Patentee Name Harmonisation - ecoom.be

1 THE 5489 5489 1.2 26 SMITH 433 28532 6.4
2 5385 10874 2.5 27 R 418 28950 6.5
3 SOCIETE 2477 13351 3.0 28 C 416 29366 6.6
4 KABUSHIKI 1293 14644 3.3 29 COMPAGNIE 386 29752 6.7
5 ADVANCED 1076 15720 3.5 30 APPLIED 386 30138 6.8
6 AMERICAN 943 16663 3.8 31 SIEMENS 380 30518 6.9
7 INTERNATIONAL 936 17599 4.0 32 KIM 370 30888 7.0
8 VAN 923 18522 4.2 33 DR 364 31252 7.0
9 NIPPON 861 19383 4.4 34 M 364 31616 7.1
10 DE 767 20150 4.5 35 AB 351 31967 7.2
11 UNIVERSITY 686 20836 4.7 36 CENTRE 345 32312 7.3
12 INSTITUT 615 21451 4.8 37 FUJI 337 32649 7.4
13 HITACHI 604 22055 5.0 38 H 335 32984 7.4
14 NATIONAL 595 22650 5.1 39 TOKYO 325 33309 7.5
15 JAPAN 544 23194 5.2 40 E 322 33631 7.6
16 UNITED 540 23734 5.3 41 US 313 33944 7.6
17 J 532 24266 5.5 42 ABB 311 34255 7.7
18 A 519 24785 5.6 43 B 298 34553 7.8
19 GENERAL 515 25300 5.7 44 CHEN 296 34849 7.9
20 NEW 499 25799 5.8 45 G 289 35138 7.9
21 LEE 485 26284 5.9 46 SA 288 35426 8.0
22 FIRMA 472 26756 6.0 47 S 287 35713 8.0
23 JOHNSON 459 27215 6.1 48 SUMITOMO 283 35996 8.1
24 MITSUBISHI 449 27664 6.2 49 W 281 36277 8.2
25 ETABLISSEMENTS 435 28099 6.3 50 UNIVERSAL 280 36557 8.2
Table 17 shows a completely different picture to Table 13. The number of occurrences is far
lower for top occurring first words than for top occurring last words (5,489 for “THE” compared
to 74,949 for “INC”), as is the cumulative share of top 50 first words compared to the top 50
last words (8.2% compared to 65%). This means that the variety of words at the beginning of
organization names is far greater than the variety of words at the end of organization names.
Table 17 reveals that only “SOCIETE” and “KABUSHIKI” are worth looking at more closely.
“KABUSHIKI” in itself is not a legal form but “KABUSHIKI HAISHA” is; it can, therefore, be
removed at the beginning of a name.
“SOCIETE” in itself is not a legal form but “SOCIETE ANONYME” or “SOCIETE A
RESPONSABILITE LIMITEE” is. The problem is that these legal form indications can be an
integral part of the name (as in “SOCIETÉ ANONYME D'ECONOMIE MIXTE COMMUNAUTAIRE DE
GESTION” or “SOCIETE ANONYME DES ETABLISSEMENTS PIERRE ROCH”) and removing them
can mutilate names and make them hard to recognize.
As is the case of “KG” (Kommanditgesellschaft), “SOCIETE” will not be removed in this step,
even as part of “SOCIETE ANONYME” or “SOCIETE A RESPONSABILITE LIMITEE”, but will be
removed in one of the subsequent steps - common company word removal - to obtain a
reduced name that can be used for searching related names.
Finally, legal forms can also appear in the middle of names. A quick examination based on a full
text index revealed that occurrences are low. The expected impact seems not to justify the
efforts needed for an in-depth analysis of occurrences, spelling variations and validation.
The only legal form indication clearly appearing frequently in the middle of company names is
“GMBH”.
Table 18 contains all 17 search and replace statements for legal form GMBH to be removed
anywhere in the name, with the keyword containing the spelling variation identified as a legal
form, the number of occurrences of the spelling variation in all names, the harmonized legal
form, and remarks on how to remove the legal form.
Table 18: Search and replace statements for legal form GMBH to be removed
anywhere in name
KEYWORD NBR LEGAL REMARKS
" GMBH & CO. K.G. " 1 GMBH Replace with " & COMPANY “
" GMBH & CO. KG. " 8 GMBH Replace with " & COMPANY "
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