Patent Clearance Investigations

You are planning to launch a new product. How do you know whether someone else already has obtained a patent on that product, or even on a small component in that product? If you sell your product and even one of its components infringes (violates) an existing patent, you may be exposed to being sued and having to pay money to the patent owner – or even having to halt manufacturing and distribution of your product. Worse yet, if you or anyone in your company knew about the patent beforehand, you might be required to pay triple the amount of money that you are otherwise responsible for.

The law office of Robert Plotkin, P.C. recommends a patent clearance investigation to every inventor and company who is deciding whether and how to bring their new invention to market in the form of a product or service.

What Is a Patent Clearance Investigation?

The purpose of a patent clearance investigation is to eliminate or minimize the risk posed by the situation described above by telling you whether using or selling your invention will violate someone else's existing patent. With this knowledge in hand, you can either abandon the product early and cut your losses, or work around the patent ahead of time — saving the time and valuable resources that could be tied up in patent disputes in court otherwise.

A clearance investigation is sometimes called a “freedom to operate” investigation because it tells you whether you are free to commercialize your technology. It is sometimes called a “right to use” investigation for the same reason. A patent clearance investigation is an important protective step to take before you move into manufacturing and selling your new invention because of the high costs associated with infringing someone else’s patent – even unintentionally.

A freedom to operate investigation is valuable even if your invention is patentable because your invention may contain components covered by other patents.

A freedom to operate investigation may also be valuable if your invention is not patentable because you can still build a business based on your invention if that invention does not infringe anyone else’s patents.

We perform clearance investigations using a systematic approach that involves four basic steps:

1. Searching for existing patents that protect inventions similar to yours.
2. Providing you with copies of all documents resulting from the search.
3. Performing a detailed legal analysis of the patents uncovered by the search to determine whether your proposed product/service infringes any of those patents.
4. Providing you with a written opinion of whether you are free to operate — to manufacture and sell your invention.

When to Perform a Patent Clearance Investigation

A patent clearance investigation should be conducted before you launch a new product. Take this simple invention as an example of the process:

You have developed a new toothbrush with a different type of bristle. Before you begin manufacturing, a patent clearance investigation can tell you whether any patents cover other parts of the toothbrush — for example, the handle. Our office searches existing patents and offers you our professional legal opinion. If we find no patents covering other parts of your new toothbrush, our opinion will be that you are free to operate without fear of a lawsuit. If we do find patents that apply to your toothbrush with the new bristles, then our office will provide advice and guidance on designing your product around those patents — re-engineering your invention so that it does not infringe on existing patents.

More Information on Patent Clearance Investigations

You may want to review attorney Robert Plotkin's article on patent clearance investigations: "Protecting Your Freedom to Use Your Invention."

If questions remain, or if you would like to discuss a patent clearance investigation for a specific invention, we encourage you to contact our office to schedule an appointment with a knowledgeable patent lawyer.

We provide flexible in-person and telephone appointment times to accommodate our clients' busy schedules.

Each new client receives a complimentary 30-minute consultation.

Toll-Free: 877.651.8039
Office Phone: 978.318.9914
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