What else can patents do?
It is estimated that over 90% of the world’s technical disclosures appears in patent documents and nowhere else. Patents are well classified by technology area, and can readily be searched. Many inventions are needlessly and expensively re-invented when a Patent Search would have revealed an existing solution to a problem.
An idea which appears in a patent specification may still be free to be used. For example:
- A patent application might not have been granted
- The patent protection might not extend to the UK
- The patent might have expired
A Patent Search should also be seriously considered early on in a new product or process development in order to help avoid inadvertently infringing someone else’s patent.