Assess the novelty of your invention
Uncover prior art that may impact the likelihood of obtaining a patent. Benefit from a comprehensive search led by our subject matter experts, enhanced by AI-powered search tools.
Patentability Search
Assess novelty of an invention, make well-informed decisions before investing in R&D and the patent application process.
What is a patentability search?
A patentability search, also known as a novelty search, is a type of prior art search that helps determine if an idea or invention satisfies the patentability criteria of novelty.
A patentability search is an important step that each inventor or innovator must consider before investing significant resources in the patent application process, or even at the early stages of research and development.
A patentability search is an important step that each inventor or innovator must consider before investing significant resources in the patent application process, or even at the early stages of research and development.
Why conduct a patentability search?
We are the trusted partner of startups, solo IP practitioners, and top law firms when it comes to patentability searches.
Get in touchEnd-to-end patent solutions
Going beyond novelty searches
From patentability opinions to patent filing and prosecution support — our network of experts offer valuable insights regarding claim language, novelty, non-obviousness to help you draft stronger claims and explore design-around options.
Why Parola Analytics?
Get in touchTrusted Name in Prior Art Search
“The first search Parola Analytics, Inc. performed for us provided the key reference supporting our invalidity position on a patent we were evaluating.”
Sean M. Dean, Ph.D.
Fish & Richardson
“Vincent and his team at Parola are excellent at locating prior art. We have worked with Parola on two matters, and both times, Parola delivered outstanding results. Parola’s highly-relevant search results and reports demonstrated a thorough understanding of the patent claims.”
Daniel Kiang
Knobbe Martens
“Vincent Violago and his excellent team at Parola Analytics provide high quality, detailed, prior art search results with minimal oversight and handholding.
These guys are highly educated and experienced in their field and work together with great efficiency. The work product is top-notch, and they are always available for follow up, including detailed discussions of the report and additional pinpoint searches based on the results.
I highly recommend Vincent and his team.”
James A. “Tripp” Fussell III
Mayer Brown
"Parola analysts uncovered prior art that even opposing counsel’s team could not during litigation.
The quality of their work and deeper understanding of the subject matter were instrumental to the case that we eventually won.”
Saqib J. Siddiqui
Mayer Brown
“The team at Parola Analytics did an excellent job in providing us with the highest-quality prior art research service.
The team’s search report highlighted the best prior art references with an easy-to-understand format. In short, the team proved itself.”
Ryan Phelan
Marshall, Gerstein & Borun LLP
“I recently engaged Parola Analytics to conduct a prior art search on a difficult US patent that had already stymied another search firm that delivered two unusable references.
Parola found four much better references in two weeks that demonstrated a deeper understanding of the search and an effective selection of the best references.
I highly recommend Parola Analytics.”
Barry Shelton
Shelton Coburn
“Parola Analytics is our trusted partner for prior art search contests on PATROLL, Unified Patent’s crowdsourcing platform.
With their expertise in prior art searching, Vincent and his team at Parola Analytics are valuable partners in reviewing prior art submissions to our contests.
Parola Analytics provides broad knowledge across various subject-matters and offers competitive pricing.
They are easy to work with and are responsive to our needs.”
Sam Jaffna
Unified Patents
“In just weeks, our investments in our relationship with Parola Analytics started to pay handsome dividends.
Parola Analytics identified a patent filed by researchers at Yale that showed promise as a vaccine against malaria. Our article, authored by Monisha Ravisetti, was publicized in hundreds of newspapers and magazines worldwide and quoted thousands of times on social media.
Parola’s flexibility proved invaluable for a startup company like ours, and the reasonable fee structures allowed us to invest in the relationship with confidence.
Marius Meland
Founder, Law360
CEO and Founder, Fastinform
“Parola Analytics has consistently provided excellent search results coupled with an easy to navigate and detailed search report. Parola’s responsiveness and communication are exceptional.
I highly recommend Parola.”
Chris Hadley
Jones Waldo
“Parola Analytics is an outstanding resource for our boutique intellectual property firm.
Patentability searches are the first step for new patent clients. Vincent and his team take care of this crucial step, and provide us with high-quality and comprehensive search reports. The search reports provide our clients with a clear visual representation of the state-of-the-art and make our counseling even more impactful.
Our patent practice is enhanced by Parola Analytics’ search capabilities, and our favorite find is Parola Analytics.”
Justin H. Cross
HamiltonCross LLP
“Parola Analytics was able to quickly provide us with a key prior art reference despite other search vendors failing to find anything useful.
Parola’s thorough search report also provided detailed analysis and allowed us to easily assess the viability of the references and efficiently create invalidity contentions.
Would highly recommend.”
Luc Dahlin
Goodwin Procter
“It was an absolute pleasure working with Parola Analytics. Vincent Violago is very responsive and professional. He answers all your questions and ensures the right person does the search. The patentability report provided is very visually pleasing and easy to follow.
The searcher (who is a PhD chemist and registered US Patent Agent) took great care to understand the claim language of a biotech invention prior to doing the search. A very thorough search was done in a timely and efficient manner. I highly recommend Parola Analytics for patentability searches.”
Imtiaz Billah
Torrey Pines Law Group PC
“Parola Analytics is the perfect fit for us, start-ups. They offered us the flexibility we needed for our unique needs. We received high quality results fast at competitive prices.”
Alfredo Carranza
i6 Technology
For small IP firms looking for a reliable patent research partner, Parola is the perfect choice. Parola Analytics has consistently delivered high-quality results in the various patentability and design patentability projects we have worked on. They have a very collaborative and hands-on approach to each project. The researchers have vast experience and IP knowledge which allows me to get results well-aligned with my specifications.
Tom Tatonetti
Tatonetti IP
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Patentability Search FAQs
When should I conduct a patentability search?
It is advisable to conduct a patentability search early in the invention process, before investing significant time and resources into development. This helps avoid unnecessary costs and setbacks by identifying potential obstacles in the patent application and prosecution process.
What is considered as prior art?
Prior art refers to any publicly available information that predates the filing date of a patent application. This includes existing patents, published patent applications, academic papers, technical documents, product descriptions, and other materials that disclose similar inventions or concepts.
What are the criteria for patentability?
The main requirements for patentability that must be satisfied are: (1) novelty, (2) non-obviousness (inventive step), (3) utility. In addition to these main requirements inventions must also fall under “patentable subject matter”. i.e. This typically includes processes, machines, manufactured goods, compositions of matter, and improvements thereof.
However, abstract ideas, laws of nature, natural phenomena, and mere discoveries are generally not considered patentable subject matter.
It is important to note that each jurisdiction may have different requirements for patentability.
Can a novelty search guarantee patent approval?
No, a patentability search cannot guarantee that a patent will be granted. While a patentability search can provide insights regarding novelty, other patentability requirements still need to be satisfied i.e. non-obviousness (which can depend largely on the patent examiner). A patent application may also be rejected due to a “lack of enablement”. If a patent examiner deems the claims to be “indefinite” or vague or ambiguous, the patent application may be rejected.
A patentability search can provide valuable insights into the patentability of an invention and help strengthen the patent application by addressing potential challenges early in the process.
What is a patentability opinion?
A patentability opinion, also known as a patentability search opinion or patentability analysis, is a professional assessment provided by a patent attorney or agent regarding the likelihood of obtaining a patent for an invention. This opinion is based on the results of a thorough patentability search, which involves examining prior art to determine the novelty and non-obviousness of the invention.
Parola Analytics has partner U.S. IP firms that can provide you with a patentability opinion based on our patentability search results.
What happens if prior art is found during a novelty or patentability search?
If prior art is found during a patentability search, it may impact the patentability of your invention. A patent attorney or patent agent can help assess the relevance of the prior art and advise you on how to proceed, which may involve modifying the invention to enhance its novelty (design around) or pursuing a different strategy for intellectual property protection.
What are the contents of a patentability search report?
A typical novelty search report includes the search strategy, overview, databases and keywords used, and most importantly, a technical mapping of the search results.
The patentability search report presents the findings of the search, including a list of relevant prior art references identified during the search process. The features of the invention are then mapped to the relevant disclosures of each reference found.
Parola’s patentability search reports also provides insights on non-obviousness by presenting a combination of references that disclose the features of the invention (when combined).
What tools and databases can I use for a patentability or novelty search?
For patent literature, you can use Google Patents, Espacenet, WIPO (Patentscope), etc.
For non-patent literature various databases such as Sciencedirect, Google Scholar, Arxiv.org and other academic and scientific journals can be used.
There are also patent and non patent databases or search engines that can be used such as PQAI. This tool is an initiative from AT&T. You can try the free patent search tool here.