Searching is our flagship service. We provide the highest level of Patent & Non-Patent Literature Searching in the industry. Our team includes highly talented Patent Agents, Patent Engineers and Scientists that are highly technical, legally knowledgeable, great communicators and experts at finding high-quality references.

 View our Areas of Expertise page for a detailed description of our competencies  

Our customized Search Report is formatted to be easy to read and navigate through, yet is extremely thorough and detailed. It features the following information:

• An in-depth discussion of our findings with reasoning for reference citation unless no analysis is requested
• If analysis is requested, the report is broken into "Core References", "Patents to Note References" and " Non-Patent Literature References"
• Consultation with examiners at the USPTO
• Our search methodology including databases used, database coverage, key words, search strings and much more
• Annotated, highlighted and text searchable PDF copies of core references found (available upon request)
  

We have access to a large and extensive number of sources including documents from over 100 databases spanning over 70 countries. We use state-of-the-art searching software to ensure we provide you with the highest quality search possible. Unless otherwise specified, we perform an in-depth search of US Patents, Published US Patent Applications, International (PCT/WO) Publications, Foreign Patents, Foreign Published Applications and Published Technical Literature.

Our Search Reports, along with other documents related to your search, will be available to you through our web-based document management site.

Click here for a detailed description of our Search Sources.

Patentability/Novelty

Our Patentability/Novelty Search is an extensive search based upon an invention or concept. The results can provide insight as to whether an invention may be patentable and assist in determining the value and coverage of the invention. The search may cover any combination of the following: U.S. Patents, U.S. Published Applications, International (PCT/WO) Publications, Foreign Patents, Foreign Publications, and Published Technical Literature.  To best tailor the search to balance comprehensiveness with budget, we have defined tiers for patentability searches.  The tiers correspond to the comprehensiveness level desired. 

Gold     

The Gold Patentability Search is a very comprehensive search.  The search will include a very thorough search of US Patents and Published Applications, Foreign Patents and Published Applications as well as Non-Patent Literature, unless otherwise requested.  This level of comprehensiveness requires more search hours than the lower tiers.

Silver   

The Silver Patentability Search is a fairly comprehensive search rather than a completely exhaustive search.  Searches in this tier will not involve as many hours as with the Gold Patentability Search.  The hours for the search can be allocated in multiple ways to provide the most value.  For example, if a search of US Patents and Published Applications is of the most interest, a majority or all of the search hours can be allocated accordingly wherein the search of Foreign Patents and Published Applications and Non-Patent Literature is very briefly covered or excluded.  Another way in which the search hours can be allocated would be less a comprehensive but equal allocation to US Patents and Published Applications, Foreign Patents and Published Applications as well as Non-Patent Literature.   

Bronze

The Bronze Patentability Search is a very basic “first blush” search of an inventive concept.  It is often performed to see if references containing the subject matter of the search can be uncovered quickly.  This search is by no means comprehensive and given the limited timing of the search, usually requires additional searching especially if the concepts of the search are not immediately uncovered.  The search will typically include only US Patents and Published Applications.  If requested, some of the search hours can be allocated from the search of US Patents and Published Applications to provide a very brief covering of Foreign Patents and/or Published Applications as well as Non-Patent Literature.

Accelerated Examination Searches

Global Patent Solutions has always made it a top priority to provide the highest quality searches which cover extensive search sources. As a result, our search reports and search methodology were already in-line with the expectations of the USPTO for the Accelerated Examination program. Our searches cover U.S. & Foreign Patents and Published Applications, International Publications as well as Non-Patent Literature in accordance with the guidelines of the PCT Minimum Documentation. After completion of your Accelerated Examination search, we will provide you with a completed Pre-examination Search Document that can be directly filed with your application and information formatted to be placed in the Pre-examination Support Document. More information regarding the Accelerated Examination Program is available on the USPTO's website at http://www.uspto.gov/web/patents/accelerated/.

IMPORTANT: In order to comply with the requirements of the Accelerated Examination, it is required that we search all claims as they will appear when they are filed and any additional disclosure/features not claimed in the set provided but that may later be claimed (possibly during prosecution).
If you have any further questions regarding our Accelerated Examination Searches, Contact Us.

Examination Support Document (ESD) Services

Our high quality searches provide the most accurate data, and our detailed search reports assist in the preparation of the examination support document (ESD), which must be submitted if an application contains more than five independent claims or more than twenty-five total claims(five/twenty-five claim threshold), counting all of the claims in any other copending application having a patentably indistinct claim. The search will include an in-depth search of U.S. Patents, U.S. Published Applications, International (PCT/WO) Publications, Foreign Patents, Foreign Publications, and Published Technical Literature. The search will identify the United States and IPC classes and subclasses searched, database searches, the search logic or chemical structure or sequence used as a query, the name of the file or files searched and the database service as well as the date of the search. The search will encompass all limitations of each claim as well as disclosed but unclaimed features that may later be claimed. The USPTO search templates will also be considered when performing the search. The searches will be very similar to those performed in Accelerated Examinations.

Freedom-to-Operate Search/Infringement/Clearance

Generally, this is a search of non-expired U.S. Patents. This search is primarily focused on patent claims, which are analyzed to determine if they would preclude a certain invention from manufacture, use or sale.

State-of-the-Art/Collection

A state-of-the art/collection search is a broad search covering a general inventive concept or general idea. It does not require specifics of the invention and “paints-the-picture” of what information already exists for the inventive concept. This search is highly useful for insight into unpatented niches, product liability and investment opportunities. Given the diverse applicability of State-of-the-Art searches, a tier system was developed that corresponds to a desired level of comprehensiveness.

Gold   

The Gold State-of-the-Art Search is a very comprehensive yet broad search and will uncover most if not all references regarding the general inventive concept or general idea of the search.  Typically, this search will cite a very large set of references (100+) depending on the technology and the amount of patenting activity for the general inventive concept or general idea.  This level of comprehensiveness requires more hours to search than the Silver Search discussed below.

A Gold State-of-the-Art Search is different from a Patent Intelligence Report (Patent Landscape Study) in that the Patent Intelligence Reports (Patent Landscape Studies) are a combination of a Gold State-of-the-Art search with a very in-depth analysis of the results.  A State-of-the-Art Search typically provides a list of references along with corresponding Bibliographic Data.  Depending upon the scope of the search, the references may be categorized by search concepts.  A Patent Intelligence Report (Patent Landscape Study), on the other hand, provides in addition to the uncovered references uncovered, thorough and extensive analysis.  These searches are customized whereby data such as technology, claims, assignee, inventors, industry sectors, etc. is manipulated into various charts and graphs and other reporting formats to provide a unique report to help identify patent gaps and provide valuable analysis and data.  Click here to find out more about Patent Intelligence Reports if you are interested in this type of search. 

Silver 

The Silver State-of-the-Art Search is a search that uncovers a representative sample of references regarding the general inventive or search concept.  Rather than identifying each and every applicable reference, the search cites a sample of references having different combinations of features to provide a representation of the patenting activity in a particular technology field.  Typically this search will identify about 50 or fewer references.  This search is useful to help broadly identify the patenting activity in a technology field or regarding a search concept.  As such it is not as comprehensive and involves fewer hours than the Gold State-of-the-Art Search.  

Validity/Invalidity

This search is based upon a critical effective filing date and is used to determine if specific claims of a patent are valid. This is an extremely comprehensive search including, U.S. Patents, U.S. Published Applications, Foreign Patents, Foreign Publications, International (PCT/WO) Publications, and Non-Patent Literature. This type of a search can also provide insight into the value of a patent as well as a possible licensing opportunity.