What is a Patent Invalidity Search?

An analysis for understanding the strength of patent claims.  A patent invalidity (or patent validity) search can be used to determine the viability of an invalidity defense when facing a patent infringement suit. Invalidity prior art searches are used to invalidate a patent that has been or may be asserted. It also may also be used to pro-actively assess the validity of a patent prior to enforcing it. Read our whitepaper on patent invalidity searching here.

What Do I Need to Provide for a Patent Invalidity Search?

• A patent number and the specific claims which you need to invalidate (unless the entire claim set is at issue).
• The target priority date, if different than the priority date listed on the face of the patent.
• Any known prior art that is not listed on the face of the patent.

When Should You Conduct a Patent Invalidity Search?

• Upon receiving a patent infringement complaint from a patent owner.
• Upon receiving a cease & desist notice from a patent owner.
• Prior to enforcing your own patents to determine invalidity risks.
• For pre-issuance submissions, post-grant review (PGR) proceedings, and inter partes review proceedings (IPR) under the America Invents Act.

Why Envision IP?

Envision IP's approach permits your organization to interface with a single firm during high-stakes litigation, pre-litigation, or in preparation of post-grant challenges. Our centralized multiple, parallel searchers and search strategies can provide broad, varied, and comprehensive search coverage efficiently, eliminating the need for you to hire multiple search firms.

Envision IP utilizes powerful subscription-based tools to search worldwide patent databases and non-patent literature sources.  We have access to nearly 500,000 non-patent literature sources, including journals, conference proceedings, educational materials, standards documents, and magazines, in addition to our in-house print and online repository of technical documentation.

In addition, we access patent databases from 44 different countries, with the ability to search non-English language patent data from various Asia-Pacific, European, and South American jurisdictions.

We  offer a not-to-exceed up-front cost, which is all inclusive. There is no hourly billing, overages, or database access charges. As part of our search strategy, we provide claim scope guidance for the search by reviewing of the prosecution history and any post-grant claim construction.