Best intel starts from a concrete target list: competitor legal names, subsidiaries, and inventor names. Patent records key on assignee and inventor, so monitoring those beats a vague keyword.
Remember name variations — subsidiaries and shell entities file under different names.
New grants show what a competitor now owns and enforces.
New publications reveal the R&D direction ~18 months before grant.
Class-level trends show *where* a competitor is concentrating effort.
A structured feed lets you generate a periodic competitor summary: 'These 5 new grants from X in classes we track.'
That delta — what changed since last week — is the intelligence, not the raw list.
Public data gives you filings and grants, not strategy. Use the feed to spot activity early, then dig into the documents. It is an early-warning layer, not a substitute for analysis.
Both — teams file under their legal entity/entities, which often differ from the consumer brand.
Most applications publish about 18 months after earliest filing date.
Yes — class filters let you monitor a technology area even without a fixed competitor list.