{"id":539,"date":"2020-04-09T17:28:37","date_gmt":"2020-04-09T21:28:37","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/kilpatricktownsend.jp\/?p=539"},"modified":"2022-02-03T05:48:36","modified_gmt":"2022-02-03T10:48:36","slug":"patentability-searches-bust-or-save-in-house-counsel-budgets","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/kilpatricktownsend.jp\/en\/patentability-searches-bust-or-save-in-house-counsel-budgets\/","title":{"rendered":"Patentability Searches – Bust or Save In-House Counsel Budgets?"},"content":{"rendered":"

In my technical areas of electronics and software, I\u2019ve often heard in-house counsel say it isn\u2019t worth the cost of doing patentability searches. They are trying for a large volume of patents, and it isn\u2019t worth a lot of budget on each one. It usually goes something like this:<\/p>\n

A patentability search can cost $1-3,000. That\u2019s an additional $20,000 on average for each 10 applications. If they save you from filing two applications, it is only breaking even. In most cases, it just means you get narrower claims, so the application preparation costs aren\u2019t saved. When the Examiner does his\/her search, we\u2019ll deal with the prior art then \u2013 that\u2019s what dependent claims with fallback positions are for.<\/em><\/p>\n

I\u2019d like to suggest that this ignores a number of cost saving and quality benefits in addition to saving patent application preparation costs once in a while.<\/p>\n

    \n
  1. A patentability search can save the entire prosecution cost, not just application preparation costs.\u00a0Without a patentability search, an application is not only prepared, but government fees are paid, and prosecution costs of multiple amendments are paid, until the claims are narrowed so much that they are abandoned as worthless or issued with narrow claims with little worth. Since it often takes extended prosecution, with one or more RCEs (Request for Continued Examination), this means a cost around $40,000 total could be saved if a patentability search shows the invention is not new.<\/li>\n
  2. A patentability search on an application that is filed can save at least one office action.\u00a0This alone would more than cover the extra cost of the patentability search. If the search shows the broadest claims are clearly known, the claims can be narrowly targeted to focus on a clear distinction. This eliminates the need to do an amendment to do this, and then have to subsequently argue against a rejection of that narrower claim. In addition, if you avoid the broad claim that is clearly shown by prior art easily findable, you avoid putting the examiner in the mindset that you haven\u2019t done your homework and don\u2019t know what you are talking about. Putting the examiner in that mindset would make the narrower claim more difficult to get than if you led with it in the first place.<\/li>\n
  3. A patentability search improves the quality of the patent.\u00a0It is surprising how often inventors are unaware of prior art \u2013 they are aware of products, but not earlier patent publications and many articles. By making them aware of the prior art, they will often provide additional disclosure you might not have obtained otherwise, to distinguish the prior art. This provides support for claims where otherwise you might end up with an overly narrow patent, or have to abandon it because all the features described in the application are described are in the prior art. I\u2019ve seen inventors mention distinctions from prior art in an office action, but the distinctions weren\u2019t in the application.<\/li>\n
  4. A patentability search provides art for an IDS (Information Disclosure Statement).\u00a0If you get an examiner that doesn\u2019t do a good job, the issued patent may be very susceptible to attack later. By citing the prior art from the search, you make it more difficult to attack the patent later based on that prior art.<\/li>\n
  5. A patentability search does double duty as a mini-FTO.\u00a0While a Freedom to Operate review is more expensive, and focuses on the claims rather than the disclosure, a patentability search will often turn up much of what would be revealed in an FTO search. Any problem claims can then be dealt with early on, by design around or a non-infringement\/invalidity opinion. This will also show a level of diligence that will be helpful for defending against willfulness charges for different patents, perhaps on different products, that weren\u2019t found. In certain instances, this may show that a full FTO is warranted.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    Whether you do it in-house or ask outside counsel to do it, and whether it is quick and dirty or more extensive, a patentability search is usually more than worth the extra cost.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    In my technical areas of electronics and software, I\u2019ve often heard in-house counsel say it isn\u2019t worth the cost of doing patentability searches. They are trying for a large volume of patents, and it isn\u2019t worth a lot of budget on each one. It usually goes something like this: A patentability search can cost $1-3,000. […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":25,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[131],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-539","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-alerts"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nPatentability Searches - Bust or Save In-House Counsel Budgets? - Kilpatrick<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/kilpatricktownsend.jp\/en\/patentability-searches-bust-or-save-in-house-counsel-budgets\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Patentability Searches - Bust or Save In-House Counsel Budgets? - Kilpatrick\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"In my technical areas of electronics and software, I\u2019ve often heard in-house counsel say it isn\u2019t worth the cost of doing patentability searches. 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