Studies concerning Big Data patents have been published; however, research investigating Big Data projects is scarce. Therefore, the objective of this study was to conduct an exploratory analysis of a patent database to collect information about the characteristics of registered patents related to Big Data projects. We searched for patents related to Big Data projects in the Espacenet database on January 10, 2021, and identified 109 records.. The textual analysis detected three word classes interpreted as (i) a direction to cloud computing, (ii) optimization of solutions, and (iii) storage and data sharing structures. Our results also revealed emerging technologies such as Blockchain and the Internet of Things, which are utilized in Big Data project solutions. This observation demonstrates the importance that has been given to solutions that facilitate decision-making in an increasingly data-driven context. As a contribution, we understand that this study endorses a group of researchers that has been dedicated to academic research on patent documents.