PATENT RESEARCH
- PatentVantage’s multi-disciplinary research services provides clients with an understanding of only the most relevant patent and non-patent literature references, and can include a technical relevancy analysis performed by former PTO Examiners, patent agents and practitioners extremely familiar with currently USPTO rules and regulations.
- PatentVantage’s research services employ a number of complex search methodologies and patent classification strategies over a multitude of proprietary and publicly available patent and non-patent literature databases.
- PatentVantage provides PDF copies of each reference cited.
- PatentVantage can tailor any patent research project to fit the needs and budget of any client.
KNOCKOUT SEARCH
PatentVantage’s high level preliminary patentability search identifies identical or nearly identical prior art references that eliminates or “knocks out” the invention disclosure.
PATENTABILITY/NOVELTY SEARCH
PatentVantage’s patentability or novelty search identifies prior art references that may alone or in combination with others be relevant to the patentability of the invention disclosure.
INVALIDITY/VALIDITY SEARCH
PatentVantage’s invalidity/validity search identifies prior art references that may alone or in combination with others be relevant to the validity of a claim or the claims of an issued patent or published application.
FREEDOM TO OPERATE/CLEARANCE
PatentVantage’s Freedom to Operate/Clearance search identifies in-force patents and non-abandoned patent publications that help our clients assess whether they can freely operate their product/invention/process without risk of infringing upon a competitor’s patent.
ACCELERATED EXAMINATION
Since August 25, 2006, the USPTO’s Accelerated Examination procedures allows for the USPTO to advance an application out of turn for examination if the applicant files a grantable petition to make special under the accelerated examination program. Part of requirements to file a grantable petition to make special includes conducting a pre-examination search and the filing of an accelerated examination support document (AESD).
PatentVantage’s Accelerated Examination search identifies prior art references that may be, either alone or in combination, relevant to the patentability of the claims of the patent application to be filed under the accelerated examination program. Our Accelerated Examination search will greatly assist the applicant in completing the AESD by identifying the field of search by U.S. class and subclass, as well as International class, and for database searches, providing the search logic or chemical structure or sequence used as a query, the name of the file or files searches, the database service used, and the date of the search.
Detailed information about the Accelerated Examination procedure can be found by visiting the USPTO’s Acceleration Examination website.
STATE OF THE ART SEARCH
PatentVantage’s State of the Art Search identifies patents, published applications, and/or non-patent literature in a specified technical field, helping the client to recognize the most up-to-date information in a particular art.
PatentVantage can also tailor its State of the Art Search to fit any metric the client desires to understand, including inventors, assignee, classification, and filing dates.
NEW PATENT RESEARCH SERVICES
- On September 16, 2012, several provisions of the American Invents Act (AIA) relating to third party post-issuance patent challenges to validity became available. PatentVantage’s leadership team has extensive and specific expertise in these and other provisions of the AIA.
- PatentVantage’s thought leadership allows it to be only one of a few patent research firms whose patent research service offerings keep up with the dynamic changes in patent law.
PRE-ISSUANCE SUBMISSION SEARCHES
Under the recently enacted provisions of American Invents Act, third parties may submit patents and printed publications to be considered during examination of a patent already filed as of September 16, 2012. The provisions allow for the real party in interest of the submission to remain anonymous and further, no estoppel effect is created through this submission.
PatentVantage’s Pre-Issuance Submission Searches identifies patent and non-patent literature documents that may be relevant to the patentability of one of more claims in the patent application under examination, offering the third party an opportunity to comment on their relevancy to the applicant’s claims at issue.
The pre-issuance submission must be filed by the earlier of (A) the date of a notice of allowance or (B) the later of (i) six (6) months after the application is first published or (ii) the date of the first rejection of any claim by the examiner.
For more information about Pre-Issuance Submissions, please visit the USPTO’s Preissuance Submissions website.
POST-GRANT REVIEW
The American Invents Act also provides for new opportunities for third parties to challenge a patent post-issuance. Specifically, the Act, allows for a third party request for post-grant review challenging a granted patent on the grounds of, among other things, anticipation and obviousness.
PatentVantage’s Post-Grant Review Searches identifies patent and non-patent literature documents that may be relevant to the patentability of one of more claims in the granted patent, offering the third party an opportunity to show that it is more likely than not that at least one claim is unpatentable in order to trigger a post-grant review.
A petition for a post-grant review must be filed on or prior to the date that is nine (9) months after the grant of a patent or issuance of a reissue patent.
For more information about Post-Grant Review, please visit the USPTO’s Post-Grant Review Submissions website.
INTER PARTES REVIEW
The American Invents Act replaces the traditional inter partes reexamination with Inter partes review. Specifically, the Act provides for a third party challenger to request inter review of an issued patent only on the grounds of anticipation and obviousness on the basis of patents and printed publications.
PatentVantage’s Inter Partes Review Searches identifies patent and non-patent literature documents that may be relevant to the patentability of one of more claims in the granted patent, offering the third party (petitioner) an opportunity to show that there is a reasonable likelihood that the petitioner would prevail with respect to at least one claim challenged.
A petition for inter partes review must be filed after the later of either (A) 9 months after the grant of the patent or issuance of a reissue patent; or (B) if a post grant review is instituted, the termination of the post grant review.
For more information about Inter Partes Review, please visit the USPTO’s Inter Partes Review website.
STRATEGIC PATENT CONSULTING
- Intellectual property strategy plays a key component in the framework of decision making processes and procedures of any business. Intellectual property strategy is tightly interlinked with corporate research and development strategy and with corporate business strategy, which in turn are both interlinked with the corporate management strategy.
- PatentVantage’s multi-disciplinary research services provide clients with an understanding of the various intellectual property issues associated with their corporate business strategy.
DUE DILIGENCE
PatentVantage’s Due Diligence services primarily assist clients in investigating any intellectual property issues associated with a business transaction, including acquisition, sale, and licensing. Using a combination of patent research services, including validity/invalidity studies, freedom to operate/clearance studies, and assignee searches on the assets at issue, our teams of analysts can help clients understand the overall intellectual property issue surrounding a pending transaction.
PORTFOLIO ANALYSIS
PatentVantage’s Patent Portfolio Analysis service helps clients mine unused intellectual property assets for revenues through assignment, licensing or disposition. Our assessment takes into account the competitive landscape of the industry, and identifies whether any unused patents may cover an untapped niche in the marketplace, helping clients identify key strengths and weaknesses of their portfolio relative to the industry and specific competitors and identify which technologies which may be successful candidates for licensing, commercialization, or sale.
LANDSCAPE STUDIES
PatentVantage’s Landscape Studies provide clients with a broad, yet detailed view of the current state of intellectual property for a specific market. These studies are conducted by industry professionals who are subject matter experts in their respective areas. By providing information pertaining to assignee-wide distribution of intellectual property activity, key players in the market, and relevant patents categorized by technology areas, classification, and filing and/or issuance dates, PatentVantage helps clients increase their potential for developing new technologies that can be patented and also to reinforce existing markets or secure new market shares.
COMPETITIVE INTELLIGENCE
PatentVantage’s Competitive Intelligence services are essential to any corporation or venture capital firm seeking to invest in new technology. Our studies can help clients identify market areas where a potential start-up can break through, how an innovation may be accepted by a market, and the risk involved for a start-up to enter a market based on revenue potential and infringement possibilities.
ASSERTION STUDIES
PatentVantage’s Assertions Studies provide clients with information critical for identify new opportunities for revenue through potential licensing and infringement litigation. These studies are conducted by industry professionals who are subject matter experts in their respective areas. Our Assertion Studies are conducted using the documentation of known competitors’ products and services and/or expanding the scope of the search to identify unknown entities whose activities may be infringing.