Patents are valuable for the generation of novel ideas through technological discovery. In recent years, scientists have made several attempts to identify technology opportunities by determining vacancies in patent maps—visual representations of patent distribution in particular technological fields created using dimensionality reduction techniques. However, there is a major bottleneck in this approach: it is challenging to precisely define and interpret the technological content of these patent vacancies.Patents are valuable for the generation of novel ideas through technological discovery. In recent years, scientists have made several attempts to identify technology opportunities by determining vacancies in patent maps—visual representations of patent distribution in particular technological fields created using dimensionality reduction techniques. However, there is a major bottleneck in this approach: it is challenging to precisely define and interpret the technological content of these patent vacancies.Business[#item_full_content]