Similar to a Patent Infringement Search, a Freedom to Operate Search or Patent Clearance Search seeks to demonstrate that a proposed product

does not infringe any in-force patents. Conversely, if infringement exists, the client will be aware of it and can make the appropriate business decision. That business decision might be to commission a Patent Invalidity Search on the patent in question, to initiate design-around activities, or to consider licensing the technology at issue. A Freedom to Operate Search, however, is broader than a Patent Infringement Search because it also considers expired patents and publicly available documents. The search includes expired patents and publications because no-longer-in-force patents and unpatented disclosures are in the public domain, which provides a safe harbor for the product. The Freedom to Operate Search further extends a Patent Infringement Search by also determining where in the world the technology may be used or protected. A patent that blocks introduction of a product in one country may not have a counterpart patent in other commercially desirable countries.

Avoid Expensive Conflicts with your Competitors

A Freedom to Operate Search is generally a precursor to the drafting of a legal opinion by a patent attorney. This opinion will provide a risk assessment relating to infringement of granted patents and potential infringement of pending patent applications.

When Should Conducted?

the Freedom to Operate

Search be

When to conduct a Freedom to Operate Search is a frequently raised issue that depends on the particular circumstances at hand. If the search is conducted too early, such as during an early research phase, the final product may evolve in unexpected ways and much of the search may turn out to be inapplicable. On the other hand, waiting too long to conduct the search is also a problem, as it usually means that the project is too far along to change. An understanding of patent law, particularly claim interpretation, is paramount in conducting a Freedom to Operate Search. The searcher must interpret hundreds or thousands of patent claims of potentially relevant in-force patents. It follows that searchers make critical legal judgments based on claim interpretation when they determine which references to give to clients and which to delete.

Patentability Search
A patent is worthless if it does not fulfill patentability criterions such as a Novelty and Nonobviousness. Conducting Patent Search-Mapping can help identify, search, and analyze patent related data, which can help the inventor/representative understand the probability of getting a patent. We keep ourselves updated on the recent changes which are establishing a clearer scope of 'obviousness' and 'novelty', and base our Search Strategies to reflect such changes. Freedom to Operate Search Freedom to Operate Searches offer a Product-to-Patent Mapping and involves Searching Active/Live Patents that overlap with the Key Features of the Product. IIPRD offers a proven competence in conducting such FTO Searches and delivering relevant results with an exclusive section for Key Feature Mapping Why Freedom To Operate study?

A Freedom To Operate (FTO) study is done to determine the obstacles and barriers to entry of a product in a patent jurisdiction. An FTO study helps avoid costly mistakes and lets you identify and assess major patent players.
Why us?

In depth analysis: In a freedom to operate study, we perform a multi-level analysis of the features of the invention/product as well as the relevant references obtained after performing a thorough search. The invention/product is divided into several features and/or components. An exhaustive search is conducted based on these features. The references obtained undergo an in depth analysis wherein the enforceable part of the patent (i.e. claims) are analyzed in view of the features of the product/invention. A legal status analysis is also performed on clients request. Thorough mapping: A thorough feature to feature as well as component to component mapping is performed using very unique tools and techniques which make the analysis of the references very simple and easy. Key feature analysis: A key feature analysis is provided (on clients request) wherein a feature by feature analysis of the references is done with respect to the product/invention. This helps the client in getting an overview of the results and the features covered by each result.

Time and cost: We offer an exhaustive search along with a thorough analysis at reasonable price to give our clients the best in the least and at the earliest.

The Duo advantage: A search is not just performed by a single researcher; in fact there is a second independent search which is conducted by another researcher to ensure that all the features are covered and every possible variation is thought of. This saves our clients of going for a second search by a separate company.

Team: Our team comprises of highly qualified and motivated set of individuals. We have engineers and PhD searchers from a range of technical and scientific backgrounds. We follow a right person for right patent approach wherein we make sure that the person who is assigned a particular project is from the same domain as the invention/product.

Quality: Since inception Talwar and Talwar consultants has focused on the quality of the services provided. Every outgoing project undergoes three levels of Quality Checks (QC). First level is an Understanding QC wherein the project manager cross checks the understanding prepared by the researcher/resource. Second level is the Key string QC wherein every key string prepared by the researcher is analyzed by the project manager. Third level is the Final QC stage, wherein the entire search is reviewed and the report is proof read.

Confidentiality: The security of the information provided to us by our clients in our topmost priority. All the information exchange that happens between us and the client as well amongst the employees is through a secure system. All the data related to each project is saved on our server rather than on individual systems. Every employee in our company is made to sign a NonDisclosure Agreement (NDA) immediately after joining the company.

Native Chinese and Japanese Search

With addition of two offices in Taiwan we have started recruiting native searchers to conduct Chinese, Japanese and Korean searches. This can be very helpful in invalidating patents as a thorough search can be conducted in Korean, Japanese and Chinese languages only.

Infringement and Invalidation Search and Analyis

Infringement searches are post grant searches conducted to make sure that nobody without your consent makes, uses, or sells your non-terminated patented invention. Invalidation searches, on the other hand, aim at finding documents that challenge validity of a patent, where such documents were not found at the prior art search performed at the patent office. Therefore, validity search is conducted to determine whether a non-terminated patent is valid. We at IIPRD understand the criticality and importance of patents from a commercialization standpoint and undertake numerous Patent Validity projects to ensure, to the best of our capabilities, enforceability of the concerned patents. Our services include:

Drafting infringement analysis reports based on detailed infringement searches Drafting invalidation analysis reports based on detailed patent validation searches Proposing and partnering in development of the right IP strategy based on the infringement and invalidation searches

Patent Portfolio Watch

Management of Intellectual Property has become a critical competitive arena in global commerce. A patent portfolio watch can help a corporate understand and analyze the technologies, patents, and market strategies of multiple entities. An organized patent portfolio watch can help the Corporate be in right alignment to face various market forces. Having a strong patent portfolio can have a huge impact on the balance sheet of the company. IIPRD, with its experience and skill, can assist you in knowing what you have and propose what you need for maximizing the desired impact. Our services in this vertical include

Identifying and assembling specific Intellectual Property assets of a given corporate Preparing frameworks around multiple patent portfolios to assist in efficient extraction, maintenance and interpretation of IP assets Drafting readily understandable, meaningful Patent Portfolio Reports

Patent Technology Assessment and Landscaping Patent Technology Assessment and Landscaping can help us understand the technology under evaluation from a market perspective. Landscaping analysis can help us strategically analyze the product depth of the technology, major competitors in the domain, IP portfolios of the respective competitors, and the likelihood of overlap between the competitors products and companys patents. IIPRD has an expert team of patent analysts that performs rigorous data mining, data visualization and data analysis to generate a patent landscape that helps clients identify competitive and technology trends. Our services include:

Drafting Technology and Landscape Analysis Reports (LAR) based on technology and market trends Proposing and partnering in development of the right IP Strategy based on LAR's Develop future R&D strategies based on product and competitor analysis

formulated comprehensive search strategies to cover active patents w.r.t each identified feature and conducted a comprehensive Freedom-to-Operate study by analyzing over 2,500 patents/ published applications to prepare a report detailing: _ Relevant patents: Patents that may potentially affect clients freedom-to-operate (manufacture or sell) in the US/ Europe w.r.t the new vector.

_ Mapping: Presenting the mapping between the claims of relevant patents and the features of the product _ Their Legal Status and Expiry Date: Indicating for each of the relevant patents, their active, lapsed, or pending status, and the corresponding expiry dates.