A patent search typically deals with search/ research/ data mining which involve patents in one way or the other, either directly or indirectly. Contrary to a myth, patent searchers don’t just involve searching patents, but also comprise scouting of non-patent and legal literature searches which are linked to certain patent oriented projects.

Patent searching is a key tool for organizations across the globe, which is now increasingly sensitive to innovation as a parameter to success and growth. To keep an upper edge, an organization evolves its road map on multiple factors where patent searching is used as a strategic tool to provide strategic inputs, thereby making patent searching itself as one end of the strategy.

Let us take an example of an electronics innovation driven company EXTC-I who want to expand their business in wireless internet modems

• The IP team will first search and analyze patent and non-patent data in the field of wireless internet modems published in the last 7 years and come out with a report to help the R&D team get a direction
• The same report can be given to the business strategy makers, providing them with information on other active patent filers in wireless internet modems. They may use this information to map out competitors or look at mergers, acquisition, or licensing as an option in that field
• The R&D team will then conduct internal exercises and list down a set of inventions that will be feasible and relevant to the company’s strategy. Then they provide the list to the IP team, who will perform searches to identify whether the proposed inventions are new and inventive and have the merit for a patent registration
• The IP team will further verify whether the company’s inventions are infringing any other live or granted patent to ensure no legal matters will create barriers for the invention
• At the time of drafting patents, identifying other patents and disclosing technologies shall be useful in drawing out unique features of the company’s invention to draft a strong patent application
• The IP team will also report to the R&D and strategy team constantly of ongoing patents being published from time to time for all of the above inputs
• The company may also choose to invalidate or oppose a competitor’s patent or patent application to gain a strategic advantage in the business for which again the IP team will conduct patent and non-patent searches keeping the patent invalidated as a reference
• The company shall carry out patent searches to audit or valuate their patent portfolio at a later stage of a patent lifecycle

We can observe through above examples that patent searches provide strategic inputs on multiple fronts and enable different decisions in an organization. It should be noted however, that other than the above mentioned examples, many other case by case situational decisions can be empowered by a relevant patent search and this extends to not just companies but academic institutions, students, Government agencies and individual inventors.