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Amazing Patent Searching Techniques and Tools

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28 views

Amazing Patent Searching Techniques and Tools

Patent

Uploaded by

aadhya.harish.iyer
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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Amazing Patent Searching Techniques and Tools

What is a Prior Art?

Prior art search refers to the process of finding relevant literature (called prior art) that is available in
public domain before a particular date. While conducting a search the focus of the researcher is to locate
the closest possible prior art related to a particular invention or idea. Thus, prior art is simply an evidence
or proof for existence of a technology-related inventive concept, available publicly. The exact application,
meaning and concerned date of the prior art is bound by various national patent laws. The most common
sources of prior art are granted patents, published patent applications and non-patent literature (NPL)
such as any published journals, product specifications, whitepapers, books, academic research papers,
internet publications etc. Prior art also includes any documentation of the product, its evidence of sale or
public use. You can also conduct the search yourself only if you know the Different Steps in a Prior Art
Search.

Databases for Patent Search

Several free and paid databases are available where the patent searching can be performed. These
databases cover a worldwide country scope.

Some paid databases are:

• Orbit.com
• Thomson Innovation
• PatBase
• Derwent World Patent Index (DWPI)
• Orbit.com is used for design patent search.

Free Databases include Google Patents and Espacenet.

Several regional/national databases are also used for country-specific search like:

• PAJ for Japanese (JP) patents


• Kipris for Korean (KR) patents
• AusPat for Australian (AU) patents
• SIPO/CNPAT for Chinese (CN) patents
• And so on….

Apart from the above-mentioned databases, XLPAT- an automated patent search and analysis tool is also
used for patent and non-patent literature search. This fully automated tool has a great advantage in
exploring every aspect in the domain of patent technology. XLPAT is a powerful tool developed using 9
years of IP search experience at TTC, to enhance the quality of prior art searches.

Strategies for Patent Search

A standard patent search on any of the above-mentioned databases includes the following key steps:

• Understanding the claims/novelty of the invention


• Webbing of the Subject Patent (subject patent refers to the patent to be invalidated)

Patent Webbing refers to the analysis of the backward citations and forward citation of the subject patent.
This is done by considering the forward citations of the backward citations and backward citations of the
forward citations.

Suppose A is the backward citation of the subject Patent and B is the forward citation of the subject Patent.

X = All forward citations of A

Y = All backward citations of B

Webbing = X OR Y

• Inequitable Search

This is an important step while conducting an invalidity search. Inequitable Search is done to identify any
extra citation cited in any of the family members of the subject patent.

Suppose B = Backward Citations of the Subject Patent

A= Backward Citations of the family members of the subject Patent

Inequitable Search = A NOT B

• Keyword based search

identify the relevant keywords and their logical variations/synonyms. Combine the keywords in a logical
fashion to form search queries.

• Classification based search


Various Classifications such as IPC, CPC, US, and ECLA are used in search strings. Fully Independent Class
based search is performed for an extensive search in a technology domain.

• Assignee and Inventor name-based search

Complex search strings or combinational search

Broad and narrow search strings are used to approach the prior art from different directions. Logically
relevant keywords and classes are combined to create a complex query to approach more relevant results.

• Applying Restrictions:
• Search in Select Sections of Patent Applications. Patent databases allow searching within text
sections, title, abstract, claims, bibliographic details.
• Search using date criteria (usually the earliest priority date)
• Non-patent search (not relevant in case of an FTO patent search)
• Citation analysis

Analysis of forward and backward patent and non-patent citations of the most relevant patents identified
in the above steps.

Prior art searches can be performed by an individual using several databases listed above. One may take
assistance from professional patent search firms to conduct a more thorough and comprehensive search
using a combination of paid databases.

Author

TTConsultants

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