The word “patent search” or “prior-art search” in patent law means any information that relates to the knowledge existing prior to the date of invention, which has been made available in the public domain. This knowledge (or “prior art” or “state of art”) may be in any form such as patent, scientific literature, publications (such as journal articles, proceedings of conferences, data books and display information from technical exhibitions), public discussions or news from anywhere in the world. The prior-art search is often performed by a patent attorney or a patent agent or a patent searcher and it is conducted through various patent and non-patent databases and other relevant technological websites to identify relevant prior-arts.
Novelty of an invention is always determined before inventive step because the creative contribution of the inventor can be assessed only by knowing the novel elements of the invention. The invention is supposed to be lacking in novelty, if information about the invention has already been disclosed. Thus, for example, if a claim specifies alternatives or defines the invention by reference to a range of values (e.g. of composition, temperature, etc), then the invention is not new if one of these alternatives, or if a single example falling within this range, is already known. Thus, a specific example is sufficient to destroy the novelty of a claim to the same thing defined generically.
Purpose of patent search
Patent search is done for various reasons such as:
1. Patent search gives clear idea on the work claimed or published by others and helps inventor to assess chances of getting patent for his invention.
2. Even if the invention that the inventor intends to claim is already claimed by third party (ies), results of patent search give him direction on how further research shall be done.
3. Patent search shall also be done before planning research and development to make sure that the companies don’t waste time in re-inventing the Wheel/duplication of work and focus purely on innovation.
4. Patent search also helped to assess strength of the competitions by revealing their names and gives picture of the inventions for which they have filed for patents.
When to do patent search?
The right time of doing patent search is at the stage of idea itself. Before investing time and money working on the idea, it is extremely important to assess whether the idea is novel or already published or claimed by anyone else. Often the inventors assume novelty of idea by looking at the products which are already in market and comparative analysis of such products with their idea makes them believe that idea is novel. The hard reality is that a small fraction of the patents are commercialized and big chunk of patents, even though are not commercialize but certainly form part of the prior art and may prevent an inventor from getting patent on his invention
Therefore it is imperative for the inventors to perform patent search at the stage of idea itself, assess chances of patentability as well as infringement of patent right of the third party (ies) before investing money and time in research. This is crucial for the inventor to make decision on patentability of the invention, it is important to get the search done in time.
Jurisdiction for patent search
Patent search is done world-wide or globally even though patent rights are territorial. A publication related to the invention in US is enough to destroy novelty and prevent an inventor patenting the same invention in India even though there is no valid patent granted in India.
Conclusion
Timely patent search is an important not only to assess chances of getting a patent but also to plan research and development in an organization and know competitors in the same area of technology. It is good idea to perform patent search at the stage of idea itself to save time, money and to have better quality of research output.
Novelty of an invention is always determined before inventive step because the creative contribution of the inventor can be assessed only by knowing the novel elements of the invention. The invention is supposed to be lacking in novelty, if information about the invention has already been disclosed. Thus, for example, if a claim specifies alternatives or defines the invention by reference to a range of values (e.g. of composition, temperature, etc), then the invention is not new if one of these alternatives, or if a single example falling within this range, is already known. Thus, a specific example is sufficient to destroy the novelty of a claim to the same thing defined generically.
Purpose of patent search
Patent search is done for various reasons such as:
1. Patent search gives clear idea on the work claimed or published by others and helps inventor to assess chances of getting patent for his invention.
2. Even if the invention that the inventor intends to claim is already claimed by third party (ies), results of patent search give him direction on how further research shall be done.
3. Patent search shall also be done before planning research and development to make sure that the companies don’t waste time in re-inventing the Wheel/duplication of work and focus purely on innovation.
4. Patent search also helped to assess strength of the competitions by revealing their names and gives picture of the inventions for which they have filed for patents.
When to do patent search?
The right time of doing patent search is at the stage of idea itself. Before investing time and money working on the idea, it is extremely important to assess whether the idea is novel or already published or claimed by anyone else. Often the inventors assume novelty of idea by looking at the products which are already in market and comparative analysis of such products with their idea makes them believe that idea is novel. The hard reality is that a small fraction of the patents are commercialized and big chunk of patents, even though are not commercialize but certainly form part of the prior art and may prevent an inventor from getting patent on his invention
Therefore it is imperative for the inventors to perform patent search at the stage of idea itself, assess chances of patentability as well as infringement of patent right of the third party (ies) before investing money and time in research. This is crucial for the inventor to make decision on patentability of the invention, it is important to get the search done in time.
Jurisdiction for patent search
Patent search is done world-wide or globally even though patent rights are territorial. A publication related to the invention in US is enough to destroy novelty and prevent an inventor patenting the same invention in India even though there is no valid patent granted in India.
Conclusion
Timely patent search is an important not only to assess chances of getting a patent but also to plan research and development in an organization and know competitors in the same area of technology. It is good idea to perform patent search at the stage of idea itself to save time, money and to have better quality of research output.
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