Patentability & Prior Art Search

Patent information, made usable

Patent applications are generally published about 18 months after the earliest filing date, so a large body of technical information sits in patent databases. It is valuable for research, due diligence and competitive intelligence, but it is written mainly for lawyers and takes specialist search skills to find.

We translate that material into plain observations and recommendations. No search is exhaustive and none can promise an outcome at the patent office. What it can do is replace guesswork with context before you commit budget.

Four kinds of search

• Patentability search. Checks whether an invention looks patentable and how to write the application well. We examine each distinctive element worldwide and deliver the relevant documents, a short review of each, and a comparison of your features against the existing work.
• State-of-the-art search. A broad view of a technology area, sorted by the problems being solved, who is filing and the strengths and weaknesses of each approach. Useful for steering R&D and spotting partners.
• Freedom-to-operate (FTO) search. Looks at whether a product or process may overlap with patents in a target market before launch, covering all the features and combinations in the product, not only the new ones.
• Invalidity search. Looks for anything published before a patent’s filing date that could affect its validity. Used when a patent is challenged, before a partnership or merger, or when you face an infringement claim.

How it works

1. Technical conversation. We start with how the system works and what you believe is different.
2. Disclosure. Under a confidentiality agreement you share an invention disclosure with the details we need.
3. Search. We search patent databases and technical literature using the concepts of your approach, not only keywords.
4. Findings and next step. We recommend whether to file, what to emphasise, or what to build or disclose differently.