Know before you file. Professional patentability, prior-art, freedom-to-operate, validity, and landscape searches across USPTO, EPO, WIPO, and the Indian Patent Office, so you spend on the right invention, in the right way, in the right markets.
Describe the invention and what you are trying to decide, whether to file, whether you are free to launch, or how strong a patent is. A patent professional will recommend the right type of search and respond with a clear scope, timeline, and quote.
Everything you share is strictly confidential, and we can sign an NDA before you disclose. Searching is also the smart first step before any public disclosure, which can affect your ability to patent later.
A patent search is the work of checking the existing record, granted patents, pending applications, and published literature, to answer a specific question about your invention before you commit money to it. Done properly, it is the single most cost-effective step in the whole patent process, because it tells you the truth early: whether your invention is genuinely novel, whether you are free to sell it, or whether a patent is worth challenging.
The mistake most inventors make is filing first and searching never. A patent application is expensive to draft and prosecute. Spending that money on an invention that turns out to be anticipated by an earlier patent, or launching a product that infringes someone else’s live patent, is a costly, avoidable error. A search up front prevents it.
My Legal Pal runs professional patent searches across the major international databases, the USPTO, the European Patent Office (Espacenet), WIPO (PATENTSCOPE), and the Indian Patent Office, and turns the results into a plain-English answer to the question you actually need decided. When you are ready, the same team handles patent registration.
You can, and you should, for a first look. Free databases, Google Patents, Espacenet, PATENTSCOPE, and India’s InPASS, are genuinely useful, and a quick search of your own will often turn up obvious prior art. We will never pretend these tools do not exist. If a five-minute search shows your exact invention already patented, you have saved yourself a consultation.
What a professional search adds is what those quick searches miss. Patents are written to be broad and are often deliberately worded so the relevant disclosure does not contain the obvious keyword you would search for. A real search uses patent classification codes (CPC/IPC), synonyms and technical variants, citation chains, and non-patent literature, and it reads the claims, not just the title, to judge what is actually disclosed. The risk of a DIY search is not finding nothing, it is finding nothing and wrongly concluding you are clear, when the anticipating document was there all along, indexed under language you never thought to use.
So: search yourself first to rule out the obvious. Get a professional search before you spend real money on filing or launching. The two are not in competition.
Different searches answer different questions. Select the closest, and we will confirm the right one.
“Patent search” is an umbrella term. The searches below answer genuinely different questions, and using the wrong one gives you a confident answer to a question you were not asking.
Answers: is my invention new enough to patent? Looks for earlier disclosures that anticipate your invention. The standard search before filing.
Answers: what already exists in this space? The broad underlying search that patentability and validity work both build on, patents, applications, and non-patent literature.
Answers: can I make and sell this without infringing a live patent? A different and crucial question, your invention can be perfectly novel and still infringe someone else’s in-force patent. FTO is the search you run before a launch.
Answers: how strong is this patent, really? A deep hunt for prior art that could invalidate a patent, used to test your own patent’s strength or to challenge a competitor’s in a dispute, opposition, or licensing talk.
Answers: who is doing what in this technology? A wide map of filing activity, players, and white space, for R&D, competitive intelligence, and investment, rather than a single application.
Answers: is someone infringing my patent, or am I at risk? The evidence base for an enforcement or licensing decision.
A patent search is a structured review of granted patents, pending applications, and published technical literature to answer a specific question about an invention, usually whether it is new enough to patent (patentability), whether you can sell a product without infringing an existing patent (freedom to operate), or how strong a particular patent is (validity). It is the research step that should come before you spend on filing or launching.
They answer opposite questions. A patentability search asks “is my invention novel enough that I can get a patent on it?”, it looks at all earlier disclosures, whether or not they are still in force. A freedom-to-operate search asks “can I make and sell my product without infringing someone else’s patent?”, it looks only at patents that are currently in force in your target markets. You can pass one and fail the other: an invention can be novel (patentable) yet still infringe a live patent, and a product can be free to operate yet not itself patentable. Most product businesses need both at different points.
Prior art is any evidence that your invention is already known, earlier patents and applications, but also journal articles, products on the market, websites, conference papers, anything publicly available before your filing date. An invention must be new over the prior art to be patentable. The job of a prior-art search is to find the most relevant prior art before the patent examiner (or an opponent) does.
No, it is not legally required, you can file without one. But filing blind is a gamble: if strong prior art exists, you will usually discover it during examination, after you have already paid to draft and file. A search up front lets you either proceed with confidence, refine your claims around what is genuinely novel, or decide not to spend at all. It is optional in law and close to essential in practice.
Yes, for a first look. Google Patents, the EPO’s Espacenet, WIPO’s PATENTSCOPE, and India’s InPASS are free and genuinely useful, and an initial DIY search will catch obvious prior art. What a professional search adds is the use of patent classification codes, technical synonyms, citation analysis, and claim reading that surface the relevant disclosures a keyword search misses. The danger of relying only on a free search is concluding you are clear when you are not. Search yourself to rule out the obvious; get a professional search before you commit real money.
A focused patentability or FTO search is typically delivered in a few days to a couple of weeks, depending on the breadth of the technology and the number of jurisdictions. Landscape and validity searches, which are deeper, take longer. We give you a timeline when we scope the search.
The major international ones: the USPTO (US patents and applications), the European Patent Office via Espacenet (which covers patents from many countries), WIPO via PATENTSCOPE (international PCT applications), and the Indian Patent Office via InPASS, alongside non-patent literature where the technology calls for it. For a global invention, the wider the database net, the more reliable the result.
No, and any search that is sold as a guarantee should be treated with suspicion. No search can be exhaustive, prior art exists in many languages and formats, and some applications are unpublished for up to 18 months after filing, so they cannot appear in any search yet. A good search dramatically reduces your risk and sharpens your strategy; it does not eliminate uncertainty entirely. We are honest about that limit, because it is real.
A structured review of granted patents, pending applications, and published literature to answer a specific question: whether an invention is novel enough to patent, whether you can sell a product without infringing an existing patent, or how strong a particular patent is. It is the research step before you spend on filing or launching.
They answer opposite questions. A patentability search asks “is my invention novel enough to patent?” and looks at all earlier disclosures. An FTO search asks “can I sell my product without infringing someone’s patent?” and looks only at in-force patents in your markets. You can pass one and fail the other, so product businesses often need both.
Any evidence that your invention is already known, earlier patents and applications, plus journals, products, websites, and conference papers published before your filing date. An invention must be new over the prior art to be patentable. A prior-art search finds the most relevant prior art before the examiner or an opponent does.
No, it is not legally required, but filing blind is a gamble. If strong prior art exists you will usually discover it during examination, after paying to draft and file. A search up front lets you proceed with confidence, refine your claims, or decide not to spend. Optional in law, close to essential in practice.
Yes, for a first look, Google Patents, Espacenet, PATENTSCOPE, and India’s InPASS are free and useful, and will catch obvious prior art. A professional search adds classification codes, technical synonyms, citation analysis, and claim reading that surface what a keyword search misses. The danger of relying only on free search is concluding you are clear when you are not.
A focused patentability or FTO search is typically a few days to a couple of weeks, depending on the technology and number of jurisdictions. Landscape and validity searches are deeper and take longer. We give a timeline when we scope it.
The major international ones: the USPTO, the EPO via Espacenet, WIPO via PATENTSCOPE, and the Indian Patent Office via InPASS, plus non-patent literature where relevant. For a global invention, the wider the database net, the more reliable the result.
No, and any search sold as a guarantee should be treated with suspicion. No search is exhaustive, prior art exists in many languages, and applications can stay unpublished for up to 18 months after filing, so they cannot appear yet. A good search greatly reduces risk and sharpens strategy; it does not remove uncertainty entirely.
You get a clear report and a plain-English read on what it means: proceed to file, narrow the claims, design around an obstacle, or hold off. When you are ready, the same team handles drafting and filing through our patent registration service, so the search flows straight into the application.
Prakhar Rai is an advocate enrolled with the Bar Council of India and the founder of My Legal Pal. An alumnus of the National Law School of India University (NLSIU), Bangalore, with a Master of Business Laws, Prakhar has 10+ years of experience advising startups, technology companies, and inventors on intellectual property, contracts, and corporate matters across India and internationally.
His practice works closely with technical specialists and registered patent agents on prior-art and patentability searches, freedom-to-operate analysis, and the filing strategy that follows. My Legal Pal’s patent search service is led by Prakhar and delivered by a team that combines legal and technical expertise across the major patent databases.
Patentability, prior-art, freedom-to-operate, validity, and landscape searches across the major global databases. A clear answer to the question you actually need decided, and a team that handles the filing when you are ready.
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