How long does a patent search take? 10 Answers as of September 08, 2011

Depends on the type of search, sometimes an hour or two, sometimes 3-4 weeks or longer. It depends on the scope of the patent search.

This is one of those questions that cannot be answered without knowing all the details. It is sort of like asking how much a car costs - well it depends. Some questions you should ask . What type of search do you want (e.g. patentability, validity)? Do you want a computer search performed or one in the "stacks" at the Patent and Trademark Office (PTO)? Are you willing to pay to have it expedited? Do you want a full analysis letter? If you have a simple mechanical invention that you want to patent and you are just looking for a basic patentability search using a search agent in at the PTO, you should expect between one and four weeks depending on the other factors.

A patent search should not take more that 3 to 4 days. The real question is what are you going to get. A good patent search should incorporate a world wide search. The Japanese, European, Korean and US patent offices as a minimum. In order to patent something in the US, it can't have been patented anywhere else in the world. Now, once you get the search, now what? I personally give a simple analysis on the search. Otherwise you have wasted your money on a list of patents that look similar to yours. The search analysis should include an anticipation analysis. For a patent application be rejected by anticipation, the Examiner must be able to point to a single patent or publication that either inherently or expressly describes each and every element of your invention as claimed. The identical invention must be shown in as complete detail as is contained in the claim. To anticipate a claim, a patent or publication must disclose every element of the claim and enable a person with your inventive capacity and knowledge to make the invention. The search analysis should also include an obviousness analysis. Under obviousness, a rejection can be made based on combining a single found prior patent with one or more other found prior patents in order to meet what you claim as your invention. Unlike a rejection based on anticipation, an Examiner does not need to find a single equal patent, but may instead combine two or more prior patents in order to reject the invention as obvious. A combination of prior art references or prior patents is deemed obvious when it consists of familiar elements, is done according to known methods, and yields predictable results. Do not get a search without an accompanying analysis, is useless.

Depends on how thorough - if it is just a US search and internet search, most companies can do it and have you the results for about $400 and I one week. If you read a few internet articles on how to do it and use freepatentsonline or google patents or the uspto.gov websites as the search engines then you could do it in a evening say 5 hours.

It depends on the nature of the patent, the number of claims, the industry involved, and the extent to which there are many patents and prior art publications on related subject matters. It also depends on the resources that you decide to devote to a patent search. You certainly should allow at least four to six weeks for a reasonably competent patent search

A good prior art search can take anywhere from 2days to 2 weeks (or more), depending on the field (complex technology versus simple device) and breadth of search (e.g., to include a search of Japanese prior art as well). Cost is generally proportional to the duration.

My enhanced patent searches are conducted by an outside search firm which provides me the search results. I then analyze the results and provide a written opinion. Turnaround time is 2 weeks or less. Current pricing for the enhanced prior art search is $495.

There are different types of patent searches and they may require different timeframes to complete. The most common is a patentability search/opinion (this is a novelty patent search with an opinion as to patentability - i.e., whether you are likely to get a patent or not). We typically take about 2-3 weeks for this. A simple novelty search on standard turnaround time is about a week (this does not include an opinion). Patent infringement searches and opinions (whether you might infringe someone else's patent) is typically 2-3 weeks, but can be much longer if it expands into a search for references to invalidate a specific patent.

Depending on the complexity of the invention, the patent search can be done within hours.

A patent search takes an amount of time determined by the amount of prior art searched, which spans the spectrum from one minute to months. Depending on the patent search requested, prior art may includes all published and unpublished information ever in existence. A typical decent patent search must be done by a profession and typically takes about 3 days and will run you upwards of $1,000. You should beware of any service provider offering discount patent searches as they may be more damaging to have than no patent search at all.