Patentability Search – Copy

A search conducted on an inventive idea/disclosure/preliminary set of claims to figure out if there is a scope of getting the idea patented in the near future with in-depth knowledge of what already exists in the domain/market or field of the invention.

There are various conditions to be fulfilled for an invention to be patentable. Three main conditions are:

• It should contain novelty.
• It should have an inventive step.
• The invention should be non-obvious.

A Patentability search is sometimes also known as a novelty search. However, there is a minute difference between patentability and novelty search. A Novelty search is generally a low-budget search conducted on a rough draft of the invention to figure out if there is/are any new/novel elements in the invention or if the invention is non-obvious or not.

This novelty search then further leads to a high budgeted patentability search for those inventions which has shown some hint of novelty. The patentability search is conducted based on an initial draft of claims or provisional application before filing the application for examination in the patent office. The output of the patentability search helps in drafting the final claims or scope of the application to be filed in a patent office before this undergoes an examination process.

This search also helps in setting claim boundaries or limitations that determine the scope of the claims of the invention. The search provides the applicant/inventor with the documents/patents, also known as prior arts, which would be cited for the application and act as background knowledge. 

Why Are Patents Important?

A patent, unlike a research paper, grants its owner exclusive rights so that others can be prevented from using the idea of an inventor. A party that wants to implement or use or take advantage of a patented invention must have a license or approval from the patent owner.

The patent owner profits from commercialization of patents when they themselves or other parties use, manufacture, sell or profit from a patented invention. The patent owners can further license their patents to other entities by granting or allowing rights over the patented invention in exchanges for royalties. Thus, patent prevents other parties/entities from exploiting the invention without patent owner’s grant.

Why Do You Need a Patent?

In order to prevent others from using one’s invention, without their approval or knowledge, and having profited from that by selling, manufacturing, or commercialization, one must protect their invention by filing a patent for their invention. The Patent will offer you protection from intruders on your intellectual property and you will also be able to earn royalties from your patent.

What is a patent?

Before proceeding ahead, we need to understand first about patent. What is a patent and what is it used for?

So, a patent is a part of someone’s intellectual property that gives its owner the right to abandon others from making, using, or selling an invention for a limited period in exchange for publishing an enabling disclosure of his or her innovation.

To get the rights of a patent, one needs to follow few steps as per the regional patent office. All the offices conduct a procedure to find out an invention’s value by evaluating its novelty, uniqueness, and its use for public good.

These steps can be summarized in a sentence “what is a patent search” or what are different types of patent search.

What Is a Patent Search?

Patent search sometimes is also known as patentability search, broad landscape search or novelty search or prior art search is a search performed to identify citations that are of similar nature as that of one’s invention. Patent searches specifically related to patents that are searched on various databases such as Google Patents, Espacenet, Orbit Intelligence, Thomson Innovation, CNIPA, JPLATPAT, etc.

At TT Consultants, we can perform a patent search for you on any of the databases, paid and unpaid, and also on our in-house tool, Xlscout. The patent search can be of many types depending upon your needs and requirements.

If you want to know, whether your invention is new, unique, and can be patented or not, a patentability search or a novelty search is performed based on the disclosure or key points of your invention.

If you want to know, whether something already exists before you file the invention, a prior art search can be performed.

If you want to explore a certain area or field and wants to know what are the major technologies in the area, major player, trend, etc, a landscape search or a state-of-art search is performed.

A Patentability search helps you find out whether your patent has a scope of getting the grant. If not, one may design around their invention by getting the idea from the patent search.

Before one file their patent in a patent office, it is important to conduct an exhaustive search for prior art information. This step in the application process helps an individual to stop wasting time and money by applying for protection for something that has already been existing in one form or another.

Searching for a patent information can often be complicated, time-consuming, and costly. For specific assistance or to seek advice, one may wish to contact an intellectual property (IP) professional or an organization like TT Consultants.

You may believe your innovation is unique, but you can't be certain without conducting a patent search. If there is anything even substantially similar to your innovation, you may not be eligible for a patent. The fundamental goal of a patentability search is to estimate the likelihood of an invention being granted a patent, especially when compared to global standards of innovation and non-obviousness.

Before you begin the process of filing a patent, you should get a patentability search done for your invention. Because inventions require a lot of time and money to develop, the creator should double-check that no one else has claimed the invention before filing their application for examination.

In a patentability search, "prior art" is reviewed for similar devices and processes that pre-date the invention to see whether it appears to be innovative and non-obvious. All public disclosures before the filing date of a patent application are considered prior art, including US patents and patent applications, foreign patents and applications, web pages, ads, and any physically made goods or previously given services. Non-patent literature can also be searched.

Even if a patentability search does not reveal that the invention is unpatentable, it may provide useful information for writing a patent application. The search results will reveal prior art that is similar to the invention.

Why Are Patents Important?

Application to be written considering that prior art. If the previous art is close to the invention, the patent application can highlight parts that are patentable or unique, novel, and not obvious to a person skilled in the art, despite the prior art.

If a patentability search had not been performed, it is possible that too much time (and money) would be spent in the application detailing elements of the invention that are unlikely to be patentable, while not enough time would be spent discussing aspects that are more likely to be patentable.  

A patentability search will frequently turn up previous art that demonstrates that the invention under consideration for a patent application is not unique, or that it is simply a version of what others have done. In these circumstances, filing a patent application on that invention is pointless because it does not meet the conditions for patentability.

Patentability search costs around $2,000 and a patent application cost between $8,000 and $14,000, so finding out that an idea isn't patentable can save a lot of money.

Overall, a patentability search is important for the following reasons:

• A patentability search can help the inventor better comprehend the invention's scope.
• It can aid the patent drafter in claim drafting by providing a better knowledge of the invention in comparison to the prior art.
• When it comes to responding to rejections - which may or may not occur during the examination phase - the candidate can be better prepared.
• It is possible to avoid working on an innovation that has already been patented. As a result, you'll avoid the time-consuming and costly patent application process.
• You can prevent infringing on another company's patent by knowing what inventions already exist. As a result, you won't have any FTO (Freedom to Operate)
• Existing patents might provide you with ideas for how to improve your invention and differentiate it from others.
• You can find out about your competitors' inventions and obtain ideas for potential business threats, partners or investors.
• It's possible that you'll find out that a competitor's patent is invalid.

Why One Should Perform A Patent Search?

Before introducing a new product to the market, one need to ask themselves:

• Can a patent protect his/her invention?
• Does an individual invention infringe someone else's invention?

Searching can help solving these queries, as well as to:

• determine who owns what IP
• check that an individual’s IP is not being infringed
• obtain product information on competitors for research or design around purposes.

Each patent document includes a detailed description of an invention (with illustrations) and information about the inventor and applicant. More than forty million patent documents have been published worldwide.

What Is A Patentability Search?

A patentability search is a type of patent search that gives you an important glimpse into whether an individual invention will qualify for a patent or not. The search allows you to compare your invention with already existing literature known as prior arts.

The patentability search is the most common of all the various types of patent searches. It is most of the time known as a novelty search or a prior art search. Its aim is to make sure that your invention has not already been used, created, published, or disclose anywhere by anyone else in any form. The search helps you to compare your invention with the already existing prior arts.  This includes both pre-existing patent literature and non-patent literature.

Further, the Novelty search and another search named the state-of-the-art search are related. A state-of-the-art search provides an in-depth look at technology in a particular sector, one can conduct the state-of-the-art search and then can Mold their research and design team with new sort of ideas by analyzing the outcome from the state-of-the-art study. Usually, such outcomes are known as the white space analysis. One can take ideas from the white space analysis to dig down into a specific field.

A patentability search is not the same thing as an invalidation search. Invalidation search helps to identify if a patent is invalid and that is so if it has already been disclosed by others in any form such as patents or non-patents, before the priority date of the subject patent (here a date restriction is used, however, a patentability search is free from date restriction). It is possible that a patented invention gets invalidated by other literature.

Why Is a Patentability Search Important?

Below are listed some of the key benefits of such type of search:

Looking at prior art and previous exemplary patent applications and non-patent literature in the same field will help you draft your own application in the right way, without getting invalidated in the future.

When you compare your invention with prior arts, you can predict some of the objections that a regional patent office may arise against your patent application. You can prepare responses usually called as office action responses to these objections.

The information collected during the search process will be helpful to answer the question that why your patent is valid or stand a chance to overcome any rejection put by the patent office while examining your patent application.

The search will help to provide you the limelight towards the novel or non-obvious or obvious aspects of your invention. This will help you to engage more in depth with your technology because of similar arts that are already existing then wasting time and money over an application that will be of no use.

A patent search in the right direction will enhance the chances of getting closer to the aim of getting a patent granted.

The search results will add value to your current invention and will also smoothen the examination process. One can get better idea and can build their idea in a better way and after the grant of the patent one can monetize the same in the market and can get an effective value in terms of monetary benefits.

The prior art search can be conducted in two ways, like searching for patent-related arts only or second one is searching for any written form material or print form material before the required time and such arts are known as non-patent arts.

You must go for a patentability search even if you think nothing like your invention exists. There may still be prior art that might be close enough to your invention to prevent you from getting a patent.

Prevention is always better than cure so one should always try to conduct a patentability/novelty search either by themselves or by seeking help from any online patentability services as one can order an online patentability search from the TTC platform.

During the search, any document which is in the public domain, be it a granted patent, a patent application or a non-patent reference existing on or before the present day when the search is conducted that covers the major aspects of the invention according to the client/applicant/inventor requirements is considered as a prior art, also known as background art. The non-patent references include research papers, thesis, standards, white papers, e-mails, conversations, newsletters, products, articles, videos, blogposts, any internet publications, etc.

Where Are Prior Arts Searched?

To identify these patent/non-patent citations, various paid and/or unpaid databases can be used. The databases include Orbit, Derwent, Xlscout, Patsnap, Lens.org, Google patents, Google, IEEE, Google scholar, IETF standards, 3GPP standards, ETSI, Espacenet, J-platpat, KIPRIS, CNIPA, etc.

How To Search Prior Art?

Depending on the databases, there are numerous methods to search for prior arts. One method would include an automated search (for example in Xlscout – AI-based module) where either the inventive paragraph or the drafted claim elements/features are entered, and an artificial intelligence module takes over from there to identify all the related/relevant/closest possible prior arts.

Next, we can perform manual searches by making search strings/queries/strategies using all the important/related key words/phrases of the invention. These can further help us in identifying major assignees/inventors and/or important patent classifications related to the invention which can be used in forming further search strategies.

We can also look for more related prior art presented/cited on an identified relevant prior art. Further, all these databases mostly have their own syntax/methods for making search strategies.

Moreover, if client already has some patents/products/papers published on the same technology, then those references/citations can be identified and can help in steering the search accordingly, to find the closest possible prior art.

Competing Arts

We are aware that inventions are a solution to an existing problem and a single problem can have more than one possible solution. These documents containing the solution to your invention act as competing prior arts and these can be a major influence in amending your own invention for it to be novel/new.

Prior Art Analysis

After the first phase of the search is complete i.e., extracting the closest possible references from all the possible search strategies, the next major task is to analyze these references. The best possible reference from the above would be a single reference disclosing all the key elements and novelty of the invention. Further, providing relevant text in front of every key element of the invention provides a better understanding and analysis. The next possibility is to find a combination of a plurality of references that together can cover all the key elements and novelty.

If we are not able to find any reference disclosing the novel features of the invention, then the closest possible citations are useful in drafting the patent application and amending the claims accordingly to include a novel feature.

How To Find Out If Something Is Already Patented?

During the search, if you encounter granted patents/patent applications which are disclosing the novel feature/features of your invention, it implies that the invention is already patented, and your invention is not patentable. Similarly, there are many such inventions/ideas/documents which are never patented but are present in the public domain. These documents act as prior arts, and the current invention will not be patentable.

Further, to identify if a product has a patent, one needs to identify the assignee of the product. Next, go to a database or Google Patents and search for the portfolio of the assignee. If the number of patents in a company portfolio is less, they can be each analyzed to identify the patent for the product.

However, if the company portfolio is quite large, search key strings using keywords or elements for the product features have to be searched to output and analyze a doable number of hits. One can also go through tile, abstract or claims of the patents to analyze the citation in less time, since the novelty of an invention is claimed, and one can identify a relevant patent after analyzing the claims.

In addition, there are various laws that are taken into consideration while performing patent search. These laws are subject to jurisdictions. These laws are based on novelty, obviousness and usefulness of an invention.

There are millions of patents in existence. For your patentability search to reveal all the information, you need to dig deep for details. To uncover the most relevant data, you should:

Take advantage of multiple search tools.

• Free Patents Online
• USPTO database
• INPASS
• Google patents
• Novelty Checker by XLSCOUT.

Each one of these has its own advantages. Free Patents Online offers PDF documents with convenient hyperlinks. Google is fast and has information that stretches back many years. The USPTO database is an official government source.

Use the tutorials, help sections, and advanced search features of each patent search engine. You'll learn techniques that will make your search more effective.

One should try to cover a variety of keywords during their search. Many patents use unobvious language, so try to search by using as many keywords as possible that relate to your invention. Use all of them during your search and sometimes inventors do make use of some wrong spellings as well so using few wrong keywords during your search is of no harm for example one can use “receive” and “recieve” both.

Knowing the right patent classification system is also important. Like there are various categories of classification as per different regions for examples Europe (CPC, IPC, ECLA) and the U.S. (US classes or USPC Classes) share a system, while other countries have a different method for organizing patents. When you know what classes and subclasses your invention falls into, your search is effective. Professional patent examiners sometimes create their own categories within subclasses to organize the information they find.

Japanese has their own classification system known as the F or FI terms. The pool of classes is available all you need to do is to find out the perfect category related to your field of invention.

Finding out what exists?

‘Prior art search’ is information on inventions that have already been disclosed in the public domain. A prior art search will help give you an idea of what technology exists. This will allow you to make an informed decision on whether your invention is unique and able to gain patent protection.

If a product like your invention has been patented or described in a printed publication anywhere in the world, it may affect the possibility of you gaining patent protection.

Some places to perform prior art searches may include:

• Google patents
• Orbit
• Google
• Few Paid (also available for free demos) databases like XLSCOUT.

Just because a patent has been issued does not mean it is valid. Relevant prior art may not have been unturned when the examiner conducted search of the patent application and if the prior art later comes to light, the patent can be invalidated.

You may be concerned about infringing another party's patent. However, a prior art search may find that the patent can be invalidated.

How long does it take to do a patentability search?

It totally depends upon the platform you are using. If you are using AI-based tools (like TTC AI-based novelty checker) then you can get the results very fast, and you can compare the data of your invention with the data that comes out from the AI-driven tools.

• If you are performing search manually by using any sort of paid or unpaid databases, then again it will vary upon the field you are digging in and also the kind of citations you are coming across. It may be possible that you come across a very relevant citation sooner than later and thus it will take less time to search, or otherwise you may have to undergo many hits to identify good citation sometimes.
• Usually, novelty searches take less amount of time as compared to other searches.
• This depends upon quality of your search strings and set of keywords you are using, that is why it is advisable to use companies who have experts in this field rather than going for searching on your own.

Building a Report

• After performing searching, one needs to accumulate the data in a proper representative way so that one can justify the findings against or with respect to their own invention.
• Report can be built in a word format, power point format or the excel format.
• One gets the demo reports for the patentability search, landscape search, prior art search, infringement search or other related search from the TT Consultants platform.
• Reports can include the data in graphical representation also, it will not just beautify the report but also justify the gathered data in a better way.
• Further, one can prepare the claim chart report in which one may divide the invention piece by piece and then map the data available from the prior arts in front of the pieces. It will provide the more understanding towards the required matter.

Patentability Search Report, also known as a state-of-art search report or broad landscape search report comprises an analysis of various citations such as patents and non-patents identified while performing a search. The patentability is sometimes also referred to as prior art search or state-of-art search or broad landscape search, depending upon client requirements and expectations.

What is patentability search?

A patentability search discovers references of similar context to the invention which has to be patented. The identified references may cover one or more key elements of the invention to be patented or the invention which is being searched.

An invention qualifies to be patentable if it is novel and non-obvious. Patentability search helps an inventor to judge his invention, if his invention is new and novel or if his invention is already known or published in the art before the date of the invention. The search also helps the inventor to identify if his invention is obvious to a person skilled in the art. This may be employed by using one citation or a combination of citations. The patentability search is also known as a novelty search or prior art search.

What is a prior art?

Any information that is disclosed prior to the date of the invention and is known to public, would be considered as prior art.

The prior art can be in any form such as patent publications and applications, non-patent such as research papers, white papers, journals, products, product manuals, periodicals, books, PDFs, user guides, etc. Even a public speech or news can be considered as prior art.

There is not cut-off date for a prior art in the patentability search. It can be ages old, or it can be latest even.

Also, the prior art could have been published or disclosed anywhere anytime in the world. There is no geographical restriction or time restriction in the patentability search.

Further, if the inventor discloses any information related to his invention in any form, one year before filing the patent, the information is considered as prior art.

Why do we need to perform patentability search?

The patentability search is performed to decide whether an invention is patentable or not. An invention is unpatentable if it is not novel, obvious to a person skilled in the art, illegitimate, and if it is not useful to the world. For an invention to be patentable, it must be statutory, novel, useful, and non-obvious to the person skilled in the art.

Also, the patentability search helps an inventor to decide whether he should go forward to draft a patent in order to have legal rights over the invention if it is novel, or the inventor should drop the idea of protecting his invention if it is already known in the art or is obvious to a person skilled in the art.

This is important because filing a patent, owning a patent, and maintaining a patent is an expensive process. So, the inventor must go forward with the next steps if and only if he is sure that his invention is novel and will be useful to the world.

Moreover, a patentability search may also reveal that some aspects of the invention are known in the art, while some other aspects of the invention are novel and not known in the prior art. Thus, the inventor may amend his objective or invention by focusing on the novel part.

The patentability search, if performed on a broader perspective such as state of art may further give the inventor an idea of various technologies or inventions in the similar domain as of his invention. This would give the inventor a clear idea of what kind of work is being done presently and what can he do differently.

Further, the patentability search, if performed on even large perspective such as landscape search can give the inventor an idea of work done in the interested area or technology. It also demonstrated major players active in the domain, their filing trends, major countries where the citations are filed with respect to that technology, key areas that are least explored, etc.

Thus, it can be said that if an inventor/assignee wants to determine whether their invention is worthy of a patent or not, a patentability search including patents and non-patents is performed. In another scenario, if the assignee/inventor wants to determine various technologies, players, patent trends, etc. in a particular technology, a technology landscape search may be performed.

Also, filing date of a patent is very important in deciding future of a patent, because the USPTO follows a first to file rule. That means, priority is given to the inventor who files their patent first. Thus, time is of very important essence here.

How to perform patentability search?

In order to conduct a patentability search, an invention disclosure is obtained. Based on the invention disclosure, a set of key features or key elements may be extracted, on the grounds of which, a patent and non-patent search is performed. Thus, a searcher thoroughly understands the invention and extracts various important elements known as key features/elements that represent the invention.

The patentability search may further be performed on various paid and unpaid databases such as Thomson Innovation, USPTO, Xlscout, Orbit, Espacenet, Google, ScienceDirect, IEEE explore, CNIPA, KIPO, JPLATPAT, etc.

The search is performed by extracting a set of keywords from disclosure provided by client, forming search strings based on the keywords by using one or more combinations of keywords. The data set obtained after running the search string is analyzed thoroughly by a searcher.

Also, the searcher can determine various IPC/USPC classifications relevant in the filed of the invention. The descriptive definitions of these classification can be determined from USPTO or Espacenet.

The search strings may be formed based on keywords, classifications, inventors and assignees active in the domain. Further, citations (backward and forward) of relevant citations can also be looked into.

Patentability Search Report/Patent Search Analysis Report

Based on the analysis, a patentability search report, patent search report, patent landscape search report, prior-art search report, etc is prepared. The terminology depends upon the scope of analysis.

The search report helps an inventor to decide where they stand in the technology. The inventor may proceed with drafting a patent if the search analysis shows that the invention is not obvious or known in the prior art. However, if the search analysis leads to prior arts or citations similar to the invention or leading to the obviousness of the invention or questioning the novelty of the invention; the inventor may have to change or amend his invention.

The patentability search report must help the inventor to be able to decide where they stand in the technology, whether their ideas are non-obvious, novel and patentable or whether their ideas are obvious, known in the prior art and unpatentable.

After performing the search, the identified citations are shortlisted on the basis of key features. The closest possible citations are analyzed in detail. The analysis of the citations provides a clear understanding of the novelty of the invention. It illustrates which key features are disclosed in the prior art and which key features are novel and not common or which key features are not disclosed at all in the prior art.

This helps the inventor to amend his invention accordingly and further draft the invention and its claims as per the search analysis.

The searchers can also summarize each citation provided in the search report and prepare a comment based on what/what not disclosed in the invention with respect to the invention. The searchers must have a sharp understanding of the domain and their comments can help the inventor to easily overview the provided citations.

In addition, the searcher/analyst can also form a patentability opinion that clearly describes which aspects of the invention are not obvious and are novel and thus may be focused upon to develop the patent and claim limitations.

The search report comprises all forms of prior arts relevant to the invention such as non-patents, pending applications, granted, alive, dead, expired or abandoned patents, etc.

The actual cost of a patentability search will vary depending on various aspects. These aspects may be technology advancements used in the invention to be patented, how thoroughly the search has to be performed that further depends upon client requirements, time, and budget. In broad terms, the price you pay for getting your patent often depends on how complex your invention is, and the number of claims you are seeking. An elaborate invention with many potential claim elements in a highly esoteric area would cost more than the research on a relatively straightforward invention.

There is no single answer to how much a patent search service costs. It could cost anything from $200 to $5000, depending on the approach you pick. The wide range of possible fees is mostly determined by the approach and depth of the search you desire. Many services exist that do preliminary searches of issued patents in the United States. They'll look through a small number of databases for a small number of keywords.

Hiring a patent search professional to do a complete search of patent applications in several nations, on the other hand, could be costly but effective. It depends on the intricacy of the patent and the requirement to seek for conflicting patents in diverse domains of art. Another alternative for seeking patents is to employ a high-volume patent search business. These companies offer low-cost patent services.

Some professionals charge a set fee, while others bill by the hour. In the United States, the hourly fee might reach $100. When doing an in-depth analysis and offering an opinion on the patentability of an invention, professionals choose an hourly rate. The invention's complexity is a crucial factor. A basic innovation could cost as little as $100, but a complex one with a full report could cost as much as $2,000. 

what is prior art search in patent

average cost estimates for professional patent searches-

• Simple Invention- $1000-$1250
• Slightly complex - $1250-$1500
• Moderate Complexity - $1500 -$2000
• Highly complex - $2000-$3000

A patent search fee is also charged by the government. The search fees for a university or a small business are roughly $300. A large corporation will pay roughly $600 in fees. More information about government fees can be found on the USPTO website.

Factors that come into play when estimating the price of the patent search:

Scope of Search

When considering how much to spend on a patent search, keep in mind the possibility of missing important information. Keep in mind that the goal of a patent search is to determine whether filing a patent application is worthwhile. What if you take the easy approach and don't find any relevant prior art, only to have your patent overturned years later because a more thorough search revealed that your innovation wasn't patentable?

The more comprehensive the patent search, the better protected you will be.

Search Logic

Natural language queries of relevant databases are used in every patent search. Essentially, Google searches. Advanced searches, on the other hand, will use proximity searches and Boolean operators and connectors to find documents that don't have a precise match for the query phrases but still contain useful information.

Classifications (using how the USPTO classifies patents and applications to find probable matches rather than focusing solely on keywords) and common assignees will be included in the most advanced, precise searches (applications and patents involving one or more inventors conducting the search). The more thorough the method, the more likely it is to uncover relevant prior art.

Searcher Location

Unfortunately, most patent searches are outsourced to foreign companies in India and other countries. This can certainly have an impact on the quality of the search, as English proficiency, and vocabulary range greatly between contractors. It is more expensive to do a patent search in the United States. The lower the cost of a patent search, the more likely the work will be outsourced.

Search Deliverable

When I say, "search deliverable," I'm referring to the final product that you will obtain from the individual or firm doing the patent search. If you select the low-cost approach, you'll get a stack of papers, including copies of applications, patents, schematics, and other things that the searcher thought was relevant. It will be up to you to make meaningful connections between the dots. That means, less you pay, more work you will end up doing on your own and vice-versa.

In the middle of the spectrum, you'll probably get a feature matrix with a few references that indexes the detected material.

The most expensive searches include Art matrices, which indicate out where essential elements can be in patent drawings and other papers.

The patentability opinion is the final phase of the search deliverable. Most attorneys agree on a number of analytical hours in advance (typically at least one, but occasionally as many as 10), and then the attorney provides a patentability determination based on what was done during that time. A better search cuts down on analysis time significantly. As a result, it is less expensive to pay for a better search deliverable that facilitates analysis rather than the additional attorney time required to evaluate a subpar search deliverable.     

A patentability search can be performed by a patent attorney or agent, or by a professional patent search firm. It can also be conducted by an inventor or company, although it is generally recommended to seek the assistance of a professional to ensure a thorough and accurate search.

No, a patentability search cannot guarantee that an invention will be granted a patent. However, it can provide valuable information about the potential patentability of an invention, which can help inform decisions about whether to pursue a patent application. Ultimately, the decision to grant a patent is made by the patent office based on a few factors, including the novelty and non-obviousness of the invention.

A patentability search can help an inventor or company by providing valuable information about the potential patentability of an invention. This information can help inform decisions about whether or not to pursue a patent application and can also help identify potential areas of improvement or innovation that can enhance the invention's patentability.

While it is not strictly necessary to perform a patentability search before filing a patent application, it is generally recommended to avoid wasting time and resources pursuing a patent application that is unlikely to be granted.

Some common mistakes to avoid when conducting a patentability search include not defining the scope of the search clearly enough, failing to search all relevant sources of prior art, and failing to analyze the relevance of each prior art reference to the invention in question.

Yes, a patentability search can be performed on a provisional patent application. However, it is important to note that a provisional patent application does not undergo the same examination process as a non-provisional patent application, and therefore a patentability search performed on a provisional application may not provide as much information about the potential patentability of the invention.

Yes, a patentability search can be performed on a confidential invention. However, it is important to ensure that appropriate measures are taken to maintain the confidentiality of the invention during the search process. This may involve working with a patent attorney or search firm that has experience handling confidential information.

Yes, a patentability search can be performed for international patent applications. However, the search process may need to be tailored to the specific requirements of each country or region in which the invention is being considered for patent protection.

Yes, a patentability search can be performed for software-related inventions. However, the search process may need to be tailored to the specific aspects of the invention that are eligible for patent protection, as not all software-related inventions are eligible for patent protection.

A patentability search is focused on determining the potential patentability of an invention, whereas a freedom to operate search is focused on determining whether an invention infringes on existing patents or other intellectual property rights. Both types of searches can be useful in informing decisions about whether to pursue a particular invention.

Yes, an inventor or company can perform a patentability search on their own. However, it is important to note that conducting a thorough and effective patentability search requires a significant amount of time, effort, and expertise. It may be more efficient and cost-effective to work with a patent attorney or search firm that has experience conducting patentability searches.

If prior art is found during a patentability search, it is important to carefully analyze the relevance of the prior art to the invention in question. If the prior art is highly relevant and suggests that the invention may not be patentable, it may be necessary to reconsider whether to pursue a patent application. Alternatively, the prior art may provide valuable insights and guidance for improving the invention or developing alternative strategies for protecting intellectual property.

Conducting a patentability search can also have potential drawbacks, including the time and expense required to perform the search, the potential for uncovering prior art that suggests the invention may not be patentable, and the potential for providing competitors with insights into the inventor's or company's intellectual property strategy.

A patentability search is conducted to determine whether an invention is novel and non-obvious, and therefore potentially eligible for patent protection. In contrast, a patent infringement search is conducted to determine whether a product or process may be infringing on an existing patent. While there may be some overlap in the sources of prior art searched and the methods used, the goals and objectives of the two types of searches are distinct.

Yes, a patentability search can be used to identify potential licensing opportunities by identifying patents and other intellectual property that may be relevant to the invention in question and providing insights into the existing intellectual property landscape in the relevant field of technology. This information can be used to identify potential partners and licensees, and to develop an effective intellectual property strategy.

Yes, a patentability search can be conducted after a patent application has been filed. However, it is generally more efficient and cost-effective to conduct a search before filing the application, as this can help to identify potential obstacles and risks to obtaining patent protection and provide guidance for developing an effective patent strategy.

A patent examiner is responsible for reviewing patent applications and assessing whether the invention meets the requirements for patentability, including novelty, non-obviousness, and usefulness. The examiner may conduct a patentability search as part of this process and may also raise objections or issue rejections based on prior art or other issues. The applicant may respond to these objections or rejections, and the process may continue until the patent is granted or the application is abandoned.