Patent News Blog: Why is A Patent Search So Important?

Why is A Patent Search So Important?

Conducting a thorough patent search is one of the most important services to do before investing your time and money into a new invention, whether it’s a product or technology. There are many different things you want to look for in your patent search and several different places where you need to be looking. You can choose to hire a patent firm to perform the service for you, or you can do a patent search on your own.

Who Needs To Do a Patent Search

Everyone should conduct a thorough patent search before they start creating or investing in a “new” invention. A patent search helps individuals and large corporations learn if they have the right to use technology or produce a product. Patent searches should bring to light previous inventions that could eventually lead to an infringement lawsuit.

Even major companies should conduct a patent search involving their new and upcoming products or technology. Recently companies like Google, Apple, Microsoft, and others have been in the news regarding patent rights and infringement lawsuits. Oracle is still in an infringement lawsuit with Google regarding the technology used in Google’s smartphone, Android. The lawsuit is being dragged out, losing both companies time and money on lawyers and court dates. Hopefully these companies conducted patent searches before they chose to invest in the technology and market it.

What is A Patent Search?

A patent search is conducted to find “prior art”, or similar products or technology, already invented by another person or company. It does not necessarily mean that the invention is under patent protection already, but that it has been invented by someone else other than you. Even if a person has invented a product or technology that has not been granted patent rights, they could still own that piece of product or invention.

Where to Look For A Patent Search

Good places to begin a thorough patent search are on the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO), databases available online, or you can visit specialized libraries that consist of copies of issued patents. You should even consider searching in non-patent literature like magazines, newspapers, or articles pertaining to your product or technology because even if they do not own a patent, it could still count against your patent.

Your patent search should be a global search. Patentability rights could be transferred from other countries, depending on the countries rules and regulations, and whether or not a person has applied for a patent in your country. Just because you have not seen your invention being sold does not mean it hasn’t been invented.

June 5, 2012

Category: Patent Basics | Tags: patent search, patent searches

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