An operational freedom search is another name for a Freedom to practise (FTP) search. I am free from any legal restriction to commercialise.
There may be legal restrictions on your goods due to registered trademarks, designs, or patents. We should check IP rights while considering a specific jurisdiction. Since no mechanism can guarantee IP protection for a single innovation globally through a single legal proceeding, intellectual property rights are only recognised in particular jurisdictions (countries or regions) when regional variations exist in national law.
Confirming the patent rights for a product or method before commercialising it in a specific country is crucial.
Claims are the part of the patent that outlines the application or protection of the invention. The specifications, including the drawings, We interpret patent claims. This requires extensive knowledge and experience.
Before doing so, you should ensure that other patents or copyright laws do not cover your intellectual property. You have a few alternatives for validating and implementing your patent.
- A utility patent is valid for 20 years after it is filed. An expired patent’s claims are now in the public domain, and your product is free to use as the basis for operational freedom search. Design patents are valid for 14 years after issuance.
- Upkeep of a granted patent: If the maintenance costs are not paid on time, the utility patent may expire before the 20-year mark. According to the USPTO, it is 3.5 years, 7.5 years, and 11.5 years from the date of the initial patent issuance. For design patents, there is no ongoing maintenance fee.
- In-progress applications: A pending application that becomes a patent could be a barrier. It’s essential to look at an application hard to make sure the claims made about it are accurate. Additionally, there is a danger that the applicant will abandon or withdraw the application or that the patent office will reject it.
- Several patents. Even if a product or process doesn’t infringe on legal patent claims, it may violate several patents. Other features might violate legal rights. So, it would be best to verify that all the steps in your process or the components in your product are safe to use.
- Buy the patent or get the patent licence. If you refuse to accept the offer, you may not be able to use the patented technique or innovation. A patent holder may agree to a settlement, such as a one-time or recurring royalty payment.
- Cross-licensing.If you and the other patent owner have elements of your product or method that are partly protected by a patent. Still, some of those features are also covered by another patent. You should agree to offer each other a licence to utilise the other’s claimed components.
- Pooled patents. Two or more organisations must first agree to cross-license their patents before creating a pool of patent rights that any of them can use.
- Plan around. The company may design around the obstructive patents. You might be able to achieve this by developing your research or changing the product specifications or method.
We have an advantage in creating an informative report that explains if your product or process is likely to violate any active patents and (or) trademarks, thanks to our extensive experience in operational freedom search, infringement search, and analysis using industry-leading databases and techniques. We give you access to the status of the patents so you can estimate the potential dangers and possibilities.