Patent Search in India

An applicant should conduct a patent search to determine if there are any patents similar or identical to the applicant’s invention. A thorough patent search can improve the chances of obtaining a patent registration. One can also conduct a patent search to find information on patented inventions.

You can examine the legal status of a granted patent using the Indian patent search database. Enter the patent number and the displayed code in the ‘Patent E-register’ tab, then click Show E-register. It displays consequentially the legal status of the patent, the date of its renewal and the patent’s bibliographical data.

Why do a patent search?

Before the applicant makes a patent application, a patent search can help improve the chances of obtaining a grant of patent. The claims to be filed in the patent application may be determined by this process. To determine the validity of a granted patent, an applicant may use the InPASS.

How to do a patent search in India?

An applicant can conduct a patent search in India free of cost. To do a patent search, one must go through the Patent database of India. One can search for either a published or a granted patent. The user can view and search for a patent through the following categories:

• Application date
• Title
• Abstract
• Complete specification
• Inventor’s name
• Application number
• Filing office
• PCT application number

Conducting a Patent Search

1. Keyword Search – One may use the keyword search only in the case of the title, abstract, claims, and description search criteria. The ‘Boolean Operators’ and/or ‘Wild Cards’ are combined with the keyword search to conduct a patent search. Two columns will display the search results. The left column displays the application number, title, application date and status. Details [Bibliographic Data, Specification, and Status] of the patent application/granted patent will appear in the right column when a row in the left column is selected. In the respective tab, you may also see the details of bibliographic data, patent specification, and application/patent status.
2. Applicant Name Search – By typing the applicant’s name against the appropriate row in the Indian patent search database, one can check for patent applications/patents. Simply type in the Applicant’s name and hit the search button. The result displays the titles of all innovations published or granted in the name one entered.
3. Inventor Name Search – In the same way that you may search for an applicant’s name in the relevant row and see the results, you can also search for an inventor’s name in the appropriate row and see the results.

Patent information

On entering the appropriate details, it shows several relevant search results. On selecting a patent application, a document opens with the application number, title, application date and status. The user can get more details by clicking on the application number, title, application date and status. The user can find the following details through a patent search:

• Invention title
• Publication date and type
• Application number and filing date
• Priority date, number and country
• Field of invention
• Classification
• Applicant’s name , address, country and nationality

The user can also view the summary of the patent application under the abstract column.