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​WHAT WE CAN FIND FOR YOU

​Patent Searching​​.

Using the best data sources and strategies available, our patent​ search specialists will work alongside your engineers, scientists, legal, and executive teams to uncover deeply comprehensive search results, delivered on time, and uniquely tailored to your needs and budget. With Aurora Consulting, you will have an embedded, business-savvy, U.S.-based patent search expert, while avoiding the cost and hassle of a full-time employee, as well as the risks that can come​ with traditional offshore outsourcing.

We are high-touch strategic patent search experts, and we excel in assisting you with due diligence search efforts in order to make confident and strategic patent portfolio decisions in a highly cost-effective manner. Our search team is composed of professionals with PhDs, Master’s Degrees, and veteran researchers with extensive technical knowledge, subject matter expertise, and years of experience searching numerous databases to find related patent and non-patent literature prior art. We take great pride in our ​bar-setting standards of meticulousness, quality, accountability, and confidentiality.

We understand the importance of thorough, in-depth patent research and we’re able to expertly calibrate that against your unique patent portfolio needs, based on your technology, competitive landscape, position along the financing timeline, and exit strategy. We offer several levels of services that cover both US and foreign patents, from one-time static data reports to guided analysis all the way to continuous monitoring.

Search

Patent searching is an essential and often first step in an effective portfolio management strategy. Our expert research team will use the best data sources and strategies available to uncover deeply comprehensive search results, delivered on time, and uniquely tailored to your needs and budget. 

Designed for the independent inventor, startup, business, corporation, and law firm that requires due diligence search results in order to make confident and strategic IP decisions in the event of litigation, licensing opportunities, research and design, or to weigh the expenses of patent application filings. 

Types of patent and prior art searches  
  • Knock-out patentability / novelty
  • In-depth patentability / novelty
  • State of the art / collection
  • Landscape
  • Freedom to operate (FTO)
  • Infringement / non-infringement 
  • Validity / invalidity​
 
Search Details
  • ​A prior art search conducted by experienced patent agents tailored to your specific needs
  • A worldwide search of patents, patent applications, and non-patent literature in technologies covering all subject / art areas
  • Receive a report listing the prior art references, search strategy strings used, and number of results.
  • Depending on requirements, receive a report mapping the top references to your invention disclosure or the claims in question.
  • Internal second search and quality check on all searches
  • Search strategies using classification, subclasses, keywords, and synonyms across numerous databases

Analysis

We've found the art and you've seen the publications, but now what does it all mean? We dig deeply through the raw data, extract meaning, and then walk you through the implications of the results based on business objectives, company stage, and the state of the technology. 

Designed for the innovator who wants a quick look all the way to those who need to understand the dynamics of the data at the most granular, but guided level. Deliverables can include reports summarized at a level appropriate for conversations with inventors.
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  • Search type specific reports highlighting details like key excerpts, bibliographic data, status (abandoned, issued, etc), differences between discovered art and your technology, etc.
  • Guided discussion of the analysis and further reviews as needed
  • Formality and structure custom-tailored to needs (ex: investor consumption)

Monitor

Search results aren't static. Innovation progresses by the minute and we can help you keep up with the ever shifting landscape. 

Designed for innovators who want to understand focus points and strategic movement of competitors, the changing patentability landscape, or potential freedom to operate concerns.
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  • Publication-level: Monitor for patent activity by inventor, company, and/or technology space. Remain aware of any new patent applications and publications.
  • Transaction-level: Competitor patent monitoring for the most granular updates to USPTO PAIR (Patent Application Information Retrieval) system including claim amendments during prosecution, maintenance fee payment transactions, re-examination proceedings, and patent reissues.


​Contact us for a customized assessment of your unique patent searching, analysis, and monitoring needs​​.
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Let's talk!

What are the different ways to search for Patents and Prior Art?


New to searching and what all of the options are, why you might care, or how you might utilize the various search strategies? ​Patent searching is a very broad domain, composed of several highly-focused search types.

​Knock-out patentability / Novelty Search
The knock-out search is the perfect search strategy when you are in the initial stages of product planning and development. Prior to investing time and money in an invention, a knock-out search may identify prior art (patents and published applications) that prevents you from making or selling a particular product or from patenting certain aspects of your invention. This is a limited, lower budget search that provides the 5-8 closest patents and applications.  

In-depth Patentability / Novelty Search
The in-depth patentability / novelty search is an enhanced search strategy that focuses on patents, published applications, and non-patent literature so that you can confidently proceed in developing and patenting your product. The search will examine references for both anticipation and obviousness. The top references are ranked and the relevant portions of the references are highlighted for easy review. As an additional service, two to four of the top references are mapped to your invention elements.  

State of the Art / Collection Search
A state of the art or collection search is a comprehensive search in a particular technical field. Used frequently by research and development teams, the state of the art search will report the current trends in that field, thereby assisting in future product development. A state of the art search also provides businesses critical information when determining their patent portfolio value, evaluating licensing opportunities, and potential mergers or acquisitions.  Working closely with your specific interests and business needs, a state of the art search is personalized to meet your goals. ​

Landscape Search
A landscape search is used to ensure sound business decisions and investment. The search supports making a determination of commercial or licensing values of your patents or deciding the benefits or risks of entering a new technical area. This search provides competitive intelligence by monitoring certain technology markets, identifying white space in a crowded field, and understanding your current and new competitors.   

Freedom to Operate Search (FTO)
A freedom to operate search is needed prior to launching a product to ensure that you can freely produce, use or sell the product in a given jurisdiction. This is a broad search covering the technology area. The freedom to operate search also exposes potential market areas where you may expand your technology. This search covers global patents, applications, and non-patent literature in order to gain an understanding of what exists in the public domain.  

Infringement / Non-infringement Search
An infringement / non-infringement search investigates whether the claims of an enforceable, unexpired patent covers the same product as your invention. In a very crowded technology or product field, an early infringement search potentially saves you a lot of time and money by finding any patents or pending applications on which you would infringe. The search focuses on the claims of references of U.S. patents and patent applications.  

Validity / Invalidity Search
A validity / invalidity search is for investigating the novelty of a claimed invention. A validity / invalidity search is a comprehensive search conducted after the issuance of a patent to locate any prior art before the priority date that validates or invalidates the claims of that patent. This search strategy is critical when you are being sued for patent infringement or when you have potential profitable licensing opportunities. Additionally, a validity search is used to determine whether your patent will hold up to scrutiny when you are considering enforcing your rights.
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Low cost, high impact strategies

Want to go even deeper on the mission-critical business benefits of patent searching? Listen below for an in-depth primer on the low cost, high impact world of patent search, analysis, and monitoring. In this episode of the Patently Strategic Podcast, our resident search expert, ​Shelley Couturier, details how you can answer critical product and business questions like:
  • Is my idea patentable (novel and non-obvious)?
  • Would I eventually be able to license or enforce my patent down the road?
  • Who else is competing in this area and where’s the whitespace?
  • If I get a patent, can I freely produce and sell the idea without the costly risk of infringement litigation?

​Still have questions? Contact us for a complimentary consultation about your patent searching, result analysis, and competitor monitoring needs.
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