During the state registration of the invention it is checked for compliance with certain criteria. If the search reveals that the requirements of the legislation of the Russian Federation are observed, then the inventor will receive a patent confirming the exclusive rights for the invention. But before filing invention registration request a patent search should be carried out to estimate chances of obtaining a patent. The purpose of patent search is to select information that corresponds to a specific request. Patent search also allows to establish the novelty of invention.
Patent search is carried out by means of search systems manually or by means of specialized computer programs or with the involvement of experts. Since this process is quite labor intensive, it is often entrusted to specialists in the field of intellectual property protection. But this procedure is vital for everyone who intends to patent an invention or use a patented one. Obtaining accurate patent search data saves money and time in case when search results reveal the inavailability of registering or using the invention. Also, a patent search will help to build a complete picture in the area of interest. After analyzing the patent search results it will be possible to forecast the trends in the development of the invention and its analogues, as well as the entire industry.
The patent search pursues several important aims: to determine whether the invention is unique and whether it encroaches other parties intellectual property; to reveal the features of the new product and what areas it is used in; to find out about inventors or companies that have patents in the same field, as well as in related spheres; to identify other fields of application of product. Also to gain information on patents for similar inventions and on potential licensers.
The search is performed on an amount of data or batch controlled documents, which is a fairly narrow category of search, since it is carried out according to a fairly uniform patent documentation containing critical score of a technical level. Such data are particularly reliable as they are verified as a result of the examination of invention protectability.
This process can take a lot of time and effort but it is necessary for everyone who needs to patent the invention or use it since the use of patented inventions is fraught with big troubles.
Patent search can be done unassisted but you can use the services of a company specializing in such cases. In case of unassisted search, you will have to hold responsible for results.
Subject-matter search is used most often. A technical task is formed meaning subject of the search itself, a category of patent classification is chosen, restrictions are determined on the subject area and patent materials that have a relation to it are analyzed for a certain time interval.
Title search or trademark search usually complement the subject-matter search is used in the case where the name of the inventor or company is known.
Numeric search is carried out in case if the document of title is known that makes it possible to find out the further information on the invention, industrial design or utility model.
The corresponding patent search is carried out if it is necessary to discover patents for the same invention in different countries when a patent is issued in one country and then the same invention is patented in others. This kind of search will be useful if the patent you are interested in is described in a rare language, and the found corresponding patents are described in more accessible languages that makes it possible to get more information and get acquainted with it. Also this type of search can complement the subject-matter search at the stage of acquaintance with the patents descriptions.