Worldwide Patent Search

Worldwide Patent Search

Patent-ability/Prior Art Search

A patent search typically deals with search/ research/ data mining which involve patent applications filed in one or more jurisdictions in one way or the other. The patent search  involves searching patents applications (granted, pending, lapsed or abandoned) and non-patent literature searches which are linked to certain patent-oriented projects.

Patent searches can save time, effort and, ultimately, money. They can help avoid duplication of research and development already contained in patent literature. Regular searches in the databases may also keep you from infringing other IP rights.

Patent searches are specifically important before filing a utility model application, since a utility model is entered into the official Register without checking all substantive requirements for an effective IP right. However, you will only benefit from a legally valid utility model if your invention complies with these requirements.

Patent searching is a key tool for organizations across the globe, which is now increasingly sensitive to innovation as a parameter to success and growth. To keep an upper edge, an organization evolves its road map on multiple factors where patent searching is used as a strategic tool to provide strategic inputs, thereby making patent searching itself as one end of the strategy.

ANS IP MS provide you one of the best patent-ability/prior art search report and analysis. It is one of primary patent service offered by any attorney firm. If you’re trying to determine if your idea has already been patented, you can have a search performed on all existing patents and Non-patent literature. Any single document publicly known which completely discloses your invention forms the prior art under anticipation. A combination of two or more than two prior arts which after combining certain features forms the present invention will be called as a prior art under an obvious class. The patent search will tell you whether other patents have already been issued that may disclose or suggest your invention.

We provide full-fledged prior art search service using various paid and freely available patent databases. Our searches are conducted by highly experienced professionals in their respective fields. The ANS team uses this patent-ability/prior art search to draft your patent in such a technical cum legal language that has high chances of getting grant after examination in a jurisdiction. ANS provide global prior art/patent searches, country specific prior art/patent searches and company/organization/inventor/assignee/competitor specific prior art/patent searches.

Novelty Search

A novelty search is performed to analyze whether your invention is novel or not. This patent service is rarely used and there is very thin line between a Prior Art and a novelty search. A novelty report will be provided which will tell you whether your invention is novel or not. The search report will include list of various patented, published and non-patented literature which will have the probability to become prior arts with respect to the current invention. The search report will also contain our expert opinion on the novelty of your invention. We provide full-fledged Novelty search service using various paid and freely available patent databases. Our searches are conducted by highly experienced professionals in their respective fields. Although novelty search is same as Prior Art Search, but ANS Team makes it as a special and separate tool by giving you a novelty search consisting all the patent, non-patent literature and products. Along with this ANS clearly classifies all the novelty/differentiating aspects, prepares a list of them and suggests the client how to elaborate or enhance them.

(Freedom To Operate) FTO Patent Search and Evidence of Use Search

“Freedom to operate” is abbreviated as “FTO”. Freedom to operate is also known by the name of “Clearance” search or “Right to Use” search. This patent service is high-end version of prior art search which involves rigorous mapping and analysis.

Freedom to operate search is usually conducted to determine whether a particular action, such as testing or commercializing a product, can be done without infringing valid intellectual property rights of others. Freedom to operate is performed country wise or territory wise, since IP rights are specific to different jurisdictions, country or territory. Thus, a “freedom to operate” analysis should relate to particular country or regions where you want to operate. A FTO patent search examines the claims language of the third-party in-force patents and is typically conducted as due diligence to assess the risk of potential infringement. Freedom to operate search report provides an opinion on the clearance of products, technologies, or processes. A freedom to operate search helps to analyze an entity that whether there is any freedom to operate in that county or not, without infringing others patents. FTO patent search is conducted when an entity has a product ready to be launched in the market. An evidence of use (EOU) search is patent to product mapping. In this claims of considered patent is mapped with product which has been launched or continued after the priority of patent/publication of patent. ANS Team is well-versed in FTO/EOU Searches and Report generation. We do the FTO/EOU Reports on jurisdiction basis and global basis. The client is given a soft copy and a booklet copy of the generated FTO/EOU search. The charges quoted by ANS IP MS is highly competitive with present market and report is highly efficient.

While Freedom to Operate Search, few points have to kept in mind:

1. Legal Status of the Cited Patent: Only live patents or patent in effect are considered as competitor patent and affect the FTO search. Hence, only active patent which are filed within 20 years of the filing date of the patent/product in focus are considered.
2. FTO Patent Search is focused jurisdiction wise i.e. if a product in focus has to be launched in India, then the competitor patents should be from India and should be active.
3. Unlike a patent search, FTO search is a patent extensive search and only focus is given to patents which can create a patent infringement issue.   
4. In FTO all possible relevant results need to be found, as each of those relevant results individually affect. Missing even a single relevant result could be prejudicial to the objective of the project

Invalidity Search

An invalidity search is conducted to uncover patents or other published prior arts that may render a granted patent invalid. A Patent Validity Search or Patent Invalidity Search is an exhaustive Prior Art Search conducted after a patent is issued. This patent service is availed only if a company or an organization desire to stop their competitors and monopolize the market.

The main purpose of the search is either to validate the enforceability of a patent’s claims or to invalidate one or more claims of a patent, respectively. These two searches are identical except for the desired outcome i.e. valid or invalid patent claims, of the search. Although, each claim of a patent is presumed to be valid when granted, it is possible that the Patent Office may have allowed claims in error by overlooking the best prior art at least because of the limited time and resources allotted to a patent Examiner for conducting prior art searches. In such instances, the invalidity search conducted for the patent in question will uncover better prior art than the prior art of record uncovered earlier by the patent examiner. The result of an invalidity search is to identify prior art, published before the earliest priority date of the target patent, with the goal of finding specifications that read on the claims of the target patent. We are experienced in conducting invalidity searches in all domains. ANS Team has conducted over a dozen invalidity searches and generated highly effective report for Indian as well as overseas clients/attorneys. The charges are nominal and can be afforded by a range of client form individual inventors to MNC entities.