Novelty Searches : The objective of a “Novelty Search” is to determine the novelty or lack of novelty of the invention claimed in a patent application or a patent already granted, […]

State-of-the-Art Searches : This kind of search, also referred to as “Informative Search,” is made to determine the general state-of-theart for the solution of a given technical problem as background information […]

Pre-Application Searches (PAS) : At first, an invention is just an idea. Many details are not even known or recognized as relevant parts. A novelty search based on a vague idea […]

VARIOUS TYPES OF SEARCHES USING PATENT DOCUMENTATION : In practice, there are various more or less typical reasons for performing searches in collections of patent documents, each of them requiring a […]

On-line Databases : Internet-based databases are on-line databases. Anyone who has access to the Internet may be able to browse the full text of published patent documents via free of charge […]

Databases on CD-ROM : Information technology allows accessing patent data in text and picture form on CD-ROM. CD-ROM databases are very convenient for documentary searches. Users need no outside connections, and […]

PATENT SEARCH & PATENT DATABASES : An important step before filing a patent application is to conduct a patent search. Just as companies need to do due diligence before taking on […]