How Do You Know When You Are Finished?

When new patents are published every week, how can you know when you have finished your patent search?

First, consider your goals for your patent search. In some cases, you might be looking for the patent for a specific invention. Your review of the patent document, including its description, drawings, and claims, should help you to determine if the patent you have reviewed is the correct patent and if you have finished your search.

When you are searching for prior art before submitting a patent application of your own, your search target may be a moving target. It is not practical to continue searching indefinitely.

Remember two important points when doing a prior art search — First, the patent search will be time consuming, and you should plan accordingly. Secondly, be thorough in both your search and in what you document about your search and how you document your search. Make notes about:

• Keywords that describe your invention
• Which patent resource or resources you used for your search
• Dates when you searched
• The keywords you searched
• CPCs that you selected, and why
• CPCs that you rejected, and why
• Patents that you reviewed in depth, and your conclusions as to their relevancy to your invention
• Patents that you did not review in depth, and how you determined that you did not need to review them
• Non-patent literature (NPL) databases that you searched
• NPL search results

This documentation will be important to you as you pursue your patent application with the USPTO.