SPECIFICS OF PRIOR ART SEARCH
Every country in the world is booming with ideas to make human existence as comfortable as possible. A major contribution to this easy lifestyle comes from the arena of science and technology. Each research and development activity demands for a considerable capital investment. Patenting one’s invention, licensing and commercialising it is a sure shot way to reaping huge benefits from that capital investment.
A Patent is a form of an intellectual property right. It excludes everyone but the patentee from the manufacture, use or sale of a particular invention. Since the benefits associated with the patent rights are enormous, the conditions to be fulfilled to obtain a patent are very specific. For an invention to be patented in India, it is imperative to satisfy the following conditions.
- Patentable Subject Matter
- Novelty
- Inventive Step/ Non Obviousness
- Industrial Applicability
Prior Art usually consists of information available to public including granted patents and published patent applications, foreign patents and published patent applications, journals and magazine articles, books, manuals and catalogs, websites, conference proceedings and scientific papers. Prior art may be published or in electronic format. It is very decisive in terms of determination of patentability of invention with regards to novelty and inventive step.
At Knowledgentia Consultants we provide all services relating to global IPR protection. We have one of the best patent consultants in India onboard who can help with prior art searches, patent filings and all supplemental matters.
HOW TO CONDUCT PRIOR ART SEARCH
The crucial step to conducting a prior art search is having an understanding of the invention .It is required of a person to have a comprehensive idea of the field and concepts involved in the invention. Therefore the step prior to the first step is thoroughly reading and understanding the invention and roughly analysing it for novelty, inventive step and industrial applicability.
A general overview of patent search involves the following steps;
- Locate Keywords
- Search Patent databases for keywords and their combinations
- Look for articles and non-patentable literature
LOCATING KEYWORDS:
SEARCHING THE PATENT DATABASES:
Keywords obtained in the previous step are mixed and matched to form a number of combinations and such combinations are looked up in various patent databases. The importance of seeking different combinations is that it discloses as many closely related inventions as there are in the database. Related inventions are analysed for similarities with the invention in question. Some of the widely used patent search platforms are:
BEYOND PATENTED INVENTIONS
Prior art includes each and every previously known information; it is not limited to patented inventions only. Therefore, one must mandatorily look up for any closely related ideas in articles, research papers, books to ensure the novelty of the invention. Google Scholar is a popular platform when searching scholarly publications. The combination of keywords works well while looking for non-patented literature also.
ENDING THE SEARCH
ANALYSIS
KINDS OF PRIOR ART SEARCH
Prior art search can be classified into following three kinds based on the method applied:
- Text Searching
- Patent classification Searching
- Patent Citation Searching
A complete patent search includes:-
TEXT SEARCHING: Under this, keywords are identified, their combinations are searched and results are analysed.
PATENT CLASSIFICATION SEARCHING: This method involves determining the classification codes for an invention such as that in question and limiting the search to that particular code. Here, the search becomes quicker because of specificity of the location of similar inventions.
PATENT CITATION SEARCHING:
This method involves looking up the patents cited by the prior art. It is popularly called as “Forward and Backward” cross reference search.
CONCLUSION
At Knowledgentia, with expert and foremost patent consultants in India, we assist our clients in making patent searches, drafting, filing, prosecution, technology transfers and commercialization of research activities a smooth process. You may visit our website https://knowledgentia.com/ or email us at info@knowledgentia.com for any related queries.
