GHS Law Partners Patent Search Process and Procedures

GHS Law Partners Patent Search Process and Procedures

GHS Law Partners conducts patent searches on behalf of its clients. Patent searches are conducted before preparing the patent application in order to discern if a similar product or process has been already patented. If a similar patent is discovered, the client’s pending patent application can be abandoned before too much time or money is invested in it; or, the information in the existing patent can be used to modify the patent application or change its focus.

The search process can be time consuming and expensive, but it is valuable for clients to have a search conducted by experts before investing millions of dollars in a new product or process. The number of patents granted by the USPTO is large, and has been growing every year. According to the USPTO, in 1963, 48,971 patents were granted. In 2004, 181,302 patents were granted. Patents are grouped into numerous classifications covering all areas of technology.

GHS Law Partners conducts three main portions of the patent search:

Examine the patent documents.

Organize the search and determine whether manual searches will be needed in addition to electronic searches. Manual searches may be needed for older technologies not available in the USPTO databases.

Run electronic searches and/or manually search at USPTO depository libraries or the USPTO main office in Virginia.

GHS Law Partners employs experts in many fields who will examine the patent documents for their similarity to the new product or process. Patent documents consist of:

Reference section

Abstract – for example:

United States Patent 6,826,296

Balaban, et al. November 30, 2004

Method and system for providing a probe array chip design database

Abstract

Systems and method for organizing information relating to the design of polymer probe array chips including oligonucleotide array chips. A database model is provided which organizes information interrelating probes on a chip, genomic items investigated by the chip, and sequence information relating to the design of the chip. The model is readily translatable into database languages such as SQL. The database model scales to permit storage of information about large numbers of chips having complex designs.

Inventors: Balaban; David J. (San Jose, CA); Hubbell; Earl (Los Angeles, CA); Mittmann; Michael P. (Palo Alto, CA); Cheung; Gloria (Cupertino, CA); Dai; Josie (San Jose, CA)

Assignee: Affymetrix, Inc. (Santa Clara, CA)

Appl. No.: 737838 Filed: December 14, 2000

Field and background of the invention

Drawings and figures

Detailed summary

Inventor’s description of the invention with references to drawings and figures

GHS Law Partners can also assist clients in other types of patent searches, such as infringement searches and state-of-the-art searches. Infringement searches can reveal whether a product already in production has been previously patented. State-of-the-art searches, conducted as part of large research and development processes, are technical reviews of the most recent developments in a particular area.