An infringement search, also known as a clearance search, or freedom to operate search, are conducted mainly for two purposes:
- To establish whether a product or process infringes an unexpired patent in the country where it is planned to be commercialized
- To verify whether the patent holders can make, use, or market their innovation with no risk of infringing another holder’s unexpired patent
One major difference between an infringement search and a freedom to operate search is that the former need not bother about expired prior art data. This is because the search is conducted only to prove that the invention that is under consideration does not fall within the range of an UNEXPIRED patent.
Another reason for conducting an infringement search is to underwrite a licensee of a patent. When you get a licence to use another’s patent to manufacture, use or sell a product, it is vital that the patentee include, in the license agreement, a warranty of non-infringement.
An infringement search, just like a patentability search, is a necessary part of the Due Diligence Process. Prior to giving the go-ahead signal, investors will probably want to ensure that a clearance/infringement search was done at the start of the project.
Generally, a particular patent claim can be rendered invalid due to the existence of some kind of Prior art, like a publication or a presentation, about the matter claimed in the patent, that the patent examination process missed. In fact, a patent can be challenged in some countries just because an inventor wasn't correctly named.
If your contemplated actions infringe upon valid intellectual property rights that belong to others, you have the option to obtain freedom to operate with regard to any one of those rights by negotiating for a license with the owner of the original IP rights.
Our infringement searches help our clients gauge whether or not they can liberally operate, without infringing upon a competitor’s patent. We cover only the claims of valid, in-force patents searches, to see if the particular product is part of them.
Our infringement search covers the following:
- Infringement by Utilization Search
- Infringement Liability Search
With our services, you are assured of:
- Search of valid, unexpired patents within a market.
- Patent reference including relevancy analysis, with exact citations.
- No Date restrictions.
- Subject matter experts in several branches of technology, including: Polymer Technology, Mechanical Engineering, Chemical Technology, Chemistry, Bio-Technology, Genetics, and Computer Science. Additionally our experts have access to such industry leading patent and prior art databases as Delphion, LexisNexis, MicroPat, and STN.