Patentability study
The interest of the patentability study
Why conduct a patentability study before filing a patent?
As intellectual property attorneys, we strongly recommend carrying out this study in order to check the relevance and feasibility of filing a patent application for your invention.
Indeed, such a study should enable to estimate the chances of success of the patent application, that is to say the chances of obtaining the grant of a patent at the end of the procedure before the Patent Office of the country or region where the application is filed (for Europe: the EPO, for France: INPI – National Institute of Intellectual Property).
If the study is not carried out prior to filing the patent application and the patentability criteria are not met, then there is a risk that the patent application be rejected. This would be the case if the invention was not new, for example, but this information was not known at the time of filing due to lack of prior art research.
The criteria analyzed in the patentability study
The intellectual property attorney working in the technical field concerned by the invention will estimate a certain number of criteria of the current practice, including:
- Is the invention you plan to protect patentable according to the law?
- Are the patentability criteria met?
- Is your invention new compared to the state of the art?
- Does your invention involve an inventive step? In other words, does the person skilled in the art manage to achieve the invention using his/her own knowledge and the known prior art?
- Does the invention have an application in the industry?
To carry out these studies with rigor, we are equipped with databases of patents and scientific, legal, economic literature and press articles accessible on commercial servers, the Internet, etc.
Our Intellectual Property Attorneys use their knowledge and experience of the practice of the various offices, of law and of jurisprudence in order to assess these various criteria in the technical areas which fall within their competence.
The final report of this patentability study highlights in an explicit and argued manner the parts of the invention that the patent attorney considers patentable.
Each study carried out by the patent attorneys of our firm is discussed with you to evaluate the risk and consider the follow-up to be given in terms of patent filing on the part which will have been deemed protectable during the study.
Experts in intellectual property as close as possible to you and your needs
Since 1866, Brandon IP, formerly known as Blétry Frères, has supported its clients in the protection and defense of their intellectual property rights. It is one of the oldest intellectual property firms in France. We support companies of all sizes and independent project leaders in the protection of their inventions in a fully customized way and as close as possible to their needs. As a guarantee of our expertise, Brandon IP is ranked among the best French IP law firms by Décideurs Magazine (Leaders League).
Our patent team is composed of patent and trademark attorneys, experts in different technical fields, and of legal assistants. Our engineers are in charge of consulting, studies, prior art searches, drafting of patent applications, etc.
Discover our team on this page: www.brandon-ip.com/your-contacts/
To know more about our services, do not hesitate to contact us.
See also:
- Drafting, filing and defending a patent
- Patent prior art search
- International extensions and validations
