Have you ever worked with a professional prior art searcher for high technology or science? If yes then you know what kind of report you will get at the end of the project. Certainly, you will pay for the search because you do not have the prior art information you are looking for. Nevertheless, you expect the search results to be highly relevant to the claims or product of interest. What patent litigation support professionals or patent attorneys have found is they do not find any consistency in the output provided by prior art searchers. Sometimes they are successful in producing a very accurate set of relevant references. But, at times they miss out important results and produce a large list of references that waste patent attorney's time in sorting out things and client money as well. This kind of inconsistency shown by prior art searchers exposes a more threatening underlying problem of missing very relevant existing prior arts.

It is wrong in saying that it is completely a fault of prior art searchers. The searchers are not able to solve the problem no matter how carefully they search. These searches require two types of expertise. First, you need a patent drafting/preparation expert with good hands-on experience in classification or text search techniques. The expert should also know the tricks of trade required for quickly and thoroughly searching various global patent databases and non-patent literature. Secondly, you need a subject matter expert of the claims of interest in order to find out what is relevant and worth considering. Along with this, you will also need a validated methodology, so that the two experts can work together without wastage of time and money while maintaining the consistency in finding the relevant prior art.

Patent litigation support and patent drafting/preparation support experts highly recommend the selection of registered searchers who have conducted many searches across international patent databases. Pairing a search specialist with a technology specialist whose expertise matches the claims of the products is bound to produce cost-effective, highly reliable and consistent results for the clients.

You can have access to professional patent search experts by taking help of Internet. Today, all patent search service and patent litigation service providers have an online presence. You can visit these websites to know more about the services they provide. You can also check the reviews to find out whether they meet the expectations of their clients or not. By doing an exhaustive research, you will definitely end up finding a search expert who will meet your requirements.

Today almost all companies understand the value of applying for patents on inventions before launching a product. Getting a patent on your ideas or inventions adds worth by increasing your intangible assets. Most importantly, it enhances your company's power in the marketplace by providing it with the right to prevent others from making or using your invention without permission and thus creating a niche for themselves.

Before launching a new product in the market, a freedom to operate search is conducted to evaluate whether marketing a product or applying a process will infringe a valid patent at a given point of time. It is a search that identifies and analyzes the patent of others that may subject your company to patent infringement liability.

By performing an FTO (freedom to operate search) analysis before developing or bringing a new product in the market, you will prevent the risk of future litigation and associated unnecessary expenses. If this analysis is done early in the cycle, it gives you an opportunity to modify the design and prevent infringement before reaching the point of no return.  The analysis begins with an assessment of the product or service.  The analysis will provide you answer for some of these following questions.

• Which components are likely to bring scrutiny?
• Are the products or parts developed by others or under agreements include indemnification clauses?
• Will the product or the service differ from country to country?

A professional patent attorney with good experience in FTO analysis and patent litigation support area should be hired to correctly analyze the information and provide an opinion on the risks of moving forward.  You should never assume FTO analysis will guarantee that your company will not be sued. The patents and applications identified will mainly depend on the quality of search. These studies are time-consuming and costly. Companies choose wisely when and where to perform analysis to minimize risk and maximize value.

A company needs to keep many things in mind for making an informed decision about whether to go for a freedom to search analysis or not. Before getting the analysis done, a company should think seriously how it is going to utilize the results. Is it ready to avoid litigation at all costs?  Is it ready to stop with the new product or service if the conclusions are unfavorable? Once you analyze all this, you can proceed with freedom to operate search. 

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If your business belongs to a competitive technology field, it is important to conduct a patent landscape study. Patent landscape study is used to shape the earliest stages of research and development. It gives a thorough understanding of the patented technologies that are already in play or will be soon into play. This is crucial to a company’s business strategy and market position.

It is not enough to have access to the raw patent data that updates any particular situation. To make it more useful, the data needs to be sorted, filtered and analyzed to put it into the framework. This framework forms the basis for the patent landscape reports, becoming a great viable asset for any organization driven by its intellectual property portfolio.

There are many parts of the landscape that can assist in describing the market realities to shape future choices. You need to have an idea of technologies that have already been patented, patent applications that are pending and the next advancement of the technology. You should also find out which competitors already hold patents in classes of technology that are strategically important. You should also have an idea of new competitors who are filing similar patents that might pose challenges in future. 

Also, find which competitors are working on similar technologies and how much market share do they hold and if there is any good scope of merger, acquisition or other strategic partnership or not. Your job will become easier if you are able to work in these areas. It won’t be easy for you to do this research alone. You should take help of an expert who is well-versed in the area of patent validity search and patent landscape.

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If you have an idea for an invention that you envision being made by yourself or by someone else to make a profit, you will probably think about having a patent. You will have a very common question in mind

Do I really need a patent? It is highly recommended to go for a patent if you have a profitable idea. But at times, it is not easy to decide and the decision is to be taken only by you.

There are many criteria that will help you understand if you need a patent or not.

Here are some of them.

Who will be manufacturing?

A very simple way to decide whether you need to file a patent application is finding if your invention is something you want to manufacture or license to another company for manufacturing. If you are manufacturing yourself, you may or may not require a patent but if you are licensing your invention to another business for manufacturing, then you definitely need to file a patent application.

Level of complexity

Another thing you should note is the level of complexity. If you are inventing something big, you will definitely need to license as you practically cannot do it alone and you should go for a patent. But if it is a small invention, you can make it yourself and do not seek a patent. However, the choice is always yours.

Shelf life

If you are producing a product, you should consider its shelf life. Products with short shelf life mainly do not need protection from competition. According to service providers who deal with patent research/analytics and prepare patent infringement claim charts, getting a patent will take a couple of years after filing the application. So, it is important to think about the shelf life of the product. If you have planned to invent a toy, apparel or a device with short shelf life, then you may decide to spend your resources on marketing instead of filing for a patent.

What is the product’s future value?

Deciding whether to patent an idea or not also depends on the value you give it and what is the projected future value. If your invention has value in real, then you should seek the help of a patent professional to help you file a patent application and help you throughout. You should think about your idea in the same way as you are protecting your personal property. Patent is similar to insurance which protects your valuable items. Patent acts as an insurance protecting your idea.

Hopefully you have a good idea now to consider when you need a patent for your idea. But remember, there are more chances of your idea getting copied if your idea is more successful. So getting a patent makes a lot of sense.

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Hiring a professional service provider for offering you patent search support is the most important decision you need to take if you want to introduce your idea or invention in the market. You need to make sure they have a degree in a technical discipline. For example, they should have a degree in the field of mechanical or electrical engineering, chemistry, pharmacology, etc. If your invention is a gadget or a powerful machinery product, your Patent Search Support service provider should have a mechanical engineering degree and so on.

Your second criteria should be trusted. Although professionals who help their clients in patent filing in India or abroad are ethical and trustworthy, you need be careful while choosing them. Take help of online resources to find out more about their credibility and trustworthiness.

Another point is to make sure you feel comfortable when you are discussing your requirements with the service provider. Make sure you are given unhurried answers to your questions. You should also find out whether they work with individual inventors or not because many patent service providers look upon these inventors as pain as they think they waste their time with annoying questions and phone calls. Big patent firms mainly work with corporate clients.

If you invest some quality time in research, you will be successful in selecting a patent search support provider that will suit your needs and pocket.

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Through a patent, you get the authority to stop others from making, using or selling your invention. Very often people confuse patents with copyrights, trademarks, and industrial designs. Just like patents, they are also rights and forms of intellectual property. However, there are many important differences. Patent cover new and useful inventions or any new and useful improvement to an existing invention. Trademarks may be one or a combination of words, sounds and designs used to differentiate the goods and services of one company from the other. Copyright offers protection for literary, artistic, dramatic or musical works. Industrial designs are the visual features of shape, configuration, pattern or any combination of these features applied to a finished article.

Next is what you can patent?

There are three basic criteria for patentability. The criteria include novelty, utility, and inventiveness.  You can get the patent for your invention if it is a product, a composition, the machine, a process or an improvement on any of these. Remember you can get a patent only for the physical embodiment of an idea or a process that produces something tangible. You cannot patent methods of doing business (in India), a scientific process or an abstract theorem.

It is always a smart decision to file a patent as soon as possible after you complete your invention. In case you know someone who is on the similar track, then you need to act quickly. Hiring a professional who has good experience in patent preparation, patent filing in India and abroad, and patent prosecution support will help you in the best possible manner throughout the entire process.

The process of patent filing in India or any other country is quite challenging. It is expensive and time-consuming too. The entire process will be divided into many sub-divisions like performing patent research, finding out whether your idea or invention has been patented (or known) before or not, write a detailed description of your invention, write language that safeguards your invention from infringement, respond to objections from the patent office and more. So, it really makes a lot of sense to hire one of the best attorneys for your patent needs. Your attorney will take care of all the aspects of your patent filing procedure. Along with that, they will also be on your side for providing patent prosecution support.

You can easily hire a professional patent attorney to suit your needs. Before hiring, clear all your queries so that you are fully satisfied that you have an expert by your side to help you along the entire process of patent filing.

Patent landscape reports play a very important role in patent industry. It supports informed decision-making and are crafted to efficiently address the issues associated with making high stakes decisions in various areas of technology with confidence. Before the inception of these kinds of reports, businesses rely on their personal networks and instincts.

But, with the advent of patent validity searches and reports, critical business decisions are made with data-driven evidence-based approaches that deliver informed choices.

The outcome obtained from the preparation of a patent landscape report can be applied to almost any organization involved in the evaluation of technology and its effect on society. Whether it is a government agency or a private firm, one can gain valuable perspective on a developing or well-established sector by generating this kind of report.

Patent landscape reports can be used as a tool for policymakers in strategic decisions relevant to research and development, investment, prioritization, technology and local manufacturing sector. Businesses that deal with innovation have increasingly focused on the patent system. They always look for clear, accessible and physically more representative information to support key policy processes. They always look for the empirical basis for their assessments on the role, and impact of the patent system in relation to the key areas.

Patent landscape reports are undoubtedly crucial instruments for informed decision making, but it is also a time-consuming and expensive process. A company or business interested in these reports hire the services of patent search validity providers when they are planning to make a significant investment in building or moving into a technology area. They prefer to hire experts to make sure the insights it provides is perfect and aimed towards the key issues related to technological implementation.

The basic or the primary information source for patent landscape reports is the data coming from patent documents. Although, additional information is also required from other sources, but patent data is must for generating the report. A good understanding of patent information is critical to developing well-researched reports. It is crucial to analyze patent information as patents are intellectual property rights for safeguarding an invention in the areas of specific jurisdiction.

For the sake of potential business and legal implications, it is important to understand which organizations own patents and in what technology areas. Having a good understanding of this information will have a significant impact on decision and policy making.

Get started now! Search a professional patent search company to help you with clear patent landscape reports.

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Businesses and agencies believe that receiving a patent offers them protection against infringement. However, when a patent is threatened, the holders must act immediately and take effective steps to safeguard their interests. If a scenario of patent infringement related litigation arises, the patent holder should consult a patent litigation support expert or an attorney to take necessary actions.

Patent infringement occurs when another party creates, utilizes, or sells a patented item without the permission of a patent holder. In such cases, the patent holder may sue the infringing party to stop his/her activity and ask for a compensation for the unauthorized use.

If the court finds infringement, the infringer has to pay for the damages to the patent holder. The payment can either be in the form of actual damage or a sensible royalty for the unauthorized use. Actual damages include lost profits the patent holder might have realized while a sensible royalty depends on the type of product, patent validity, and other arrangements. The prevailing party also has to bear other expenses such as court filing fees and related expenses.

It is always advisable to get professional help from a patent research/analytics or a patent litigation support expert in cases pertaining to patent infringement. You should seek legal help as this subject matter is highly complicated. Patent attorneys and litigation support experts can help you in securing high-end litigation services.

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One of the most common questions asked by a businessman about patent validity search is the timing. They want to know when they should go for a patent search. Although it is a reasonable question, but there is no definite answer for this as it is a matter of choice and largely depends on its purpose. Mostly, the inventors look for a patent search once they have an invention that they think is worth patenting. But, sometimes they opt for patent search even when their invention is not completed.

You should always get the patent search conducted by a service provider with good hands-on experience on patent validity search and patent infringement claim charts. The service provider will conduct a patent and non-patent literature search to identify whether a patent, which one might be charged with infringing, is valid or not. Along with the search, the expert will also help you to prepare patent infringement claim chart and other reports according to your needs.

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Think of this scenario. You are a patent holder and you suspect someone may be infringing on your exclusive rights related to your invention. And then you contact your patent prosecution support partner or your patent attorney to help you prevent or stop this kind of illegal behavior. Hopefully, your patent support partner recommends for an infringement analysis. You might think analysis may be a waste of time and money because your requirement is just to stop the infringing behavior. But your thinking is wrong here. When you will go through the details provided by your patent attorney after the analysis, your opinion will change. The report will contain many elements for your reference. This will help you appreciate the importance of such an effort.

Here are a few elements that you will see in the infringement report provided by your patent prosecution support and analysis service provider.

Patent Infringement Claim Chart or Evidence of Use (EOU) chart

The patent infringement claim chart or Evidence of Use (EOU) chart provides a straightforward mapping of all the independent and/or dependent claims of the patent to the infringing product and/or process of the competitor. These charts are in the form of table, with the language of a patent claim broken down step-by-step in the first column and the description of the infringing product and/or process in the second column. A given claim is infringed only when each row of the table shows an element in the first column that is matched with a competitor’s product and/or process in the second column.

Materials pertaining to infringement

Although the patent infringement claim chart may summarize everything about the act of infringement of your competitor, still your patent search service provider will seek to find many things about the infringing product or process, system and device within time and budget constraints. Many objects from your competitor’s business operation that may be useful in proving infringement may include examples of diagrams, photographs, user and maintenance, sales content and advertisement. 

Other than the two important points discussed above, the infringement analysis report will also include a damage analysis, presentation of possible actions you may choose to take next and also recommendation for confirmation on validity of the patent. When we talk about the presentation of possible actions that you can take next, it is all about cease and desist letter, propose licensing to the competitor, plan sale of the patent to a competitor or proposing some other collaborative arrangement with the competitor.

Hopefully, you might now be satisfied why you should adhere to the suggestion provided by your patent search service provider about the infringement analysis. 

With an increase in the number of new products, new technologies, innovations in the market; and the number of patents filed on annual basis continue to increase, the process of analyzing freedom to operate is becoming more complicated to achieve. In most of the cases, it can be dicey to attempt to bring an innovation to the market without first conducting a freedom to operate search. In doing so, the products or any other innovation can be susceptible to infringement suits, potentially resulting in costly legal action process. This can further force the company to withdraw a product from the market altogether.

You should appoint a professional service provider for conducting freedom to operate (FTO) search for you. They will help you detect third-party live patents that may obstruct an invention’s marketable exploitation. This analysis will provide you get insights into the current state of the art so that they can tailor their patent filing strategies accordingly. By discovering conflicting patents early in the development process, you will be able to reduce the risk of launching a product that infringes a third party’s rights.

A professional FTO search will also help in identifying third parties who may need to be approached for a license early in the product and technology progress process. Your service provider will work with you to develop cost-effective searches on the markets of interest to them. By getting this search conducted along with their innovative pipelines, IP and other business strategies, you will be able to help ensure that your investment in research and development is worth when the product reaches the market.

A freedom to operate (FTO) search will help you define your innovation more clearly, identify your competitors and many other aspects of research relating to the invention’s technology.

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