Patent Search

There are many reasons to conduct a patent search such as:

• Patent Searching To Determine Patent Novelty

  The fundamental required characteristic of a patent is that it is new to the world (novelty).
  
  In order to know this, Technology Outcomes will expertly search through the available patent literature and provide custom reporting in order to show you which other inventions are close to yours.
  
  This strongly influences the patent narrative that you will use for your invention and help you obtain stronger patent protection. The patent search results will help determine if your invention:

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  • Is potentially patentable or not

  • Will be difficult to patent or not

  • Requires a particular patent strategy that was otherwise not obvious (see “hard-to-get patents”)

  • Infringes on another technology owner's intellectual property

  • Is better off being a trade secret rather than a patent

• Patent Searching To Determine Patent Validity

  You may not know whether your own intellectual property can be blocked by a third party patent.
  
  In what countries is your competitor’s technology protected in? A patent search to determine patent validity can show:

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  • Whether your technology can enter into specific markets (otherwise known as Freedom-To-Operate)

  • What changes to your technology’s intellectual property can be made in order to enter into specific markets.

  • Whether your own intellectual property gives sufficient patent protection.

  • Potential infringers of your technology.

  • The competitive ip landscape.

• Patent Searching To Determine The Patent Landscape

  A patent search to clarify the patent landscape can pay enormous commercial dividends to your company. By understanding your competitor’s intellectual property status and the overall patent landscape in your inventions technology field, we can show you:

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  • Other novel technical developments in your invention’s field of technology.

  • Potential opportunities in the patent landscape that may benefit your business.

  • Your competitor’s future plans in your technology’s space.

  • Current and new competitors that are entering a similar IP space.

  • Industry trends

• Strategic Patent Searches To Support Commercialisation Strategies

  Strategic patent searches and patent landscape searches can yield a variety of beneficial commercial and technology outcomes such as:

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  • Identifying potential licensees for a patented technology.

  • Adding to clarity and to the quality of information for investors.

  • Increasing your technology portfolio by including technologies where their patents have lapsed or expired.

  • Knowing the true potential of your intellectual property portfolio

• Patent Searches To Support Due Diligence Investigations

  It may necessary to do a patent search for the purpose of due diligence. In this scenario we can show you:

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  • The current legal status of yours or your competitor’s technology

  • The key inventors in a particular field of technology