analyze-patent-citation-network

Purpose

Analyze patent citation and family relationships to identify central prior art, lineages, clusters, bridge patents, and citation anomalies.

Input contract

required: [patent_records, citation_edges, family_keys]
optional: [classification_schema, assignee_keys, time_window]
constraints: [edge direction, source, jurisdiction, and date must be retained]

Procedure

1. Deduplicate patents and family members while preserving jurisdictional edges.
2. Build directed citation and priority/family graphs.
3. Identify central, bridging, clustered, and anomalous records.
4. Interpret technical lineage with classification and source evidence.

Output contract

produces: [citation_graph, lineage_map, cluster_summary, bridge_patents, anomaly_report]
delta_fields: [findings, evidence_updates, uncertainties, open_questions]

Quality gates

• Centrality or cluster claims must state the graph universe and edge provenance.
• Family membership must not be used as an independent citation event without evidence.

Failure and counterexamples

Do not equate citation count with technical importance, and do not infer absence of prior art from an incomplete graph.

Provenance map

• resolved: citation-network-analysis