Validity /Invalidity Search

We have a much higher success rate in uncovering relevant art in validity search or invalidation search. This is because we focus on Japanese prior art, which in most cases have not been searched by a patent holder before filing the patent, nor by the USPTO patent examiners before issuing the patent, due to the difficulties and high cost involved in Japanese prior art search.

The average patent litigation costs are estimated to be $3 - 4 millions. Often a litigation takes years to settle. Therefore, spending a few thousand dollars in validity search or invalidity search at the onset of a litigation or licensing is a very good investment.

A patent validity search or invalidity search is the most extensive search we perform. We work for patent attorneys, IP managers of multinational corporations when a client is involved in a litigation relating to infringement of a patent, or when a client plans to invalidate a competitor's patent.

Due to the huge number of patent documents and non-patent literatures stored at Japanese Patent Office and multiple information providers' databases respectively, and also due to language barriers, Japanese prior art search is considered to be the most difficult search and is also the most expensive search.

In a comprehensive validity search or invalidity search, a searcher may continue looking for a needle in a haystack till a useful prior art is uncovered or till budget or time is exhausted.