What is a Worldwide Patent Search
A worldwide patent search is a comprehensive search for existing and published patent applications across multiple countries and international patent databases. The goal of a worldwide patent search is to identify prior art (existing inventions or designs) that may affect the patentability of a new invention or pose a risk of patent infringement.
The Importance of a Patent Search for Securing Grant Funding for Innovation
Patent search is a tool to support your R&D tax credit application.
The importance of well-prepared R&D tax credit applications, specifically the inclusion of Worldwide Patent Searches (WWPS), has become increasingly prominent in the business landscape, particularly in light of HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) heightened scrutiny of claims.
Why Innovate?
We have a highly experienced team of trained intellectual property researchers who specialise in finding patent documents related to the submitted ideas. We have produced thousands of these search reports over the last 20 years.
We subscribe to private databases that are not available to the general public. This means that even if you were an expert in using Google or Espacenet, you still might not be able to find the range and breadth of patent documents that our researchers are able to collate.
Patent searches in the media
“Up to 80% of current technical knowledge
can only be found in patent documents”
European Patent Office (EPO)
“Before you spend any more money,
you need to do a patent search”
Karren Brady
Talking to The Sun newspaper about bringing a product to market
“The best and most reliable patent search
will be done by a professional”
IP Watchdog
Specialist Insight
Professional patent search services provide a detailed report and include a consultation to help you decide what to do next.
Innovate experts use their knowledge of the system to uncover results that may otherwise have been missed.
Classification code system
The International Patent Classification (IPC) is a system of symbols for the classification of patents by relevant technology type. Our team know how to use the classification code system to find relevant patents.
Keywords
Patents are written with specific wording not used commonly elsewhere. A patent research expert knows the words to search and can identify similar words to base further investigation around.
Professional software
At Innovate we use expensive specialist software called Orbit Intelligence by Questel to execute a deep search of the patent databases.
Image credits
"Businesswoman and Presenter Baroness Karren Brady and Footballer Frank Lampard attended the Stock Exchange opening." by usembassylondon is marked with CC BY-ND 2.0. To view the terms, visit https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/2.0/?ref=openverse
"File:The new European Patent Office in Rijswijk.jpg" by Rob Oo is marked with CC BY 2.0. To view the terms, visit https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0/?ref=openverse