Reportedly there are over 40 organizations, in India that provide IP services. These include subsidiaries of multinational companies and third party vendors.

Among the Intellectual Property services that are being offshored to India is Prior Art Searches.

This could be a highly technical and complex matter or it could be a “routine” search. No matter the type, these searches are expected to accurately summarize relevant portions of prior art and save you time.

Prior art searches are made when a patent application is being drafted, and also when a freedom to operate studies is being made. They are also carried out during patent invalidity searches as well as during patentability searches.

A patentability search attempts at tracing patents that will assist you in determining the originality and patentability of an invention. Often, the design features and utility features are also searched which allows an inventor to go in for both, utility and design patent protection.

A validity search can function as the foundation for a legal opinion against infringement or even as due diligence before selling or licensing a patent. It locates prior art patents predating the effective filing date of the patent under investigation. It may be used to dispute or contest the authority of the claims in that patent. Such a search addresses all claims of the patent under scrutiny. Any relevant patents discovered will be reviewed.
An infringement search usually entails the thorough review of unexpired American patents in order to locate claims reading on the particular invention. Besides this, similar art areas are also investigated with the purpose of addressing contributory infringement.
Other prior art searches include Right to Use/Clearance Search, State of the Art Search, Infringement Search, Collection Search, Assignment/Patentee Search, Trademark Search and Technical Literature Search.