Patentability Search & Novelty Search

To obtain a patent protection, a potential invention must be new (novel), useful, and non-obvious. A Patentability Search, sometimes called a Patent Novelty Search or simply a Novelty Search, is a search of prior art (the body of pre-existing knowledge) conducted on behalf of a potential patent applicant. Before an inventor/applicant applies for a patent, it is prudent on his part to assess whether any similar invention already exist in the prior art. Typically, a Patentability Search is conducted before a patent application is prepared.

In addition to determining patentability, this search will also (1) help the patent drafter to write a patent application that better defines the inventive contribution of the new product over the prior art, (2) speed up prosecution by preempting examiner rejections, and (3) improve the defensibility of the future patent by ensuring that the Examiner considers the most relevant prior art during prosecution.

Embros IP’s comprehensive patentability search and analysis of an invention involves searching worldwide databases for relevant prior art references based on identified novel elements of the invention and analyzing each of the references against the novel elements. Analysis includes citing relevant portions of text from the references, and comparative analysis of how the novel elements map on to the references. The analysis also opines on the specifics of the invention that can be patented and the scope of protection that would be granted.