4 Ways to Respond When Monitoring Patent Applications

There is a lot to be gained from a little surveillance. In the patent prosecution world, surveillance means monitoring patent applications of both your own patent applications and applications filed by others so that you can better plan your next actions. Having systems in place to monitor USPTO patent application activity enables you to quickly:

Investigate.

Being alerted of significant patent prosecution events, such as when your competitor receives a Notice of Allowance, gives your company time to assess the impact of your competitor’s pending patent grant. Actively monitoring patent applications enables you to get ahead of your competitor’s patent issuance and gives you time to conduct a freedom-to-operate search to help determine whether your company is likely going to infringe your competitor’s patent. If so, you can anticipate your competitor’s patent infringement claims and develop a defense by having an invalidity opinion prepared and at your disposal.

Adapt.

Monitoring patent applications may alert you that your company’s actions will clearly be infringing on a competitor’s patent rights. When invalidating you competitor’s patent is not an option, your company should be ready to modify its infringing product or service to avoid patent infringement. Receiving alerts early allows you to adapt accordingly before investing resources that may be lost due to the competition’s patent rights.

Develop.

Using patent monitoring to stay on top of the patent landscape can give your company a leg up on research and development. Knowing what is or will be patented can help identify the “white space” where products or services have not yet been patented. Operating or developing products in this “white space” can help your company avoid patent infringement and may enable you to broaden your current patent rights.

Act.

Monitoring the activity in your own patent portfolio allows you to face obstacles as they come and to advance through the prosecution process more quickly. Utilizing an advanced patent monitoring system, such as LexisNexis® PAIR Watch, is a great way to receive USPTO application updates about your pending patent applications frequently and straight to your inbox.

Monitoring patent applications with PAIR Watch

Keeping up with patent prosecution statuses is both tedious and time consuming without the right tools. PAIR Watch makes monitoring simple by automatically monitoring activity on the USPTO’s Patent Center website and sending customized alerts straight to your inbox. With PAIR Watch, patent application monitoring is as easy as:

• 1. Specifying which application numbers you would like to monitor;
• 2. Selecting how frequently you would like to receive updates about the selected patent applications;
• 3. Allowing PAIR Watch to track USPTO prosecution events; and
• 4. Checking your inbox for email alerts about office actions, amendment, and other changes to the applications being monitored.

Each PAIR Watch email allows users to open and review the documents added to a monitored application straight from the email. Users can download selected patent papers or an entire file wrapper as a PDF, and email updates can be shared with colleagues even if they do not have access to PAIR Watch. PAIR Watch takes the work out of patent monitoring while providing users with all of the updates they need to take action.

Discover 3 Reasons Companies Should Monitor Competitors’ Patent Filings.

See how PAIR Watch delivers USPTO Patent Center data to your inbox, providing dependable patent application monitoring.