Patentopolis White Paper 1 Industry report: case of online travel booking

Transcription

1 Patentplis White Paper 1 Industry reprt: case f nline travel bking Patentplis releases a series f White Papers demnstrating, thanks t IP business intelligence: Hw t understand industry changes and be better prepared t new cmpetitin challenges. Hw t identify and initiate mergers and acquisitin at an early stage. Hw t mine cmpany innvatin prtflis and t chse the mst adequate IP strategy. Cntents f the present White Paper Objectives f this White Paper... 2 Online travel bking: backgrund infrmatin... 2 Insights f IP business intelligence int nline travel bking... 2 Generalized benefits fr yur daily practice Hw t get started in IP business intelligence: a methdlgy using Orbit List f cmpanies List f references This paper has been prepared using the patent data and analytics f Orbit frm Questel Disclaimer Patentplis BV is specialized in IP business intelligence. We d nt prvide legal r ther prfessinal advice; we make n representatin r warranty f any kind including warranties f fitness fr a particular purpse, satisfactry quality, accuracy, nn-infringement, nr are any such warranties t be implied with respect t any prducts and services. The present paper is prvided as is. It des nt frm any legal r ther prfessinal advice. It des nt cnstitute an pinin as t nvelty, patentability r freedm-t-perate. Fr mre details, please d nt hesitate t cntact us at inf@patentplis.cm V121227

2 Patentplis White Paper 1 Case f nline travel bking Objectives f this White Paper This paper aims t prvide insights n last years changes ccurring in the industry f nline travel bking. Mre specifically, it demnstrates the fllwing. Hw t identify leaders in this industry Hw t mnitr their trends Hw t read their recent changes and translate them int actins, als in terms f financing Online travel bking: backgrund infrmatin What is the nline travel bking in 2012? One f the largest segments f internet transactins 1 Expected t represent nearly ne third f the ttal glbal travel market value 2 Traditinal markets e.g. in the USA keep grwing in 2012 while strng market ptential is fund in emerging markets like China, Brazil and India. In the USA: increase by mre than 10% is frecasted 3 with a market size in the rder f US$ 100 billin In Eurpe: the UK is expected t remain the largest share, fllwed by Germany and France 4 In China: the ttal nline travel market revenue in the first quarter f 2012 reached US$ 70 billin, 78% f which went t air tickets bking and 13.8% t htel bking 5. Such a grwth f the nline travel industry is mainly technlgy-driven, especially in emerging markets like China 6 : Increasing internet usage (fr instance, China has the wrld s largest internet user base, representing 23% f the glbal nline ppulatin) Grwth in mbile internet subscribers (in China Mbile internet users have been grwing at a CAGR f 45%) The players perating in this industry face challenges which may jepardize their develpment and grwth prspects. As a result, the psitin f existing market leaders is threatened. 7 Increasing cmpetitin Lack f autmatin Restricted entry f freign players in the dmestic markets due t lcal regulatins In this cntext, wh is actually active in this blming industry? What are the technlgy trends? Hw culd these players get prepared t face this changing landscape? Which financial institutins are invlved in this industry and what are the financial netwrks? Insights f IP business intelligence int nline travel bking Technlgy pwers the travel industry. Cmputerized reservatin systems have enabled travel prfessinals t glbally bk airline tickets, rental cars, htel rms, and vacatin packages. Figure 1 belw shws the innvatin pace (here defined in terms f ttal number f patent families 1 published per year) based n a patent search carried ut using Orbit by Questel as explained in page Patent family means all the patents and patent applicatins relating t the same claimed inventin, and usually linked by claiming pririty frm the same initially filed patent applicatin. There is n such 2012 Patentplis BV Page 2

3 Patentplis White Paper 1 Case f nline travel bking Figure 1: Innvatin pace in the nline travel industry Surce Orbit frm Questel Figure 2 belw shws the innvatin trends fr the mst active cmpanies and rganizatins in the field, als based n a patent search carried ut using Orbit by Questel as explained in page 10. Figure 2: Innvatin trends in the nline travel industry Surce Orbit frm Questel As shwn in Figure 1 abve, the innvatin pace in nline travel bking shws three phases. Phase 1: histrical players tend t have established a shared leadership until 2000 thing as a wrldwide patent. Reginal patents exist nly in sme parts f the wrld. In mst cases equivalent patents must be filed r registered in all the cuntries where the patent wner wishes t enfrce the patent rights. All these belng t the same patent family Patentplis BV Page 3

4 Patentplis White Paper 1 Case f nline travel bking A few technlgy cmpanies are specialized in the field, ffering platfrms t travel agencies, airline cmpanies, and htel resrts. Such platfrms have frmed the wrld s largest travel marketplace, cnnecting travel buyers and sellers thrugh glbal distributin system. Sabre ffered its first passenger reservatins systems in Since then, Sabre made cntinuus technlgical advances fr electrnic cmmerce fr the travel and transprtatin industry. The cmpany perates thrugh fur segments: (1) Sabre Travel Netwrk is used by mre than 350,000 travel prfessinals; (2) Travelcity.cm allws individuals t make their wn travel arrangements; (3) Sabre Airline Slutins prvides sftware, e-business tls, and cnsulting services t imprve the peratins f sme 400 air carriers and airprts; and (4) Sabre Hspitality Slutins des the same fr htels. 8 9 Amadeus is anther majr player in the industry, prviding travel reservatin and ticketing systems. Mre than 100,000 travel agencies and 35,000 airline sales ffices use Amadeus' glbal distributin system (the wrld's largest), which bks flights n abut 460 airlines. It als makes reservatins at sme 85,000 htel prperties and abut 25 car rental agencies, as well as rail, cruise, tur, and ferry peratrs. WAM Acquisitin wns Amadeus, which is made up f airlines Air France, Iberia, and Lufthansa, equity firms Cinven and BC Partners, and Amadeus management. Amadeus IT Grup is a subsidiary f Spain's Amadeus IT Hlding, which went public in Sme players in the aerspace industry have als been active in this field The airline manufacturer Being is als actively patenting in the area f nline travel bking in relatin t mdeling prcesses applicable t airlines and ther industries: fr simulating and valuing the effects f varius prducts and services; and fr cst assessment f service disruptins. Other aspects patented by Being include: management f itineraries; rate and capacity planning; resurce management view fr airline peratins; airline traffic mdeling and allcatin; Virtual Queuing; real time generatin f charter flights; and aircraft dispatch infrmatin. Thales (nt shwn abve) is als active. Examples f patents recently published relate t: predictin f air traffic events, especially in the area f assistance in decisin making fr airlines and airprts; scheduling tasks t cntrl the executin f warning prcedures n an aircraft; identifying and mnitring the cntent f an aircraft; and generating electrnic dcumentatin fr maintenance. Phase 2: between 2001 and 2006 newcmers frm the internet and IT sectrs enter the nline travel industry, intrducing new practices and driving a new leadership psitining The IT industry prevails, led by IBM and fllwed with Accenture and thers players like Hewlett-Packard and Unisys (nt shwn abve). IBM has been the IP leader during the last 18 cnsecutives in the USA, and has als ventured in the field f transactin prcessing (fr the travel industry). Sme aspects f their technlgies patented in 2010 include: autmatic travel cntent capture tl fr address bk entries; finding and packing travel articles; lcatin-based services revenue sharing and cst ffsetting (wireless nline transactins): preserving purchased n-demand transprtatin entertainment services acrss separate trips; travel fee rate setting (deterministic, randm, based upn travel mde and cnvenience, based upn vehicle ccupancy); intelligently reruting stranded travelers Patentplis BV Page 4

5 Patentplis White Paper 1 Case f nline travel bking The cnsulting firm Accenture als shws a lng-term IP strategy t prtect its wn innvatins, ften used fr prmtinal purpses. Its main patented technlgies relate t: generating travel-related fferings, flight scheduling and ptimizatin, flight tracking, and reservatin recrd-based ticketing. Unisys is amng the glbal players in the IT cnsulting business. Its peratins are split int tw main segments: Services and Technlgy. Unisys is amng the largest gvernment IT cntractrs, serving lcal, state, and federal agencies, as well as freign gvernments. Other key sectrs include cmmunicatins, financial services, and transprtatin. Custmers have included Air Canada, BT, and the US Department f Agriculture. Unisys main patented technlgies include: netwrk-based management f airline custmer data; Airline management system generating rutings; market-level inventry cntrl system; Prcessing multiple bkings; and demand-tracking system. Sme main actrs f the Internet industry have als mved int travel. ITA Sftware is a cmpany funded in 1996 which prvides sftware and IT services t airline and nline travel cmpanies. ITA's primary prduct, QPX, is built int airline and travel websites t enable custmer searches fr flights, fares, and related infrmatin. Its clients include majr airlines like United Cntinental and American, and nline travel cmpanies like Htwire. ITA Sftware has a lng-term IP strategy, with patent prductin starting in early 2000 s. Rearden Cmmerce (nt shwn abve) is als a newcmer; it prvides an nline marketplace fr a variety f services. Sme 7,500 businesses and millins f cnsumers use its e-cmmerce platfrm t purchase and manage gds and services ranging frm travel and entertainment t shipping and event planning. The nline platfrm prvides individuals and crpratins with cntrl and end-t-end spend management capabilities with a usercentric apprach: maximized cst savings, increased adptin, and emplyee satisfactin. The platfrm includes the lcatin-aware Mbile Persnal Assistant t plug int: any crprate bking tl t incrprate crprate plicies and preferred vendrs, and any mbile device (iphne, Blackberry and Andrid platfrms). The Mbile Persnal Assistant gives users access t a persnalized travel itinerary, real-time travel alerts, dining search and reserving capabilities, flight search, and destinatin weather infrmatin. The cmpany's nline and mbile persnal assistant and smart apps cnnect buyers with mre than 160,000 suppliers based n persnal preferences and cmpany plicies. Custmers include CnAgra Fds, Kenwd, and The Advisry Bard Cmpany. The cmpany was funded in It has ffices in the USA and India. In May 2011 Rearden Cmmerce annunced a 3-year reseller deal with the UK's Advantage Fcus Partnership, a divisin f Advantage Business Travel that includes 77 agencies managing mre than $1 billin wrth f business travel. Rearden Cmmerce has been very actively patenting recently; examples f patents relate t: autmated trip planner; ptimizatin f grup shipments t reduce shipping csts; capturing and calculating cmplex cnsumer ratings f gds and services; and enhanced prtal fr services suppliers. Other technlgies patented earlier include: preferred vendr pretransactin bidding; multi-mdal travel shpping; presenting travel ptins; prviding travel schedule; changing a persnal prfile r cntext during a transactin; view f transactins and events with dynamic updates; tracking spending based n reservatins and payments; and autmatically rebking reservatins Patentplis BV Page 5

6 Patentplis White Paper 1 Case f nline travel bking New actr f the travel industry enters als int the scene. Fr instance, American Express Travel innvating n: travel fare determinatin, price cmparisn, travel expense benchmark analysis, travel savings assessment, prcessing travel expenses, interactive demand management (Cmputer Reservatin Systems, Glbal Distributin Systems), prcessing ticket refunding, frequent flyer rewards, billing travel transactins, reduce travelrelated transactin fraud, and travel service integratin. Phase 3: histrical players and newcmers seek t redefine a new rder since 2007: Frmer newcmers (see Phase 2) tend t make key deals in the nline travel space. Ggle is a newcmer, with initially very few patents. Instead f develping and prtecting in-huse prprietary technlgies, Ggle adpted a buy-in strategy with the recent acquisitin f ITA Sftware in a US$ 700m deal in July Ggle will emply the cmpany's technlgy t enhance its nline flight infrmatin capabilities as it cntinues t diversify its range f digital services. Cnversely, Yah is a newcmer with a different IP strategy: develping and prtecting in-huse prprietary technlgies. It has becme active with patenting, especially during the last tw years. Main patented technlgies include: ne-stp travel search; real-time parking search; cntext-sensitive rute generatin; persnal travel rganizer; and autmatic flight management in an nline marketplace. IBM acquired BigFix, a US cmpany fcusing n: reducing cst and cmplexity f managing netwrked servers, asset inventry/discvery, and sftware license management (US$ 400m deal in February 2011). BigFix has als been patenting during the last 10 years. Its main patented technlgies include: frmalizing, diffusing and enfrcing plicy advisries and mnitring plicy cmpliance in the management f netwrks; and remtely inspecting prperties f cmmunicating devices. Newcmers keep entering the nline travel field, especially frm the mbile sectr. A deeper analysis (nt shwn abve) reveals e.g.: Apple n accessing travel/htel services using a prtable device; and Samsung n prviding public transprt infrmatin, layut mdeling system fr a transprt system, and autmatic barding prcess. Other cnsumer electrnics manufacturers have patenting activity in the field: Sny n rental system fr vehicle; Hitachi n vacant seat reservatin, schedule management e.g. fr travel expense accunt, service supply, and transactin prcessing; and Tshiba n ptimum rute planning fr service vehicles, prviding service in train, reservatin service fr reserved seat ticket, and runway reservatin. The histrical players f the nline travel field play a increasingly leading rle. Amadeus has shwn the highest grwth ver the perid while Sabre wns the largest prtfli ver the perid Sabre keeps expanding e.g. the Middle East markets e.g. Jrdan last January. Special attentin is given t the year 2012, with a significant grwth cmpared t the previus years. Is this the start f a new phase? Insights in the R&D directins taken in the nline travel bking can be gained by using varius text mining techniques, als based n a patent search carried using Orbit by Questel as explained in page 10. In the fllwing, three different techniques applied t the nline industry are shwn; nte that these three techniques are nly given fr the sake f illustratin and that Orbit ffers ther text-mining techniques. Figure 3 belw shws wrd clud, revealing emphasis n lw sale price determinatin, airline ticketing 2012 Patentplis BV Page 6

7 Patentplis White Paper 1 Case f nline travel bking Figure 3: first text-mining (wrd clud) Surce Orbit frm Questel Figure 4 belw shws clusters f innvatin areas. Here, the main innvatin areas crrespnd t different market segments (travel service prvider, airline reservatin, htel management, restaurant, rental car ) and crrespnding technlgies (prgrams, data ). Figure 4: secnd text-mining (circular tree-map) Surce Orbit frm Questel Figure 5 belw gives anther representatin f innvatin clusters in a landscape frmat. It shws that the cre technlgy is cmmnly used fr airline bking and htel management, while peripheral technlgies are used fr rental car and airprt management Patentplis BV Page 7

8 Patentplis White Paper 1 Case f nline travel bking Figure 5: third text-mining (landscape) Surce Orbit frm Questel As shwn abve in Figures 3 t 5, the fllwing main findings have been fund. Technlgy develpments in the nline travel bking are typically in the areas f revenue management, pricing, flight scheduling, carg, flight peratins and crew scheduling. A deeper analysis f the three white spaces (i.e. selecting patents in the white spaces shwn in dtted line abve) reveal cncepts in adjacent fields and new applicatins f infrmatin management systems with mass transactin prcessing Healthcare: fr hspitals fr prcessing medical data e.g. n: secure server netwrk t exchange medical data between patients and healthcare prfessinals; prcessing f data amng caregivers; and prcessing and delivery f prescriptins; and fr insurance cmpanies. Examples f active cmpanies include: Cmputer Science Crpratin (CSC) prviding systems integratin, data center management, and business prcess utsurcing e.g. billing and payment prcessing; and the insurance cmpany Genwrth Financial (specialized in lng-term care insurance and health insurance) and Prgressive. Entertainment (music, mvies, nline TV) industry, especially in the areas f: Digital Right Management (DRM) e.g. Intertrust Technlgies which develps and licenses sftware, technlgies and IP fr DRM and trusted 2012 Patentplis BV Page 8

9 Patentplis White Paper 1 Case f nline travel bking cmputing; and e-ticketing e.g. Live Natin Entertainment, ne f the wrld's largest ticket sellers and prmter f live entertainment, with its expansin int ticketing services with the purchase f Ticketmaster in Resurce management and lgistic e.g. fr pstal services e.g.: United Pstal Services (UPS) n determining prductivity assciated with retrieving items in a warehuse, imprving fleet management peratins using telematics, and airline maintenance prcess mdeling; and Deutsche Pst /DHL n planning the travel rute f a transprt vehicle, and prviding Internet services in nline marketplaces. Other pssible applicatins fr mass infrmatin systems with multi-users include: Energy management e.g. fr smartgrids Defense and security e.g. camera surveillance prcessing, fingerprints in public arenas, brder security Rad traffic mnitring, e.g. fr safety purpses, n highway. Als fr subways Technlgies invlved in nline travel bking require high level f investment. Financial institutins (banks, trusts, funds, venture capitalists ) als enter the scene; they can be identified thrugh c-wnership f patents develped by cmpanies which they finance. Figure 6 belw shws the intricate netwrk f sme financial institutins. Figure 6: c-wnership netwrk excerpt Surce Orbit frm Questel Figure 6 reveals a cluster f financial institutins, especially in relatin t Ggle and Sabre. Bank f America in relatin t Omrn and Sanmina Gldman Sachs in relatin t Ggle (including ITA Sftware see abve) Wells Farg Bank and Deutsche Bank, in relatin t Sabre and American Airlines It als reveals cllabratin netwrks in the industry and extra applicatins beynd cre activity. Sabre - American Airlines Ggle Unisys (prviding IT services, sftware ) Omrn (manufacturing and selling autmatin cmpnents, equipment and systems, but it is generally knwn fr medical equipment such as digital thermmeters, bld pressure mnitrs and nebulizers.) Samnina (glbal Electrnics Manufacturing Services -EMS) 2012 Patentplis BV Page 9

10 Patentplis White Paper 1 Case f nline travel bking Generalized benefits fr yur daily practice IP business intelligence prvides insights fr innvatin management and market psitining. Sme may critically cnsider that such insights have intrinsic pitfalls. Incmplete data since nt all innvatins are patented Nt current infrmatin due t the 18-mnth delay between filing and publicatin; Difficult t interpret since nt all patent filings are made fr the same reasns (strategic, pprtunistic, shtgun apprach ); and that nt all patents have the same strength r value Despite the abve, patent infrmatin remains a pwerful, straightfrward apprach. Objective (reviewed by patent examiners) Alive (published every week, all ver the wrld) Cst-effective (e.g. cmpared t market reprts) When cautiusly handled e.g. by crssing with ther surces (scientific literature, cmpany infrmatin ), IP business intelligence can bring, as shwn in this paper, direct valuable insights which can help yu understand: Change in yur industry, initiated by technlgy push (internet, e-cmmerce) Change f leadership cming frm new players f ther industries Hw t adapt yur cmpany s strategy, and the rle f IP therein, t face new challenges Orbit enables users with unique and distinctive functinalities. Elabrating cmplex searches with a great diversity f unique peratrs Quickly finding terms used in the field, even fr nn-experts, with similar patent searches Analyzing and archiving large datasets with a cmprehensive suite f analytics Setting up alerts t remain aware f the latest trends Organizing search results and data thanks t clustering and thesaurus, which users can build fr ne r subsequent searches Sharing results and imprve reprting internally Hw t get started in IP business intelligence: a methdlgy using Orbit The patent search methdlgy behind the present paper is based n the fllwing cncepts. 1. Travelling within the brad meaning f the term, including turism. Hwever, the fllwing terms have nt been included: airprt (due t ther innvatin areas related t, but nt relevant fr the purpse f this paper e.g. security and safety, brder surveillance ). 2. Online reservatin. The fllwing terms have nt been included: request, query, navigatin, and destinatin (due t ther innvatin areas related t, but nt relevant fr the purpse f this paper e.g. GPS, ther Internet transactins ) The abve cncepts have been translated int patent search strategies. Anther advantage f using Orbit is the similarity search which enable users t enlarge their search analysis results Patentplis BV Page 10

11 Patentplis White Paper 1 Case f nline travel bking Cncept 1 Traveling Cncept 2 nline bking Turism r travel r flight r airline r (destinatin city) r (rental car) r htel r restaurant reservatin r bking r (itinerary cmbinatin) r (jurney slice) r planning r schedule r (availability check) r rechecking r ( ( chs+ r retriev+ r tracking r lw r lwest r database r prcess) 5d (fare+ r faring r price+ r pricing) ) r ( (seat r flight r table r rm) 5d availability) r ticket+ Furthermre a series f technlgy cdes (IPC, ECLA) have been fund relevant. Cdes Meaning G06Q10/025 DATA PROCESSING FOR Administratin; Management : Reservatins, e.g. fr tickets, services r events: Crdinatin f plural reservatins, e.g. plural trip segments, transprtatin cmbined with accmmdatin G06Q10/047 DATA PROCESSING FOR Administratin; Management: Optimisatin f rutes, e.g. "travelling salesman prblem" G06Q30/0206 DATA PROCESSING FOR : Cmmerce, e.g. shpping r e-cmmerce : Marketing : Price r cst determinatin based n market factrs G06Q30/0283 DATA PROCESSING FOR Cmmerce, e.g. shpping r e-cmmerce : Price estimatin r determinatin G06Q30/04 G06Q20/00 G06Q50/14 G06Q50/12 DATA PROCESSING FOR Cmmerce, e.g. shpping r e-cmmerce : Billing r invicing, [N: e.g. tax prcessing in cnnectin with a sale] DATA PROCESSING FOR Payment architectures, schemes r prtcls DATA PROCESSING FOR a specific business sectr : Travel agencies DATA PROCESSING FOR a specific business sectr : Htels r restaurants Finally, the cmpany names have been filtered and refrmatted in rder t bring frward the relevant activities. Using Orbit data rules, a series f cmpanies, their name variatins and affiliates has been used t ptimize the final dataset; sme have been gruped and renamed (shwn in bld belw) and thers have been deleted (shwn in red belw). Figure 7: cmpany thesaurus building using data rules administratin in Orbit - excerpt a Surce Orbit frm Questel 2012 Patentplis BV Page 11

12 Patentplis White Paper 1 Case f nline travel bking List f cmpanies The fllwing cmpanies have been listed in this White Paper. Accenture, 5 Amadeus, 4, 6, 13 American Airlines, 9 American Express Travel, 6 Apple, 6 Bank f America, 9 BigFix, 6 Cmputer Science Crpratin, 8 Deutsche Bank, 9 Deutsche Pst /DHL, 9 Genwrth Financial, 8 Gldman Sachs, 9 Ggle, 6, 9 Hitachi, 6 IBM, 4 Intertrust Technlgies, 8 ITA Sftware, 5, 6 Live Natin Entertainment, 9 Omrn, 9 Prgressive, 8 Rearden Cmmerce, 5 Sabre, 4, 6, 9 Samsung, 6 Sanmina, 9 Sny, 6 Thales, 4 Ticketmaster, 9 Tshiba, 6 Unisys, 5 United Pstal Services (UPS), 9 Wells Farg Bank, 9 Yah, Patentplis BV Page 12

13 Patentplis White Paper 1 Case f nline travel bking List f references 1 Market research reprt Glbal E-Cmmerce Industry published by ReprtLinker n January 2012, p.10. Accessible via Industry.html 2 Market research reprt Glbal Online Travel Reprt 2012 published by ReprtLinker n March Accessible via 3 See endnte 2 4 See endnte 2 5 China Internet Watch China Online Travel Market Update fr Q1 2012, 2 May Last retrieved at n 20 Nvember 2012 See als China Turism Industry Frecast t 2012 published by Reprt Buyer in July Accessible via 6 Market research reprt Online Travel Market in China 2012 published by Research and Markets n March Accessible via 7 See endnte 2 8 Sabre Histry, last retrieved at n 20 Nvember Cmpany infrmatin abut Sabre Hldings Crpratin, published by Hvers. Last retrieved at n 20 Nvember Cmpany infrmatin abut Amadeus IT Grup SA, published by Hvers. Last retrieved at n 20 Nvember Patentplis BV Page 13