information

for a scientific world

Patents 

Apart from technical information published as papers in technical journals, there is a whole different world of patent information. If you are involved in new developments, new processes or new inventions, it is vital that you are fully aware of the patent situation on your product.

Inventing, developing and marketing a product or process that has already been patented can  be an extremely costly business in terms of wasted time and litigation fees which can run into millions of pounds.

    

Some examples of recent legal cases involving patent infringement:         

June 2005  Microsoft loses Excel patent case, ordered to pay inventor Carlos Amado almost $9M 

 

June 2011  i4i wins patent infringement case against Microsoft who are ordered to pay over $300M 

 

March 2010  Technotrans, a print ancilliaries company were ordered to pay £5.8M to Baldwin

 

May 2011   Sigma, the camera lens company are being sued by Nikon for £95M for patent infringement

 

May 2011   Samsung ordered to pay $23M for patent infringement to Fractus S.A

 

October 2000  Hoover ordered to pay £6M to Dyson for patent infringement

 

So you can see that patents are a very important, and very valuable part of any scientific, technical or industrial process.                                                                   

Patent searching is a specialist area and I have many years experience of searching the various patent collections worldwide.                              

Many companies conduct patent searches before they start on new projects to make sure they aren't likely to incur prosecution from someone who already holds a patent on the product they have in mind. It's much cheaper to be wise before the event.                                        

I can offer comprehensive searching of the patent literature, and provide reports and analysis of any patents currenly in force covering your particular interests,  ensuring you total confidence and confidentiality of results.

My areas of patent searching include:

  • Prior art, or patentability searches to discover whether or not your idea is new and unique
  • Infringement searches to ascertain whether your idea would contravene any patents held in other countries
  • Invalidity searches to check whether your own patent is valid, or if a competitor's patent is valid
  • Patent analysis to give a view of any particular technology in geographic areas,  by company, by date, or various other parameters
  • Patent monitoring to help you keep an eye on new patents in your field of interest.