Retrieval-Augmented Generation Systems for Intellectual Property via Synthetic Multi-Angle Fine-tuning

TL;DR

This paper introduces MQG-RFM, a lightweight, retrieval-augmented generation framework that improves patent-related question-answering accuracy by simulating diverse user queries and fine-tuning retrieval models, demonstrating significant empirical gains.

Contribution

The paper presents a novel, scalable method combining prompt-engineered query generation and hard negative mining to enhance retrieval robustness without complex architecture changes.

Findings

185.62% improvement in retrieval accuracy on Patent Consultation dataset

262.26% improvement on Novel Patent Technology Report dataset

14.22% and 53.58% improvements in generation quality

Abstract

Retrieval-Augmented Generation (RAG) systems in the Intellectual Property (IP) field often struggle with diverse user queries, including colloquial expressions, spelling errors, and ambiguous terminology, leading to inaccurate retrieval and suboptimal responses. To address this challenge, we propose Multi-Angle Question Generation and Retrieval Fine-Tuning Method (MQG-RFM), a novel framework that leverages large language models (LLMs) to simulate varied user inquiries and fine-tunes retrieval models to align semantically equivalent but linguistically diverse questions. Unlike complex architectural modifications, MQG-RFM adopts a lightweight Data-to-Tune paradigm, combining prompt-engineered query generation with hard negative mining to enhance retrieval robustness without costly infrastructure changes. Experimental results on a Taiwan patent Q&A dataset show 185.62% improvement in retrieval accuracy on the Patent Consultation dataset and 262.26% improvement on the Novel Patent Technology Report dataset, with 14.22% and 53.58% improvements in generation quality over the baselines, respectively. By bridging the gap between user intent and system comprehension through semantic-aware retrieval optimization, MQG-RFM offers a practical, scalable approach for rapid, cost-effective deployment among small and medium-sized agencies seeking reliable patent intelligence solutions. Additionally, our proposed method has already been adopted by ScholarMate, the largest professional research social networking platform in China, to support real-world development and deployment. A demo version of the instantiated is available at https://github.com/renruntao/patent_rag.