entrants (“patent thickets”) or engage in sham litigation. Evidence of such behaviour from the OEPM can be used to build an abuse of dominance case.
  • Informing MATOIPO Analysis: In any merger or acquisition, the IP portfolio is often a key asset. 3 Analyzing the target’s and acquirer’s IP on the OEPM portal is a critical part of our due diligence to assess the true value and risks of the transaction.

Part I: The Search Platform’s Rules & Functionality

The OEPM portal is divided into sections for different types of IP. The key is to use the “Búsqueda por campos” (Field Search) or “Búsqueda avanzada” (Advanced Search) options within each section for maximum precision.

  • Platform Structure: The portal is split into distinct databases for:

    • Signos Distintivos (Trademarks and Tradenames): For brand-related intelligence.
    • Invenciones (Inventions): For patents and utility models.
    • Diseños (Designs): For industrial designs.

  • Key Search Fields (Búsqueda por campos):

    • Solicitante / Titular (Applicant / Owner): The most important field. Allows searching for the company or individual that owns the IP.
    • Denominación (Name/Title): Searches for the name of the trademark or the title of the patent.
    • Clasificación (Classification): Allows searching by specific classification codes (e.g., Vienna Classification for logos, International Patent Classification for inventions). This is a powerful tool for finding all IP within a specific technological or commercial area.
    • Fechas (Dates): Allows filtering by application date, registration date, or expiration date.
    • Agente (Agent): Allows searching for the law firm or agent that filed the application, which can help map relationships.

  • Search Syntax:

    • The search engine supports Boolean operators (Y for AND, O for OR, NO for NOT).
    • It also allows for wildcard characters (* for multiple characters, ? for a single character).
    • Phrase searching using double quotation marks (" ") is supported for exact matches.

Part II: The COCOO Strategic Search Model for the OEPM

This protocol provides a systematic workflow for turning IP data into actionable evidence.

Phase 1: Adversary and Sector Profiling

  • Step 1.1: Adversary IP Audit: For any target company or legal adversary, conduct a comprehensive search using their name in the Solicitante / Titular field across all three databases (Trademarks, Inventions, Designs). The goal is to build a complete dossier of their registered IP assets in Spain.
  • Step 1.2: Thematic Technology Search: To understand a technology landscape, use the “Advanced Search” in the Inventions database. Search using relevant Classification Codes (IPC) or keywords in the patent titles/abstracts. This will reveal all companies patenting in a specific area, identifying the key innovators and potential licensing targets.

Phase 2: The “Strategic Intent” Analysis Protocol

  • Step 2.1: Analyze Filing Velocity: For a target company, use the date filters to analyze their rate of patent and trademark applications over time. A sudden acceleration in filings in a new technology area can be a “Simple Indicator” of a major strategic pivot or a new product launch. 4
  • Step 2.2: Map Brand Architecture: In the Trademarks database, analyze the different brands a single company owns. Are they launching sub-brands to target new market segments? Are they registering defensive trademarks to block competitors? This reveals their commercial strategy.
  • Step 2.3: Identify “Non-Practicing Entities” (NPEs): Look for entities with a significant number of patents but no corresponding commercial products (which can be checked via general web searches and company reports). These entities may be “patent trolls” whose business model is based purely on litigation. 5 These are prime targets for our work, as we can potentially partner with the companies they are targeting.

Phase 3: Intelligence Synthesis & Strategic Action

  • Step 3.1: Identify Potential for Monetization: Based on the NPE analysis (Step 2.3) or identifying companies with valuable but under-utilized patents, we can build a case for an Unsolicited Proposal (USP). We can approach a litigation funder (identified from our research) with a portfolio of patents ripe for an enforcement action, with COCOO positioned to manage the process. 6666
  • Step 3.2: Build Evidence for Competition Complaints: If we identify a dominant company aggressively filing patents around a competitor’s core technology, this can be used as evidence of anticompetitive intent in a complaint to the CNMC.
  • Step 3.3: Due Diligence for Tenders: When bidding for a public contract, especially in a technology-driven sector, we will perform an IP audit on all major competitors. A competitor whose bid relies on technology that infringes on a third party’s patent represents a significant risk to the public body, a weakness we can highlight in our own proposal.

Part III: Application to COCOO Doctrines

This model is designed to directly execute key strategies from our mind maps.

Mind Map Doctrine Application of the OEPM Portal Model
USP (Unsolicited Proposal) & FOC DAM The “Strategic Intent” Analysis (Phase 2) is a direct mechanism for originating USPs. 7 By identifying valuable IP assets, we can create a proposal for a litigation funder to monetize them, with COCOO managing the legal work.
Benchmarking / Competitor Analysis The Adversary IP Audit (Step 1.1) provides a clear benchmark of a competitor’s technological capabilities and brand strategy, feeding directly into our market analysis. 8
Noisefilter A company’s press releases about “innovation” are just noise. Their patent filings on the OEPM are the verifiable signal. 9 This allows us to filter PR from genuine technological investment.
MATOIPO Analysis An IP audit is a non-negotiable step in analyzing any M&A deal. 10 Does the target really own the “crown jewel” patents the acquirer is paying for? Are they about to expire? Are they being challenged? This analysis provides critical leverage.
Stealth Consolid While less direct, a single entity or fund acquiring patents from multiple smaller players in a specific tech niche can be an indicator of a “roll-up” strategy, a form of technological consolidation that precedes corporate M&A. 11

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