|
Patent Assignment Database Searches – Value Of Such Searches
The US Patent Assignment Database can be searched to locate patents granted and patents pending which are similar to the one you want to register or have applied for already. The US Patent Assignment Database consists of full text and image databases containing information about patents issued from 1976.
The user can also search the US Patent Assignment Database for patents issued from 1790 to present available in TIFF format. The full text patents from 1976 are searchable by means of a patent number, quick or advanced search.
The TIFF image patents databases from 1790 to present can be searched according to classification codes or patent numbers. According to studies searches through the US Patent Assignment Database are only about 60% accurate. If one hopes to minimize the risk of infringement it is best to make use of multiple search techniques.
One of the additional search techniques as an alternative to searching the US Patent Assignment Database only is to search through several such databases, starting with your home country such as South Africa, PCT databases, and then the USPTO databases.
In addition you may also want to conduct inventor based searches as well as assignee based searches through all of the above. If one hopes to do a thorough search, it is imperative to include journal databases in the patent search as well in addition to the Patent Assignment Database search.
Value Of The Patent Assignment Database
Not only can one conduct a search for the purpose of finding any infringements or to minimize the risk of infringing on an existing or pending patent by registering a patent, but also to find competitive intelligence related information.
If for instance, you want to know what a competitor in IT or manufacturing has been doing such as patents registered; it will be a good starting point. Companies register specific patents for the purpose of exploiting them commercially. It will be a good indication as to the business strategy that the competitor plans to follow.
Contact us today to help you with in-depth Patent Assignment Database searches.
|
