This search is the most important step in the process of obtaining a patent for your invention. It is essential to confirm whether your invention is truly new or if, on the contrary, it is already covered by a prior patent.

Some intellectual property firms still offer their clients the option of searching only the US patent database, which contains approximately 70% of the patents filed worldwide.

It's important to understand that there is only one inventor in the world for each invention. A search limited to the United States therefore carries a very high risk, as it is possible that a patent for a similar invention, not filed in the United States, could be cited as an opposition by patent examiners. In such a case, your official patent applications would be rejected, regardless of the countries in which they were filed. This is why, at Inventarium, we only offer international patent searches.

After a thorough analysis of the patents deemed relevant to your invention, the patent attorney will prepare a detailed report of the search results, divided into seven distinct sections:

- Description of the patent attorney's mandate

- Description of the invention

- Characteristics of the invention

- Prior art search

- Description of the patents deemed relevant

- Analysis of the patents deemed relevant

- Criteria for obtaining an official patent

- Conclusion

Description of the Research Agent's Mandate:

The research agent's mandate is to conduct a search of prior patents related to your invention, taking into account the information you provide to the Inventarium through your confidential disclosure document and its attachments. They will also use the description of your invention and the list of source codes, classes, and classifications prepared by the assessor.

This search aims to identify patents describing structures and mechanisms that are legally similar to your invention in order to assess your chances of obtaining a patent. By reviewing these patents, you will also be able to compare existing technologies and, if possible, improve the technical aspects of your invention.

Please note that the research agent is not required to list all relevant patents related to the field of your invention, as this search ends as soon as a patent describes an invention deemed identical or very similar to yours, thus eliminating any possibility of obtaining an official patent for that invention.

Description of the Invention:

To ensure that the agent conducted their search using the correct description of your invention, the description appearing on their report will be exactly the same as the one appearing on your evaluation report. Please note that you will have previously signed a document confirming that this description corresponds in every respect to your invention.

Features of the Invention:

In this section, the research agent will list the features of your invention that were searched in prior patents. Prior Art Search: In this section, the agent will list the main classes and subclasses of documents consulted to conduct their search.

Description of Relevant Patents:

In this section, the agent will identify the prior patents they deemed relevant and that relate specifically to your invention. For each patent, he will describe the features claimed therein that correspond to one or another of the features of your invention.

 

Analysis of Relevant Patents:

Following the analysis of relevant prior patents identified by the agent during their search, they will share their conclusion regarding the key features of your invention and its potential for protection. To obtain a formal patent, your invention must add an element to already patented systems. Therefore, if one or more features of your invention are not found in prior patents, the probability of obtaining a patent is excellent. However, if the analysis of prior patents shows that its various features are already found in one or more of the listed patents, the chances of obtaining a patent are lower, but not necessarily zero. Indeed, it is possible to obtain a formal patent if it can be demonstrated that the technique used to achieve an equivalent or better result is distinct from those used in the various listed patents. Having a thorough understanding of your invention down to the smallest detail, if you reach this conclusion and decide to pursue a formal patent, it is recommended that you first file a provisional patent application. This grants you a priority date that will protect your invention for 12 months. The provisional patent application essentially involves disclosing, in an official document submitted to the U.S. Patent Office, all the information you already know about your invention. With this protection secured, you will then be able to discuss your invention more freely and with complete peace of mind, whether to develop it further, improve it, or to verify its viability through market research.

In the field of invention and innovation, it's common for an invention that initially appears unpatentable to become patentable during development. Take Urgenstop, my emergency auxiliary system for traffic lights, as an example. Initially, all the components I planned to use were commonplace (fault detector, flashing light, battery charger, rechargeable batteries, etc.), so the search for prior patents yielded unfavorable results. However, during product development, it became necessary to create a fault detector specifically adapted for traffic lights. As a result, I was able to file and obtain an excellent patent for this invention. Note, however, that if you make significant modifications to your invention before filing your official patent application, it's advisable to conduct a supplementary patent search for these new components. If none of the features described in your provisional patent prove to be patentable, your provisional patent will be of no use and only the new patentable features will be considered when filing the official patent application.

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Criteria for Obtaining a Patent:

It is important to know that to grant an official patent for an invention, patent office examiners must determine whether the invention meets the following four criteria: • It must relate to a conventionally patentable subject matter; • It must be useful; • It must be novel worldwide; • It must not be obvious to persons skilled in the art of the invention. These criteria are cumulative and all must be met for the invention to be recognized as patentable. Since a patent search agent cannot replace the patent examiners, they cannot definitively determine whether an official patent application will be granted or rejected.

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Conclusion:

You must be aware of the random nature of prior patent searches conducted by the search agent. Internationally, there are tens of millions of patents sorted into numerous classes and subclasses, totaling over 140,000 classification areas. At the U.S. Patent Office alone, over 4,000 employees classify documents, and the choice of classes and subclasses can vary from one individual to another. Despite all the care taken in their searches, the search agent cannot guarantee that they have examined all existing patents on a given subject, as it is always possible that such a document may have been classified differently, misfiled, or simply misplaced. Furthermore, it is also possible that more relevant references to the invention may become available later. There may be a pending patent application for a similar invention that has not yet been made available for searching. The pending patent application remains inaccessible to the public for 18 months from its filing date, and therefore the agent cannot identify it. Since the search is limited to identifying prior patents, other documents may exist in catalogs, websites, journals, newspapers, or elsewhere that could potentially be cited in opposition to the invention by a patent examiner. Nevertheless, the results of the prior patent search provide a valuable reference that allows the inventor to make an informed decision in their best interests.