patent search by ashok ram kumar
DESCRIPTION
Sources of IP Information:- Patent Literature Scientific Publications Marketing Materials Paid Databases Journal and World wide webTRANSCRIPT
Sources of IP Information:- Patent Literature Scientific Publications Marketing Materials Paid Databases Journal and World wide web
Sources
Patent Information Resource Published Patent Applications Published Patent Search/ Examination
Reports Granted Patents Published Decisions (Courts and Appeals
Boards) Govt. Gazettes
Patent Information Resources
Why should we rely on patent information They will be Up-to-date Uniformly structured Unique Well organized Concentrated Quickly and easily accessible
Why Rely
Reasons for exploiting patent information Patent is territorial but disclosure is global To Know if patent is expired or pending Limits on the claims of subject matter Academic interests – i.e., learning from
patents
Why search?
Helps determine if you want to file an application
To see if any Prior Art related to your invention exists
Helps to determine the appropriate claim scope when drafting claims
Why search?
To find out if the invention is patentable?
Does the invention infringe on any patent? and
Is the invention in the public domain (Which every one has knowledge about)?
When Patent search to be conducted
Conception and before R&D Stage
At R&D Stage
Prior Art Search for filing Patent Application
Invalidity Search for invalidating the patents granted
When Patent search to be conducted
Freedom to Operate Search for avoiding potential infringement situations while releasing the products in the market.
Technology Landscape Search for Discovering research ideas and solving problems Predicting hot-areas of research that can impact on current
products and those that are in the development stage Competitor Search for
Monitoring the activities of players in the field to reveal future plans
Uncovering new market players Identifying patents owned and licensed by firms
Litigation Search Patent Search at Litigation Stage to uncover the possible infringement or to escape from the possible liability.
Advantages of search
The inventors will be abreast with the field of invention;
Will helps interaction with patent agents and others facilitating patent easier.
Reduces the time of filing and subsequent maturity of patents; and
Help not to enter others territory and prevents infringements.
Where to conduct Patent Search?
Anywhere! and Everywhere!
Look at places where you likely to find
relevant information.
It need to targeted and focused search.
Where to conduct Patent Search?
Technical journals, Patent Databases maintained by patent offices around the world and private companies.
Indian Patents and Indian Published Applications for patents
Foreign Patent Documents(e.g., USPTO, EPO and JPO)
Non-Patent Literature (any published documents publicly available other than Patents or Published Patent Applications) Internet Searches (Google, Yahoo, etc.) Trade Publications and Databases (e.g., ACM, IEEE,
CHEMnetBASE, MechanicalEngineeringnetBASE)
Online and Offline Search sources
World Wide Web Search Engines USPTO (www.uspto.gov) EPO (http://ep.espacenet.com) JPO (http://www.jpo.go.jp) Google patents (http://www.google/patents)
Commercially Available Patent Databases
Private Patent Search Firms – like IP Markets
Steps to search Outline the invention; Think about most relevant information; Think its functionality:
How does it work? Write the claims for your invention;
That is to say what do you feel is your contribution to the technology.
Find all the relevant patent classifications related to each claim;
Search for patents anticipating your invention as a whole; and
Search for patents that combined would anticipate your invention.
Keyword Search
List out all keywords for the invention; Also the synonyms for each keyword; However searching by keyword alone has
pit falls since different words can be used to describe the same thing and
The same word can be used to describe different things.
Classification Search
The arrangement of patent literature in groups according to its technical features is patent classification.
Almost every country has its own classification and there is an agreement on International Patent Classification too.
Classification of the invention can be derived as follows: 1) by reading the manual of patent classification list and
conclude on relevant classes; 2) based on the search results of keyword search you may
conclude on relevant classes. Classification Search brings the related “prior art” to be
grouped together and helps in TARGET a search.
Combination Search (Keyword & Classification)
A combination of classification and keyword search would result in accuracy of the results.
A classification search provides all patents in that class and thereafter keyword search in the results of the classification search would provide patents close to the invention.
Apart form patent literature the search required to perform in technical journals and general web literature for better results.
Good Text Searching Tips
Combination of the Following fields Good Results: Use Synonyms Use Truncation Use Selected Fields/Indexes Use Manual of Classification
Class/Subclasses
Searching by simple keywords can lead to misinterpretations. Beware of :- Ambiguity Semantics Obfuscations
Always search by classification for precision of a search
Search to be done in multiple databases and never rely on one single database
Recheck status information before finalizing the search results.
Cautions and caveats
Q&AAshok Ram Kumar
IP Markets No.6-2-47, Flat No.1D, 1st Floor, Yeturu
Towers,A.C.Guards, Hyderabad-500004 +91-40-23305525 / +91-9700029123 / +91-
9849674599