A patent for an invention in the United States is the grant of a property right to inventors, and secures for a limited times the exclusive right to their inventions.

The rights of a patent exclude others from making, using, offering for sale, and selling the invention throughout the United States and importing the invention into the United States and its territories and possessions.

This allows inventors a monopoly for a limited time to produce and market their inventions to make a profit.

An infringement search (also known as “right to use,” “freedom to operate,” or “clearance search”) is a search of existing, enforceable patents that are granted in a technical field by a regional or national patent granting institutions such as the Untied States Patent and Trademark Office to determine if a product infringes (or violates the rights of) an existing patent.

The results of an infringement search may be used to provide the “clearance” a company needs  for “freedom to operate” in terms of launching their product.  Alternatively, it may indicate that the company has no “right to use” the product or has no “freedom to operate,” for example, the company has no right to import a product into the United States if the product is patent to another.

Please contact Patent Law Agency, LLC for your free, no obligation initial consultation to learn about which type of search best suits your needs and the minimum requirements needed to commence conducting an infringement search for your product, and a patent practitioner will gladly assist you in all the details.

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