Conducting an effective patent search can help you establish the originality and creativity of an idea, analyze the limits of patentability and authenticate patent enforceability.  Further patent search can help in identifying potential licenses, instantly research to more profitable areas and obstruct invalid patent applications proceeding to grant.

 Patent validity search is vital to successful intellectual property execution. It is used to determine whether a patent can be invalidated because the invention was not original and inventive when the patent was granted.  It is for this reason patent validity search is also known as patent invalidity search.  A validity search is quite different from a patentability search. A patentability search is conducted before you take out a patent whereas a validity search is carried once the patent is granted to test whether the invention truly met the original provision of the patent application process or not. A patent validity search can be used under three conditions. 

They are - prior to patent licensing, preparation of patent enforcement and invalidate patent when threatened with infringement.

Get in touch with a professional patent agent if you want to get the validity search done in a professional way. Your service provider will also help you if you want expert patent drafting/preparation help and other assistance related to your patent filing.

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If you are about to bring a new product to the market or are an investor, you will think of conducting a patent search.  So it is important for you to know how many types of patent searches are there.

There are three main types of searches. They are patentability search, patent validity search and freedom to operate search.  The main dissimilarity between these patent searches relates to the difference between what is patentable and what infringes. The patentability search is the most common affordable search for businesses and startups. This search will help you figure out whether your concept is unique over what already exist.  You need to first identify key features in your concept that you think are novel.

The purpose of patent validity search is to measure the validity of a patent’s claim by looking for a prior art showing the claimed elements. And the purpose of a freedom to operate search is to determine how to avoid patent infringement. The focus of this search will revolve around the patent claims.

Unlike a patentability search or patent validity search where the target is on the prior art disclosures, the aim of freedom to operate search prevails in the claims which requires more time to analyze. So the cost of conducting an FTO search is more than other two searches.

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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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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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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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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. 

Patent prosecution is the process of interaction between an applicant and the patent office through his/her legal representative(s) with respect to a patent application. It involves highly complex, technical and legal issues. Basically, it is a process of writing and filing a patent application and pursuing protection with a patent office. Primarily, pre-grant prosecution aims to negotiate with the patent office for grant of the patent.

Patent prosecution is distinct from patent litigation, which describes the legal action relating to the infringement of patents. It requires a complete understanding and in-depth knowledge of procedures and potential pitfalls. With the global emphasis on innovation, patent protection continues to grow at a considerable rate that has made it very crucial and challenging. Patents are the valuable assets for any business and patent prosecution sets the stage to protect and enforce these assets/innovations.

Patent prosecution services primarily include performing technical analysis and responding to office actions.

Other allied services include –

•  Auditing patent portfolios
• Carrying Patent Research / Analytics, rendering patentability, validity, and non-infringement opinions
• Delivering in-house educational training and seminars on patent laws and related issues
• Resolving ownership disputes regarding patient rights

At the end, getting assistance through a reputed patent attorney or IP consulting firm can be a right decision for protecting your patents/innovation or assets.

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As a business, there are many things to consider before filing a patent. Start with,  you need to be aware of the purpose of a patent and know the meaning of all relevant terms to this process like patent validity search, freedom-to-operate ,patent landscape and so on. In simple words, the patent gives you the right to prevent people from stealing your idea. You have an idea! You feel it’s worth protecting. How much could your idea be worth? You need to assess that before you file a patent for it. Take help of a professional service provider to understand the process of patent filing in India and other countries before choosing to get it.

It is always a sensible idea to invest in a patent attorney to file your patent application for you.  The patent laws are complex in nature and change periodically. Many think they can patent the idea themselves. Do not make this mistake. You should even not trust the advertisements on the web that suggest you can patent the idea yourself. It is always recommended that you do some research work prior to patenting the specific implementation of your idea. Just because you have not seen your type of invention in the market does not mean it has not been patented yet. And on top of that, different countries have different patent laws and protection offered.

For example, the guidelines for patent filing in India will be different from patent filing in any other country. So a professional with good knowledge and experience in the patent industry can help you in the filing process without any hassle. Another thing that you should keep in mind is the cost for filing a patent as there is no idea to squeeze your budget. Be ready with your funds as these are costly services. Keep an eye on all these tips as valuable is your idea so is your time and money.

You must have heard a number of IP professionals using the term “patent landscape” on a regular basis. Now, what does this term signify and why is it increasingly becoming popular?

Patent Landscape

Patent landscape is a survey of patents in a given technological field. This helps businesses to have a deeper understanding about their competitors, strategies and future products and business goals. This study also helps to identify some of the future threats to their business and accordingly devise strategies to accomplish their business objectives. Patent landscape analysis plays a vital role in helping businesses understand the trends and opportunities.

Patent Landscape has a defined objective which normally includes some commercial, public policy or marketing objective. The objective is used to define a relevant technology and the definition of the technology is used to create a patent search aimed at finding patents relevant to the technology.

Patent validity searches are most popular with a technologies-based organization. The patent landscape analysis reports give accurate information on the patent portfolios of top companies in this technology. This will also help you in having an insight into patent portfolio activities of your competitors. These will help you make the informed decision regarding business strategy, R&D investments, mergers, acquisitions and product development.

In order to ensure that your job of getting a patent landscape done is carried out in a professional way, you need to hire an expert. An expert having extensive experience in this field will help you in understanding freedom to operate issues, determine your competitor’s strength and weaknesses and study the current market. A professional patent search and analysis company will have the technical, business and legal expertises to not only help you but also to interpret the results in a simple language so that you can understand it easily. These experienced professionals use effective patent research/analytics tools to perform the evaluation of patents. This will also help you in understanding the key attributes related to the business field.

The output of patent landscape analysis is a comprehensive written report which outlines the outcomes of the analysis and suggests how a business can place itself within the desired sector.

Why are these so useful?

These can provide a very unique and valuable perspective on technology and its commercial interest. These help the applicants to protect their innovations. Government permits patents for different innovations and inventions in order to:

• Encourage investment in research and innovation
• Encourage publication of new ideas

Lastly, these can provide a technology and commercial overview which is generally unavailable from other sources.

Companies should understand the risks of potential infringement prior to launching a new product or service into the marketplace. Freedom to operate searches are the tools used to determine the risks of main patent infringement prior to launching a new product or service in the market. This kind of search identifies patents with claims that may cover a technology. You need to provide a detailed description of your product or service including a list of features requiring clearance and specify the regions where you plan to launch or market your product or service.

You should have the list of your competitors, patent holders and the patents that may be relevant to your product or service. There are many situations for which you should conduct a freedom to operate searches. They are required at the time of product or service launch in any specific region, prior to finalizing a product design so that possible workarounds can be engineered, and prior to investing in a marketing strategy. 

Freedom to operate search studies can be time-consuming and costly. So companies take the time to decide when and where to perform these analyses to reduce risk and maximize value. 

What are the factors that drive them to take informed decisions?

Here are some of the top factors.  

Amount of investment and value of the product : 

It is important for a company to consider the product or service they are going to launch or acquire in terms of its value to the company. Whether it is a high-profit item or low-margin product?  A product with high margin or high volume is most likely to lead to high damage awards if a patent-infringement case goes to trial. Therefore, it is a sensible decision to take the extra step and clear the product before proceeding. Cell phones and televisions are a few examples of products in this category. 

Know what your business objectives are and risk tolerance:

Before you hire an expert to do freedom to operate analysis, a company should give serious thought to how it will handle the results. Do you seek to avoid litigation at all costs? Or are you prepared to walk away from the new product or service if the conditions are not suitable? You need to analyze all these factors before you hire a professional service provider to conduct freedom to operate search for your company.

 The service provider can also help you with other services including patent searches.

So you need to make sure the service provider has good knowledge and experience of this field. 

The main reason why many ask for search requests is pending business decisions. Patent validity searches are more popular with technology-based organizations. These searches help them answer a number of questions pertaining to their line of business.

A few important questions businesses need answer for can include  

• Where should a business unit focus their research and development efforts to gain a competitive edge in the market?
• Can they obtain a patent to keep others away from practicing their invention?
• Can they practice a technology, manufacture or sell a product or carry out a process?
• Can they keep others from practicing their technology by enforcing their patents?

A patent validity search is not that easy. There are certain rules for conducting this search. As a business unit looking forward to getting this search conducted, you need to hire the services of an expert who holds a good knowledge of this search, patent infringement claim charts and more.

What are the main rules of validity search?

Good understanding of subject and claims to be validated

It is important for the search expert to fully understand what the technical and patent issues are. At times, they are only provided with a patent number and asked to validate all the claims

.

Conduct search broadly

The searcher should be creative to conduct the search broadly as important business decisions mainly require extensive and detailed searches. The professional must use the resources intelligently to develop the strategies.

Give more emphasis to details

The patent validity search expert should conduct searches in deep detail as these searches require examination of the finer points of patents and literature documents.

Know what report the client wants

It is crucial for a patent validity search expert to know what kind of report the client is looking for. An expert should always provide the report to a client in a non-characterizing format as you never know which side of a litigation case your report might be used for.

There are many more rules for conducting patent validity searches. An expert conducting these searches very well knows about them.

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Patent landscape is an analysis of patents in a given technological field that seeks to answer one or more business objectives. This study helps businesses to know more about their competitors, their strategies, and their future products. Companies can identify areas that can pose a threat to them in future and accordingly refine strategies to meet their business goals. Patent landscape analysis plays a vital role in helping businesses understand the trends and opportunities.

These reports give accurate information on the patent portfolios of the top companies in the technology. You also get an insight into the patent portfolio activities of your competitors. They will help you in making informed decisions regarding business strategy, R&D investments, mergers, acquisitions and product development. When you are conducting a search in the initial stage R&D, it will be more fruitful. You will get a chance to shape your business plan intelligently and align it with your intellectual property strategy.

You need to hire an expert in order to make sure your job of patent landscape analysis is done in a professional way. A good service provider working in the field of patent infringement claim charts and landscape have the right tools to analyse the patent situations across any particular technology field. An expert company with good hands-on experience in this field help their clients in understanding Freedom to Operate issues, determine competitors strengths and weaknesses and study the current market.

A professional patent search analysis company will have the technical; business and legal expertise to not only help you with the analysis but will also interpret the results in a simple language so that you can understand easily. They use effective landscape analytical tools and a range of proprietary and subscription databases to perform the evaluation of patents that define any particular technology field. This helps a client understand the key attributes relating to any business field.

The output of patent landscaping analysis is a comprehensive written report outlining the findings of the analysis and suggesting how a business can place itself within the business sector. The report is a set of all information in easy to understand format for senior management and other key non-patent professional team of an organization.

You should place your needs in the hands of a trusted patent search company. They have an expert team of analysts that performs data mining, visualization, and analysis to generate an analysis report to help you identify competitive and technological trends.

Handling patent filing in India needs a good understanding of the intrinsic value of the patent and the legalities involved in the entire procedure. There are different types of patent applications in India such as ordinary, conventional, divisional, patent of addition and PCT national phase application.  So in order to understand different types of patent applications, patent prosecution or anything related to patent filing, you will need the help of an expert in this field.

You should always partner with a trustworthy service provider to help you with the filing process because they have a specialized team consisting of patent experts and IP attorneys. All these professionals are fully acquainted with the legalities of patent hiring procedures in India. They have a system created with state-of-the-art technology to ensure data security. They have everything that a business needs for the entire process of patent filing in India.

Before you end up signing with a search service provider, you should find out in detail about their background, knowledge, expertise and infrastructure. You should hire someone who has a proven track record and delivers great results in shorter timelines. They should have the capability or potential to help you transform your ideas and innovations into business opportunities.