Patent Research Services

Prior art/Validity research is used to establish the legality of an issued patent for an infringement defense, or to thoroughly inspect a patent before assignment or license. The claims of the subject patent are compared with active prior art references published before the filing date of the subject patent. References correspond to the independent claims in the subject patent. Results include a claims comparison chart detailing the relationship of prior art to the subject patent claims.

^*Up to 15 claim elements are included at no cost; Further claim elements may require additional authorization.

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Clearance research results include active patents that may pose an infringement risk in addition to expired patents that may provide a "safe harbor" for a specific product, process, or service. The Clearance Search addresses both infringement and patentability concerns. Also referred to as a 'Right-to-Use' or 'Freedom to Operate' search.

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Enabling non-patent publications can stand as references in the same manner as a published patent. We provide non-patent literature by searching through online resources, focusing on those listed in the USPTO Search Templates. Citations and abstracts (when available) of relevant publications are provided on CD-ROM. Paper copies are available upon request. Full text of publications with "clearance for use" costs available upon request. Please estimate $45 per full text document with copyright clearance.

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Infringement research is used to locate any unexpired patents that would bar the manufacture, use, or sale of a specific product, process, or service. We search for unexpired patents that have restrictive claims that would present a bar to manufacture, use, or sale.

Our search report includes US and IPC classes and subclasses as well as the search strategy used for all text searching of both patent and non-patent literature. We include a listing of all external databases referenced in the course of the search. Due to the current processing of Accelerated Examination Searches by the USPTO, we conduct our searches in four steps:

1. Initial Search and Pre-Examination Search Document(24 hours): This is an extended version of our patentability search that includes both non-patent literature and a Pre-Examination Search Document in Microsoft Word format. The Pre-Examination Search Document contains the patent and non-patent literature search strategies and requires little modification prior to submission. We require a copy of the application, including the claims, in order to conduct an Accelerated Examination Search.
   
   
2. Update prior to filing (6 hours) (if required): We strongly recommend an update to the initial search based on any changes made to the disclosure and claims. Keywords or concepts added to the application after the initial search are routinely noted by the Examiner during review of the petition. We review the disclosure and search for any additional patents of note.
   
   
3. Update based on Examiner's response to petition/Supplemental AESD (Included) (if required): We review the concerns expressed by the Examiner in review of the petition and modify the search accordingly, supplying a modified search report and new Pre-Examination Search Document.
   
   
4. Update in Response to Amended Claims (6 hours) (if required): Changes to the claims during prosecution require an updated AESD and Pre-Examination Search Document. We update our results based on these changes to allow for issuance.

More Details on Accelerated Examination Petition Requirements
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Patentability Search is intended to provide a general overview of the art for a particular invention. These searches are adequate for providing patentability opinions and submitting invention disclosure statements when filing patent applications.

Whitespace/R&D research combines the state-of-the-art of a technology field with an in-depth study of the patent coverage to determine viable future research and business development paths. This search includes our standard search report and a visual comparison of the features identified to each cited patent.

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State of the Art research provides an overview of a technology area. We search for references that show functionally equivalent means of accomplishing a similar end. Results are representative of cutting-edge reference that is typically unexpired.

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We search for foreign patents and publications classified within the International Patent Classification, in addition to the foreign patents available through the USPTO and online database resources. Additional database costs may be applicable in authorized databases. Results are provided on CD-ROM. Paper copies are available upon request.

Pre-Issuance Submission research provides patent and non-patent references that provide insight as to whether the claims in an application were patentable at the time the application was filed. Pre-Issuance (third party) submissions are a relatively inexpensive way to limit the scope of a competitor's patent claims and potentially prevent a competitor from obtaining the patent at all.

Post-Grant Review research is used to establish the validity of an issued patent, including an estoppel effect which could preclude an accused infringer to raise any invalidity defense during litigation. Post-Grant Review research provides evidence that supports the grounds of patentability and non-obviousness for each claim challenged.

These files are ordered from the USPTO and manually copied. The USPTO turnaround time may vary. We deliver each file wrapper history organized and secured with pronged fasteners and cover sheet. File wrapper histories can be transferred to CD-ROM format in our office upon request and are keyword searchable. We include text searchable cited patent references at no charge.

Certified copies of documents are obtained from the USPTO. The PTO turnaround time may vary.

Assignment and Inventor documents are obtained from the USPTO.

Documents can be delivered to locations within the USPTO within one day of receipt.