TechSys Insights conducts prior art searches to document designs and processes which have been developed by others. The benefits and goals of prior art searches include:

• Identification of all existing solutions prior to initiation of R&D spending.
• Identification of potential competitors and what they are doing.
• Generation of a documented prior art search which will expedite future IPR filings.
• A reference usable for infringement assessments to ensure there are no surprises in IP enforcement procedures, whether offensive or defensive.

This will ensure that solutions under development leverage the expertise that has been developed previously, identifies ownership of various solutions to aid in ‘make and buy’ decisions, and finally identifies whether internally developed solutions infringe on the rights of IP ownership from others. In the latter case, prior art searches may also identify improvements over prior solutions which would then become patents in their own right.

While each country’s patent database may contain such prior art, the real potential typically exists in other venues – technical publications, product brochures from past products/releases, conference materials and the like. With our own personal experience from several years in the industry, we know which forums are likely to contain relevant information, and optimize our search to deliver results quickly.