Does an invention need prior art search before it gets patented

Imagine having an idea which you have turned into an invention that you want to get patented but are not sure on its authenticity in public, let's think that you are not in the favor of spending too much money on something that you are not sure, that’s where Patentability search helps you to determine whether you should invest your time, energy and money on getting your invention patented for which prior art search is mandatory and through this blog, we shall get to know the crucial points about prior art search.

When you have an invention in hand but are not sure whether any similar invention exists and has been patented. That’s where Patentability search comes to your rescue. Let’s understand what patentability search is in brief and then move forward with Prior Art Search.

Patentability search helps us to determine whether an invention can be protected and get a patent right. Then the question arises, is Patentability search mandatory? To ensure we invest our time, effort, and money in the right invention one must access the patentability of such invention. Patentability search accesses three basic elements i.e., novelty, non-obviousness & usefulness. Besides this, it also accesses if there are any similar inventions available in the prior art. Hence it becomes necessary to find out if the said invention can be patented or not and whether we can proceed further for patent registration, for which initially we need to do a prior art search.

Prior art search helps us evaluate the invention based on the following criteria i.e., does this invention already exist in the public domain, or does it have any similar references?

So, how would we go about by prior art search? Its very simple, to do any search we need to understand thoroughly what are we exactly searching for. First, we need to understand the invention in detail after which the next step comes i.e., conducting initial searches as to what invention prior to this present day existed in reference to our invention. Once we get the required understanding and initial search data then all we need to do is in-depth search, review the search, and repeat the process till we are sure that there are no citations in whatsoever nature present in public whether exact or similar.

Now that we have understood what prior art search is, let’s put some light on the types of prior art search and understand the various levels in which the prior art search comes into existence.

1. Novelty search is nothing but determining if the invention has any novelty or say does it have anything new to offer that hasn’t been yet in the public. This is usually done before filing a patent.

2. Validity search is done when the patent office overlooked on the prior art after a patent issue which helps the competitors to contest over the granted patents

3. Clearance search determines whether the invention that we strive to get patented is violating the existing or pending patents.

4. Landscape search gives a high-level view on technology which includes recent trends related to technology.

Everything has its own advantages and disadvantages but let’s focus on the positive aspect of prior art search and i.e., the benefits of Prior art search. Prior art search not only helps you to avoid accidental infringe but also helps in understanding how strong your invention is and helps you save money by alerting on the existence of any such inventions. It also helps in formulating strategy before filing a patent, helps in checking the technological advancements in reference to the recent trends in technology, and most importantly gets you prepared to detect if any similar invention is already claimed and keeps you updated on the latest publication in the research field.

Now that we are enlightened on the prior art search and patentability search, we get to know that both the processes are important and are interrelated while getting an invention patented.

If this blog has helped you understand the importance of a Prior art search, then look forward to getting your queries answered through Einfolge Technologies Pvt.Ltd and we shall keep you posted through the various patent services that we provide and help us have a brief understanding of each service that we provide.