The Need for a Patent Search

Because of the expense and time involved in preparing and filing a patent application, inventors should not risk filing an application only to have it rejected for lack of novelty or for obviousness. Thus, examining the prior art is critical before filing an application for a patent. Filing a patent application without conducting a search of the prior art is like leaving home for a long road trip without a set of directions. Additionally, searching patent records provides an overview of the competition and usually provides meaningful guidance on preparing the patent application so it meets with the fewest possible objections from the PTO.

Although the PTO provides a public search room for patent searching, searching ...

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