Patent search is an opportunity to protect yourself, your products from dishonest competitors. This procedure is a complex and expensive pleasure, so not everyone can do it on their own. If an enterprise invented and put into reality an original technical solution, it is important to protect it in a timely manner.
The need for patenting
Why protect your designs, trademarks and original inventions? Patent search, which is carried out before the main registration procedure begins, can significantly reduce the risks associated with the refusal to issue a protection certificate. The patent allows the copyright holder to dispose of the invention at his sole discretion.
The presence of a patent protects against any claims of competitors who have created similar products or products.
Other persons will not be able to take advantage of your development without obtaining official permission from you for this.
It would seem that you just need to get the coveted patent for a utility model, industrial design, invention, and you can live absolutely free.
Procedure conditions
One of the conditions for registration is novelty. A preliminary patent search allows you to analyze the degree of uniqueness of a product or logo that is submitted for registration. If someone in a country (world) already has a patent for development, it is introduced into production, the applicant will be refused the patenting procedure.
That is why, for starters, you need to find out if there is an image, service, product that is submitted for registration in various databases.
Purpose of
Patent search is a check of information about the filed applications and granted patents on the made request. It is mandatory, requires additional attention. Depending on how correctly and timely the uniqueness check is carried out, the success of all subsequent actions depends.
What are the objectives of the patent search of the Russian Federation? Among them:
- analysis of the uniqueness of the development and its novelty;
- assessment of chances of registration;
- purity check;
- search for similar products;
- risk assessment of claims for infringement of other people's rights;
- consideration of industry trends where the application of the invention is planned;
- identification of innovative areas of development use.
Main types
Patent search is an event that contributes to obtaining development rights. That is why it is necessary to have an idea of its main types.
Thematic patent search is the identification of detailed information about a particular subject. Such actions are carried out to analyze the functioning of competitors, as well as the possibility of developing the use industry.
The search for patent information is carried out both at the national and international levels.
The narrower is the search for patents according to the author. It allows you to find patents that are issued to the author or to a specific organization.
The numbering option involves finding in the databases for a specific patent number.
Since all patented inventions relate to a specific IPC class, a classification check is carried out. In order to obtain complete information about the object, it is advisable to take into account all the options described above.
Self-checking uniqueness
Patent information search can be done on their own. But before embarking on such difficult and costly activities, it is necessary to study a certain technique. Initially, it is important to prepare a detailed description of the development, start a notebook, write down the results of the searches. Particular attention should be paid to information on the practical use of the product, market monitoring, and the search for similar inventions.
The preliminary patent search of a patent in various journals, specialized literature, scientific and technical articles cannot be ignored. Only after the preliminary preparation is completed can we proceed to the direct verification of uniqueness.
Stages
To successfully register your invention with FIPS, a patent search is carried out in four stages:
- identification of patent search (industrial design, invention, utility model), its classifiers and scale;
- revealing a patent for key phrases or words;
- consideration of the identified material, drawings, descriptions, drawings;
- search for authors or organizations that are associated with similar inventions, analysis of their patents.
Search Databases
There are certain sites to talk about in more detail. How is a patent search conducted? An example of the bases that exist in our country is quite multifaceted. The patent base of the Russian Federation includes five national resources, each of which has certain distinctive characteristics.
The FIPS resource contains not only new patents, but also an archive of security documents issued during the existence of the USSR. For free verification, only materials up to and including 1994 are available; you will have to pay for analysis on later databases.
On the website of the All-Russian Institute of Scientific and Technical Information (VINITI) for a fee you can find the necessary information about Russian patents that have passed official registration.
The International Center for Scientific and Technical Information (ICSTI) on its website publishes analytical materials for 2007-2014. In order to check the uniqueness of your development, you can use them absolutely free.
Here you can find information about doctoral and master's theses, research and design work in various fields of technology and science. Note that this can be done absolutely free.
The State Public Scientific and Technical Library (SPSL) offers free reading of abstracts, dissertations.
International Patent Databases
If the plans include international registration of your invention, it is necessary to conduct a preliminary check of uniqueness not only on domestic bases, but also on various international patent bases.
Among major international organizations, the American Patent Base is of interest. Among the disadvantages of its use is the need for knowledge of the English language. For those applicants who do not experience problems with the selection of key phrases and translation, it has access to patents that have been registered until 1976.
The European Patent Organization is also open, which contains information on patents issued in European countries and on protection documents of Japan and the USA.
The abstract patent base is PAJ, which searches for a small excerpt from the text (from 1993 to the present).
Of interest is WIPO, the World Intellectual Property Organization. Here you can find information on patents issued in various countries of the world.
Search engines
There are large search engines that allow you to determine the uniqueness of created inventions (developments). For example, Google Patents promotes advanced search and viewing of the full text of patents from different corners of the globe. Support Yahoo and Yandex patent search system.
There are a lot of resources to evaluate the novelty of an invented trademark (logo, invention). Which of them to choose is the personal file of the applicant.
FIPS
This institution of Rospatent carries out patenting and registration of intellectual property results. It is in this government department that it is necessary to apply for a certificate of protection. Among the functions that the Federal Institute of Industrial Property also performs is maintaining a register and issuing patents to applicants. On the official website of this agency, you can verify the uniqueness of open registries, as well as use the information retrieval system.
Open registries of Rospatent
They are an open list of those patents that have already been granted, as well as patent applications. When choosing the necessary number, you can find out if the prototype of your development went through the procedure. Information from the open registry is provided absolutely free. FIPI databases are quite large, they contain information about all patents issued in the territory of the Russian Federation, for various developments, products, devices, including information about database and computer programs.
Also on the official website of the government department you can get acquainted with the features of patent classification. To independently verify the uniqueness of your invention (development, logo) you need to enter the organization’s website, then select a search engine, open the patent documents of the Russian Federation, and select the name you need.
Materials on the FIPS information retrieval system are provided free of charge for the period up to 1994, as well as for the last month. All other information is offered only after payment.
Conclusion
If in the twentieth century only large companies went through the patenting procedure, in recent years the situation has changed radically. Now, applications for domestic and international registration of their development (logo) are submitted by both small companies and individual entrepreneurs. What is the reason for this demand? How to successfully go through the long process of recognizing the uniqueness of a trademark?
Among the motives that encourage inventors to apply to Rospatent, their desire to protect their own development from unscrupulous competitors is leading. Until the developer of an innovation has an official document issued by the state registration agency recognizing his unique rights to a trademark (logo, utility model), he will not be able to count on state protection. How to increase the chances of successful completion of this procedure? A preliminary check of the uniqueness of the image claimed for patenting, which is not a mandatory procedure, will significantly increase the chances of registering a new development, obtaining a certificate of ownership.
Since the procedure involves significant time costs, some applicants prefer to seek help from patent representatives, concluding a formal agreement with them for the provision of registration services for a new development in Rospatent.