Patent research & tools

A 360° patent strategy requires the use of many tools and databases, some of which come at a cost and require time to be set up according to the company’s needs.

In-house IP departments are often overloaded with work and may need assistance to cope with the workload in-house, to grow the department, or by outsourcing part of the job.

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Experienced IP attorneys

Our multidisciplinary team of experienced IP attorneys and an in-house searcher can support you or your IP department in many ways.

Online collaboration

Our default way of communication and collaboration is as much as possible through shared workspaces and online collaboration on the same document. Some examples are:

• A dedicated client space for each of our clients on our sharepoint, for sharing office documents, workfiles and the like

• A client login on our IP management database (Equinox)
• Set up of alerts on public or licensed databases to monitor IP activities of your competitors

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Streamlined processes

We strive to maximise efficiency both in-house and with our businesses relations, to reduce overhead and avoid unnecessary costs. For example, we have chosen a renewals provider (CPI) with whom we can pass on instructions online and provide you with a budget forecast at the touch of a button.

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Patent research

We have chosen to work with an in-house patent searcher so that your sensitive data does not need to be sent to any third party for patent research. In any case, one of our experienced attorneys is involved in the research process.  

After careful analysis, we have chosen Orbit Intelligence as the best tool for patent research according to our needs.

We offer (for example) the following types of searches at fixed prices (please contact us for more details):

• Knock-out novelty search: a quick assessment if a new idea or concept could be patentable. A simple search with a quick turnaround at an affordable price.
• Feasibility search: a more thorough patentability assessment with a prima facie FTO assessment on the results. The purpose is to provide a tool for early-stage risk assessment: will the patent application lead to grant & are there any infringement risks?

• Freedom-to-operate search & opinion: Before launching a new product, you want to rule out any infringement risks. But given the fact that there are millions of granted patents and pending applications, finding an answer to such questions can be a tedious and time-consuming process. In a first stage we determine together with you which aspects of your product are to be researched, following which our searcher prepares a longlist of patents which may need further review. In a second stage, we determine together with you a shortlist of patents at which we need to take a closer look, and one of our experienced patent attorneys performs an infringement risk assessment.
• Patent invalidation search: You are bothered by one of your competitor’s patents and you want to find documentation for the purpose of invalidation of the patent in opposition or nullity proceedings. Or, you want to make sure your own patent is valid before enforcing it against your competitor. Just give us the patent number, and we will perform a full-blown prior art search.

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A team of lawyers and IP professionals

We are a tech savvy team of lawyers and IP professionals who are ready to invest in IT tools which we can use to optimize collaboration with our clients and enhance efficiency on both sides.

All our patent searches are carried out by an inhouse patent searcher in cooperation with an experience patent attorney. This way, we can ensure short delivery times without compromising on quality. And your sensitive data is not forwarded to any third party offering search services.

We make use of professional patent databases with possibilities for online collaboration with the client. In this way, we can interact efficiently with you to come to the desired result in the shortest possible term.

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