Is your invention unique?
Let's find out: Patent Search

A patent search can be carried out at different points in the innovation and invention process:

Before and during the development phase of your invention: It is advisable to conduct a patent search during the planning phase or at least before your invention is completed. This gives you an overview of the current industry situation, enabling you not only to prevent the expenditure of unnecessary development costs at an early stage, but also to develop a targeted modification or an alternative solution approach.

Immediately before filing a patent application: In order to rule out the possibility that others have already filed a patent application for your invention during the development phase or that novelty-destroying publications could conflict with your own application, you should conduct a patent search after the development phase and immediately before the planned patenting. This allows you to differentiate your invention from pre-published solutions right from the start.

For a grant of your patent: The patent search is a mandatory part of the patent examination procedure for obtaining a granted patent. In the European patent granting procedure before the EPO, the patent search is mandatory from the beginning and is also made available to the public as a search report in the course of the publication of the patent application. Unlike a European patent application, you have seven years from the filing date of a German patent to request an ex officio search. If you request the examination of the patent application with which the grant of a patent can be sought, the official search is a mandatory component and at the same time forms the basis of the German grant procedure.

After further development of the invention: Have you further developed your invention, optimized your product as a result of market research, or adapted it to the current state of the art? Then we recommend that you carry out a patent search here as well. Thus, you check the current innovativeness of your patent as well as the patentability of your invention from the point of view of competitive markets and constantly growing competition.

Before a planned product launch: Before you enter the market with your product, it is advisable to conduct a new search, because often a considerable amount of time elapses between the start of development and the product launch, during which the patent landscape may well have changed. In this case, a so-called freedom-to-operate research is recommended in order to be able to clearly evaluate your freedom of action on the market.

Your invention as a trade secret: You may have decided not to apply for a patent at all. This can be considered, for example, if you want to keep a procedure secret. This is because a patent application, including its contents, is published after 18 months. With a (technical) patent, however, you only obtain protection for 20 years, not beyond. So it may well be worth not applying for a patent to keep your competitors in the dark about how you carry out their secret process. Since your competitors do not (or cannot) know about your proceedings and may be seeking a patent of their own, you should nevertheless carry out a search in order to avoid being warned by your competitors later on or being asked to pay high damages. Therefore, even if you decide to keep your invention secret as an in-house invention, you should conduct a patent search at regular intervals, because your competitors are not inactive. A patent search provides you with a timely overview of new patent applications filed by your competitors.