Why Do You Need an Expert For Patent Search?

In India granting of Patent registration takes almost two years and for twenty years a patent has been granted to the owner of the invention and therefore,a thorough examination is required. If a similar or same product or technology is already in the market then you will not be able to take patent registration of it. As a result a Patent or Prior Art search is required.

Some innovators now believe that they do not require a Patent attorney for the patent registration as it involves professional fees ranging from 7000-50,000. However, there is a danger that this cost cutting will result in a failed patent application, causing you to waste money and time producing something that already exists.

What is the purpose of Patent Search?

The patent office grants thousands of patent registration each year, and they look up to hundreds and thousands of provisional patent applications. Iven these numbers overtime, there are likely to be applications similar to yours. In one way or another your application depends on the details contained in the already submitted applications. Therefore before applying for patent registration you can conduct a proper patent search on the patent office portal through their databases.  Following are the parameters which you can refer to before applying for patent registration-

• Title

• Abstract

• Claims

• Description

• Application number

• Patent Number

• Applicant Name

• Inventor Name

• Inventor Country

Importance of Patent Search

Following are the benefits of Patent search-

1. Through patent search availability of particular patents is being checked. Patentees are often not well versed in the scope of patentability covered by the law.

2. For drafting of the claims, your patent agent must be aware of the prior art. A patent search determines whether the invention is eligible for registration or not. Therefore through patent search, one can determine the strength of the innovation and generate claims that do not infringe on any patents or fall within the prior art.

3. If the innovation is not original and is already in the public domain then in such cases one may create new ideas and refine the invention to make it patentable by reading the prior art literature.

4. The search for patents can also reveal certain companies that are keen to obtain patents in the technology field related to your invention. In such cases, it gives you the lead on which to contact companies to license your invention

5. While doing a patent search few innovations are already in the database but yet has ot been commercialized. If you analyze the patent search, it may be possible to see why commercialization is not viable to help you determine if you intend to continue filing the patent application.

Important points to consider while conducting a Patent Search

• One has to make sure that the inverter must describe their entire invention while applying for a patent registration.

• One must check whether the innovation is already in the public domain or not. 

• A patent review would be useful to prevent such a situation.

• If patent registration is not granted in the light of patent law, one can still use the invention as a business secret and give it to others to make a business profit.

What is the Role of a Patent Attorney?

Patent attorneys have experience filing patent applicants. He would be able to conduct a proper search and tell whether the innovation is patentable or not.

• The reasons for this are that a patent attorney knows their way around the patent database.

• They are aware of all the terms while conducting a patent search

• They will be able to tell whether similar inventions are available or not and what are the chances of your innovation to get patent registration.

• Their advice will be helpful in understanding the difference between the similar innovations.

However, it is not mandatory to hire a patent attorney while applying for a patent registration. You can yourself conduct a proper patent search and understand whether there is a clash between the innovations.

Conclusion

it is possible to do so without the assistance of a patent attorney, which will save you money. However, keep in mind that the savings you hope to achieve could result in a failed patent application that costs you a lot of time and work in the long run. As a result, always heed the advice of people at the Patent Office.