It is a highly globalized world, where international commerce has become easier than ever. Businesses have few problems transcending borders, but the same cannot be said of innovation. Patent rights are territorial, and as a result, the patent records are primarily confined to the patent authority databases in which they were filed. Even though patent records are segregated, they can still have a global impact on how and where businesses operate and the patentability of inventions all over the world. With the world being so connected and interdependent, patent professionals must know how to find relevant patent records, regardless of where they are located, with global patent searches.
The most familiar way to locate international patent documents is to separately search each of the various patent archives that are maintained by different patent authorities around the globe. The beauty of modern patent search technology is that, even though it allows users to go through the familiar motions of conducting searches using keywords, classification codes, assignee names and inventor names, users can conduct global patent searches using a single patent search platform. Users of the LexisNexis TotalPatent One® patent search platform, for example, save time that they would ordinarily spend on redundant searches of separate patent authority-maintained databases. TotalPatent One® users can instead search all available patent databases simultaneously, or they can tailor their searches to include results from only the patent authority databases they would like to include in their query. Users have the breadth of resources and flexibility they need to conduct efficient patent searches to meet their needs.
It often makes sense for patent practitioners to begin their research with broad global patent searches so they can analyze the initial search results to determine how best to orient their search strategy. TotalPatent One not only enables access to over 100 patent authority databases, it also provides visualizations of search results to help users better understand the composition resulting records. After a keyword search, for instance, TotalPatent One displays an interactive pie chart of the patent authorities that have the most patent records that are relevant to the user’s query. This provides users with valuable insights regarding international patent filing patterns and trends for a particular technology, and it also enables patent professionals to quickly filter their search by interacting directly with TotalPatent One displays.
Since there is no such thing as a globally enforceable patent, inventors seeking broad geographic patent protection have to file patent applications with several international patent authorities that grant patent rights in various regions of the world. Together, all of the filings that pertain to a specific invention are called a “patent family” because of the relationship they have through their common subject matter. Patent families are incredibly useful when using a global patent document search tool like TotalPatent One because, once a user has identified material patent documents by conducting global patent searches using the TotalPatent One platform, they can quickly access all of the international records that comprise the document’s patent family. All patent family documents that are available using TotalPatent One are linked directly to one another for easy document navigation and maximum search efficiency.
Patent professionals need globalized tools for this globalized world. The TotalPatent One patent search platform provides users with access to patent records all over the globe. With over 110 million patent records available from a single patent search tool, TotalPatent One users can easily search, filter and navigate to relevant documents that lead to smarter global decisions.
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