We all know that patent documents are one of the most important pieces of information in a patent search. There are millions of patent documents available in online databases. The Patent Offices have published them over the decades. Therefore, a simple search strategy may yield a set with hundreds or thousands of patent documents. Consequently,[…]
Issue that often baffles a beginner searcher is where to start a patent search. It should be understood that all inventions fill a need by solving a problem. The solution to the problem includes what the invention is and what the invention does. This is an important line to draw prior to starting the search.[…]
Patent Claims, when said in simple words, define your invention. They also describe the scope of the patent protection which you are applying for. This, in turn, makes it necessary to carefully draft your patent claims. Likewise, the scope of many prior-art searches, including the validity search is determined by the selected claims of an[…]
Text based searching is the very basic form of patent search. A text based search starts with identifying keywords based on the invention disclosure and using a number of such keywords in a search engine in various forms and combinations. It is important to have a strategic approach to text searching instead of haphazardly entering[…]
European Patent Classification System of codes classifies inventions according to the technical areas they belong to. Patent offices worldwide use one or other classification system to organize the several patents filed in the respective offices. Patent applications are classified in classification schemes on the basis of their technical content. They are assigned classification symbols, for example[…]
Patent offices system worldwide use one or another classification system to organize the numerous patents filed therewith. A classification scheme is a system of codes that groups inventions according to technical area. In general, the US Patent classification system is one of the most important national patent classification systems. It is heavily relied by many[…]
A Patentability Search, sometimes called novelty search, is a search of prior art conducted on behalf of a potential patent applicant. It may require some very specific skill set and experience while doing a patentability search. For example, the number of U.S. patents is rapidly approaching 10 million. That is, it may not be reasonable to[…]
Patentability Search is a search to know if your invention/idea is patentable by searching relevant prior art. In this Search without understanding of the prior art, it is difficult to draft novel claims with the appropriate scope. The patent attorney may not be able to point out what is novel about an inventive concept without an[…]
Inventors don’t need to search the prior art before filing a patent application on their invention. So why one must invest time and money on a patentability searches? Patentability search identifies prior art references that are relevant to the patentability of an invention. Search results include published patents, both US and foreign, as well as[…]
Legal Status Data is the information part of the patent document. These documents are provided by patent owners. This, in turn, helps patent offices in learning the insights and/or value of a patent. Legal data contains all data related to legal events or actions as defined by the respective patent law and/or regulations of a[…]