Professional patent search - who should apply for patents, how to apply for a patent and what is important to know in the patent search process

 

A patent is defined as an exclusive right granted by the government to use any knowledge or idea (i.e., ownership of an idea or technology), for a limited period of time in exchange for public disclosure of the invention. The procedure for registering patents in a particular country, the requirements imposed on the inventor and the scope of rights may vary significantly between countries under national laws and international agreements.

Usually, however, there are some permanent factors in all the countries which are examined upon filing a patent application. The patent application must include one or more claims, the patent must be new, creative, and useful in industry or other applications. In many countries there are areas that will not include patents, such as business practices, software code and other areas. The exclusive right granted to a patent-pending inventor is the right to prevent others from using knowledge, using technology, selling, or distributing the invention or without permission.

 

Searching or scanning a patent is the first step that every inventor must go through at the end of defining the idea behind his invention. Once you have specified what your product offers, what its benefits are, how it works and how it differs from other products on the market, you should search for patents for two main purposes:

 

1. Getting a green light to continue the process: Verifying that this is indeed an original idea that no one has patented so far

 

 

2. Save time, additional expenses and legal protection in case you want to register a patent for your invention or idea. The exclusive right granted to a patent-pending inventor is the right to prevent others from using knowledge, using technology, selling, or distributing the invention or without permission. Because a patent approval procedure is a lengthy procedure that may take between two and three years, waiving the patent application phase or a partial or incorrect search may lead to a negative response from the Patent Office even at the end of the long waiting period.