PRIOR ART
STRATEGIES
FOR SUCCESSFUL PRIOR ART SEARCHING
It is essential to undertake a thorough prior art search before investing time and money in any potential new invention as there is usually little to gain from development if the technology is not novel, as Ian Pearce explains.
An unoriginal technology will not only make legal protection impossible, but may also risk infringing other technologies. Attempting a prior art search can appear daunting, as it should encompass anything that has previously been made publicly available in any form, but a number of tips and tricks can be employed to help simplify the search process and determine what is a genuine advance in technology.
Database selection
Te most significant starting point for any prior art search is the worldwide patent literature. Tere are numerous databases to use. It is important to understand which patent offices, document types and date ranges are covered within those databases, as well as any gaps in their data, so that an informed decision can be taken as to whether the search is sufficiently comprehensive.
A diligent prior art search will include both patents and non-patent literature (NPL) such as journals,
conference information, industry newsletters and business reports. Tis can be especially important for fast-moving industries where technology can outpace the time between filing and subsequent publication of a patent application.
A platform such as Dialog, which aggregates a rich collection of patents and NPL and allows them both to be easily searched using a common search language and interface, can help bridge the gap between patents and NPL.
Synonyms and indexing
In general, patents are written to obtain legal protection and not to aid retrieval by a searcher. As patents are oſten at the forefront of technology there may not even be accepted words or phrases in general use to describe the key parts of the invention. So searching for a variety of synonyms as well as a combination of technical and everyday language is important.
84 World Intellectual Property Review September/October 2012
Te use of proximity search operators (such as ‘near’ or ‘within’, for example, depending on the search language) to draw words together should also be used to overcome potential issues with the legalese-style text oſten used in patents, such as variations in normal spoken word order.
Te database Derwent World Patents Index® provides clear, meaningful titles and abstracts as written by an in-house subject specialist. It can also provide distinct advantages over searching the text as published in the original patents.
Using the richness of the databases being searched can also be beneficial. Many database suppliers will index patents using their own proprietary classification schemes as well as making those employed by the respective patent offices available. Te use of a variety of classification schemes will oſten uncover relevant prior art which may otherwise be missed. Many search platforms
www.worldipreview.com
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