Basics of Conducting a Patentability Search

Do I need to patentability search? If you’re a person who has invented something, patenting it was you first thought. However, patenting an invention has become a multi-step process due to the massive amount of patent literature. You can patent an invention only if it’s novel, non-obvious, and useful. If your invention doesn’t fall under said categories, your patent application may get rejected. The USPTO has a set of guidelines that applicants must adhere to. The availability of patent literature, research papers, and scientific articles is the reason that we should patentability search. Otherwise you may waste your resources on already disclosed or patented invention.       

The Process to Do Patentability Search

In patentability search, the first step is to determine the possible claimed components of the invention to search. If a patent is incomplete, a candidate patent claim is usually constructed from the invention disclosure.

For example, a patent claim for an ordinary patentability search shovel might be as follows. A shovel comprising: an elongated handle; and a shovel head; wherein said shovel head is attached to said elongated handle.

The features of the claim are “elongated handle”, “shovel head”, and “attachment of the shovel head to the elongated handle”; arranged as detailed in the claim.

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The Process

In patentability search, the searcher seeks documents that are publicly available. Generally, documents are present alone or in combination that helps in identification of claims. Moreover, the searcher needs to examine published patents and patent applications thoroughly. Documents can also include publicly available journals, magazines, websites, brochures, books and any other material capable of describing the invention.

The search typically starts by considering the key features of the invention. Later, the searcher develops the list of keywords. Moreover, the searcher chooses the keywords carefully. Apart from keyword searching, the search strategy should also make use of classification searching. Thereafter, the searcher can construct and implement more detailed search strategies in specialized patent or non-patent databases. Apart from searching patent databases, documents in academic and trade collections are also relevant. Therefore, the searcher should look into them if possible. Sometimes, internet searches can also help, and, sometimes, the searcher finds direct hits at this preliminary stage. The early results demonstrate that the invention is already known so that further searching is unnecessary.

Related Article: Professional Patent Searches: Importance and Necessities

Who is The Patent Search Firm?

The Patent Search Firm is a one-stop solution for your patent searches. We have served clients from different parts of the world. Moreover, they loved our services. We have been in this industry for than a decade now. Our services are affordable and efficient. Also, our team has years of experience in conducting searches.

We are looking forward to assisting you. Please visit our service page to know more about our Patentability Search service – The Patent Search Firm.  

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