How Our Patent Research Works
Getting a patent can be long, difficult and expensive. We’ve made your first step, a patent search, as easy as possible. Below is a breakdown of a patent search with Simple Patents.
Initial Consultation
Before doing a search, we always make sure that you have all your questions answered. We are happy to discuss your project over the phone or email. We will also collect your customer information and prepare a Nondisclosure Agreement for you.
Invention Disclosure
Write down a complete description of your invention. If you have photos or drawings, be sure to include them.
Initial Review & Consultation
Once we have your invention disclosure, we will conduct a review to make sure we have enough information. We will discuss the invention with you and make sure you are satisfied with our understanding of your invention before you pay.
Payment
Once we receive payment, we will begin your search.
Keyword Searching & Drill-Down
When we a start a patent search, we create a list of keywords and features that describe your invention. We then search the words in combination to create a set of reference of interest that we can analyze for patterns in classification. (For more information about how classification works, see our article on patent classification)
Class Analysis
We have developed our tools in-house for analyzing patent data to determine where to search. Once we know which subclasses are the most promising, we pull up complete sets of the classification from the USPTO.
Classified Searching
In most cases, we search the top 2-5 subclasses completely irrespective of the time frame. This means that in a typical search, we will search 2-3,000 patents.
Final Analysis & Citation Searching
When we have the top classes fully searched, and we have a set of promising references, we analyze that set to see if any new subclasses arise. If any new ones come up, we search those completely, too. We may go with process a few times to ensure we have covered sufficient ground.
After we have fully searched the relevant subclasses, and we have a near-final list, we’re still not done! We take our top list and search all the citations for every reference. That means we look at every patent that is cited inside that document and every patent that cites that patent. This is another process where we have created our own tools to pull up these lists faster.
Search Report & Data Delivery
Reporting is one area where have taken great care to make it easier for you. Rather than print and ship the patent documents, we convert them all to PDFs which our stored online. The search report we deliver to you contains hyperlinks to the patent documents that work just like this. Or this.
We send your search report via email. In addition to the search results, we include a breakdown of the search strategy, listing all the keywords used and classifications searched. That way you have a full understanding of where and how we searched.
After your search is completed…
If you are interested in moving to a patent application, we can provide you with a referral to a USPTO registered practitioner in our network who can work with you. The practitioner can start with a patentability opinion, where he or she reviews your invention disclosure in light of the search results. From there you can make a fully informed decision about whether or not you would like to move to patent application.
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