Cardinal has the most diversified staff of IP professionals available, providing you access to talented experts in all technical categories. Our knowledgeable staff and comprehensive process enable quick and accurate turnaround on all projects. This powerful combination of staff and process also allows Cardinal to accommodate complex and large volume search needs.

Our process begins with the project management team reviewing all disclosed materials. The role of the project manager is to identify the best search expert or experts, because each project may require a team with various combinations of degrees, experience and areas of technical focus. For example, a single invention may include mechanical functions, electrical components and a medical application. Our large and knowledgeable staff gives us this ability to assign the most appropriate and efficient personnel to every case, allowing us to provide superior quality services with no additional fees. We pass these cost benefits on to you.
We have one of the largest most
diverse staff of experts in the
industry
Patent Search & Research

Clearance Search
or Freedom to Operate
or Right to Use Search
or Right to Operate Search

A Clearance Search, also called a Freedom to Operate Search, is a more extensive search that combines an Infringement Search with Invalidity Searches. First, an Infringement Search is conducted to find relevant patents/applications with claims that may read on the product or service. Second, at the discretion of the client, Invalidity Searches are conducted on select patents/applications found in the Infringement Search to provide insight on the validity of the patent claims which appear problematic.

The results of the Clearance Search may be provided in two steps. First, the report for the Infringement Search with patents/applications and specific claims from the listed to highlight their relevance. Second, separate Invalidity Searches for each patent/application with relevant prior art references and excerpted segments to highlight their relevance. We can enlarge the scope of the search to include patents and patent applications from foreign jurisdictions.

Typically, Clearance Searches are completed within 5-9 business days, but may take longer depending on the number of Invalidity Searches, and cost the total of the Infringement Search and Invalidity Searches; however, economies of scale and overlap of subject matter may enable our search greater efficiency and therefore create a discount on costs.

INCLUDES:

Full search report with prior art
Full text of cited references
Search history document
Search of US Patents/Applications & Foreign Patents (dependant)
Variety of Non-Patent technical journals & databases
(dependant)