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Patent Search
Patent searches and searching of other technical literature is an important step in obtaining strategic patent protection, and minimising your patenting risks.
Our patent searchers have at their disposal a variety of sophisticated databases and software packages, and have many years experience. The three main types of patent searching that we provide are discussed below.
Novelty Patent Searches
Conducting a novelty patent search of prior art patents can be very valuable since it can provide you with an indication of whether a patent application for your invention would be allowed by the relevant patent office.An idea must be new and inventive in order to be patentable. Although patent law varies from country to country, patents are at least usually assessed against any prior documents published anywhere in the world. Consequently, no novelty patent search will ever be exhaustive. However, novelty patent searches are useful in indicating the state of the art and locating patent documents that may be cited during examination.
Prefiling Patent Search
Some inventors think that their idea must be new because they haven’t seen it on the market. However, patent databases contain thousands of patents on ideas that are never marketed. A patent search is an important step in mitigating the risk of spending money on a patent application for an idea that is not new.Obtain Baxter IP’s Free Patent Search Guide from one of our patent attorneys at your free consultation and use this information to conduct a patent search before filing a patent application. You can do this patent search yourself and for free using publicly available databases.Questions answered by the Free Patent Search Guide:
- What patent databases should I use in my patent search?
- How can I access these patent databases?
- What patent searching techniques should I use?
- What are common patent searching mistakes to be avoided?
Click here to contact one of our experienced patent attorneys to find out more about patent searches.
International-Type Novelty Patent Search – After Filing A Patent Application
Another type of novelty search is called an International-Type Search and can only be carried out after the filing of a provisional patent application. This is by far the best value-for-money patent search you can get done at an early stage in the patent process.
Infringement or Freedom-To-Operate Patent Searches
It is important to ascertain whether your commercial activities will infringe any third party patent rights. A patent infringement search is directed towards identifying granted patents in a given country which may prohibit you from proceeding with your commercial plans.
Strategic Patent Searches
Patent searching may be conducted for strategic business purposes. Strategic patent searches may be used to:
- Map out the competitive landscape - Investors are generally very interested in this type of analysis
- Identify holes or opportunities in the patent landscape that may be capitalised on
- Locate potential licencees for a patented technology
- Identify the main players in terms of IP protection in a particular field of technology
- Identify the latest technical developments in a specialist area
- Highlight industry trends
- Identify the key inventors in a particular field of technology
- Identify competitor initiatives
- Assess the value of a patent portfolio
- Identify whether extensive patenting has taken place in a particular field of technology and so enable you to assess the barriers to entry
- Identify potential infringers
Testimonials
"I contacted Baxter IP following a previous fruitless, lengthy and expensive experience with one of the large specialist IP firms in a previous business.I have now engaged Baxter IP for two projects, one simple, and one complex. In both cases Chris has demonstrated his talent for rapidly gaining a depth of subject understanding and a grasp of the important issues prior to producing and lodging highly regarded patent documents
I have no hesitation in recommending Baxter IP."
"After receiving an introduction to Chris from a highly respected and successful VC, I found Chris to be a very professional and gifted operator who sincerely desires to deliver a first class job. Upon seeking his opinion on a very detailed and complex matter, I found him to be thoughtful, thorough and able to grasp the vision behind what I asked him to advise me on"
"Thank you for your professionalism and service with providing Focus Driving School with its first Trademark. We received the Certificate of Registration yesterday and we are all very excited about it. We look forward to implementing the R symbol on our stationary and have displayed the Certificate in our office."
"We decided to invest in a patent for our LC888 window lock. Baxter IP assisted us with the process which can be very involved, their advice was helpful and we would recommend their services."
"We recently engaged Baxter IP to manage and direct our Intellectual Property needs. We found Chris to be very responsive, committed and diligent in his approach to providing us with direction to matters that became urgent. Chris demonstrated that he could offer creative solutions to solve problems and meet some very tight deadlines. To achieve this it is evident that Chris has valuable skills and knowledge that can only be gained through extensive experience. Chris is currently preparing a global strategic direction for the Popcake suite of products. Chris comprehended future issues, and there are numerous conflicting factors, and reported these to Board of Directors without ambiguity and clear future corporate direction."
"I cannot recommend Chris Baxter's skills as a patent attorney highly enough. Chris' strength lies with his ability to work closely with the inventor. Too many patents are open to unlicensed use because a clever copier can avoid infringement by exploiting weaknesses in an invention's specification and claims. Avoiding these weaknesses requires the ability to foresee alternative ways in which the invention could be used without infringing the patent."
"I am very pleased with the result of Chris Baxter's work and would highly recommend him to anyone seeking to own intellectual property. My product was quite basic and the chance of getting a certified innovation patent certificate was slim. My first attempt was unsuccessfull however with Chris's expert knowledge, he was able to remove the grounds of objection and the claim got accepted. I received the news from him on New Year's Eve which made a great start to this year. Great work Chris!"
"We approached Baxter IP to work with us on the registration of a patent. During Chris's preliminary searches he found a similar product already in the marketplace that our searches failed to find. Although we were unable to patent our product, Chris's honesty and professionalism saved us thousands of dollars in unnecessary searches and registration fees. If you are looking for a Patent Attorney, I would highly recommend Baxter IP"
