When does an Invalidity Search or Opposition Search required?

In this digital age with the digitization of old records, we have access to the relevant information that was unreachable before. These new databases contain foreign records as well. Hence there is always a possibility that an examiner might have overlooked a prior art. The invalidity search might help you:

• If there is a Patent Infringement Suit against a Product:

When a party is accused of patent infringement, the accused party can use the invalidity search service to challenge the novelty and non-obviousness of the patent in question and invalidate the patent, thus rendering the infringement accusation unfounded.   The accused party can also utilize the invalidity search to prove that their product is novel and is not infringing the said patent.

• If you want to do a Patent Portfolio Assessment:

Invalidation Search can also be used to establish the strength of the patents. For example, an invalidity search report suggesting that the claims of a patent are novel, non-obvious and that they do not fall under any statutory exception of patents, establishes the patent’s strength and makes the patent more valuable. Contrary to this, the presence of a close prior art in the search report could suggest that patent claims may be weak. Hence, the findings of the invalidity search can be utilized to explore and negotiate licensing opportunities.

Invalidity search can be used as a voluntary step by any company, organization, or individual to assess the strength of its patents.

• If you want to keep a check on your competitors:

Patent invalidation searches can be very in diminishing the patents of competitors. This is because invalidity searches not only dictate whether the claims of a granted patent are non-novel and evident, but also whether they fall under the ambit of statutory exceptions for the grant of patents such as the invention was already in use or available for sale or exhibited to the public for more than 12 months before filing the patent application, or the patent was obtained wrongfully or fraudulently.

The main aim here is to unearth the prior references that were overlooked during the prosecution of said patent, which can invalidate the granted patents of the competitors, thus clearing the competitive business field.

Read More:- https://synopticip.com/pis/patent-invalidity-search