Hiển thị các bài đăng có nhãn Vietnam patent. Hiển thị tất cả bài đăng
Hiển thị các bài đăng có nhãn Vietnam patent. Hiển thị tất cả bài đăng

Thứ Hai, 5 tháng 4, 2021

Brief Reminder of Time Schedule to Apply PCT Application into Vietnam

BY Minh Anh IN , , , , , , No comments


According to Vietnam Law on Intellectual property, a PCT applicant who would like to go into Vietnamese phase after the end of PCT procedures need to submit the application within the following duration:


Vietnam patent

If an international application designates Vietnam, the National Office of Intellectual Property in Vietnam (NOIP) is the designated office. In this case, in order to enter the national phase, the applicant shall submit, within 31 months from the date of priority, to the NOIP the following:

-Written declaration requesting invention registration, made according to a set form;

-Copy of the international application (if the applicant requests the entry into the national phase before the date of publication of the international publication);

-Vietnamese translation of the international application: The description, consisting of a description section, protection request, annotations for drawings and abstract (the published copy or initially filed original application, if the application has not yet been published, and modified copy and explanation of modified contents, if the international application has been modified under Article 19 of Patent Cooperation Treaty;

-National charges and fees.

If an international application elects Vietnam, the NOIP is the elected office. In this case, if the election of Vietnam is made within 19 months from the date of priority, in order to enter the national phase, the applicant shall submit, within 31 months from the date of priority, to the NOIP the following documents:

-Written declaration request;

-Sting invention registration, made according to a set form;

-Vietnamese translation of the international application: The description, consisting of a description section, protection request, annotations for drawings and abstract (the published copy or initially filed original application, if the application has not yet been published, and modified copy and explanation of modified contents, if the international application has been modified under Article 19 and/or Article 34(2)(b) of the Treaty);

-Vietnamese translations of annexes to the international preliminary examination report (when substantive examination of the application is requested);

-National charges and fees.

After having submitted the application, the time  when the processing of an international application designating or electing Vietnam in the national phase starts is the first day of the thirty second month from the date of priority if the applicant files no written request for entry into the national phase earlier than the above time limits. The international application shall be put to formality examination and substantive examination according to the procedures applicable to ordinary invention registration applications. If the applicant requests in writing earlier examination of his/her application and pay the prescribed charge, the international application shall be examined earlier than the time limit specified above in accordance with the provisions of Article 2 3(2) of the Treaty.

Please be noted that in addition to the cases where an international application is considered withdrawn specified in the Treaty and the Regulation on implementation of the Treaty, an international application designating or electing Vietnam shall be considered withdrawn if the national fees are not paid to the NOIP or there is no Vietnamese translation upon the expiration of the set time limit.

It is important to adhere to the deadline and patent attorney in Vietnam of ANT Lawyers always follow up with the Client to remind on the schedule to follow when submitting for PCT application in Vietnam.

Thứ Tư, 27 tháng 5, 2020

How do you patent your startup idea?

BY Minh Anh IN , , , , , , No comments


You can’t patent an idea, but that doesn’t mean you can’t get a patent on some part of your startup. A patent is for an invention but it doesn't necessarily have to be a product, it can be a process or a method of doing something or it can be an improvement on an existing product, process, or method. The first thing is that you need to determine whether you have an “invention” that can be patented.
Along with the proper subject matter above, the invention also needs to be new and non-obvious. An invention that is already in the public domain or has already been patented will not be granted a patent. It also needs to be more than an obvious improvement. The standard is determined by looking at the prior art of the subject area and determining whether the claimed invention is simply an obvious improvement on what was already in the public domain. If the claimed invention is only an obvious improvement, it will not be granted a patent. You will also need to prove that your claimed invention is useful.

Whether you meet the requirements will be determined by the USPTO through the filing process. You will submit all required application and filing materials to the office and they will make a determination on the patentability of your claimed invention. I would suggest that you hire a patent attorney to help you with the filing process.

To answer your more specific question, it seems like what you really need is a non-disclosure agreement. An NDA is an agreement between parties to not disclose certain information allowing you to choose who gets to hear your secrets and prohibit those chosen people from further disclosure of your secret to other people. So, if you want a patent because you are worried about disclosing your secrets without protection, then an NDA will offer you that protection. Again, though, you would want to hire an attorney to help you draw up you NDAs.

Source: Quora

If you are looking for an experienced patent attorney in Vietnam to help you with your patent or an attorney with experience drawing up NDAs, you should visit ANT Lawyers.vn. We are supported by a team of experienced patent, trademark, design attorneys with qualification and skills handling full range of legal services relating to intellectual property rights in Vietnam.  We have specialized in the preparation and registration of patents, trademarks and designs for our clients.   Please contact our lawyers in Vietnam for advice via email ant@antlawyers.vn or call our office at +84 28 730 86 529.






Thứ Ba, 17 tháng 3, 2020

Four Steps of Patent Application Processing Procedures

BY Minh Anh IN , , , , , , , No comments


After submitting patent application at National Office of Intellectual Property in Vietnam (NOIP), the applicant will concern on how their application will be processed.

Specifically, patent application will be gone through the following phases: receipt of application; formality examination of application; substantive (ex-officio) examination of application; grant of or refusal to grant protection titles; official registration and publication of decisions on the grant of protection titles.
Firstly, receipt of patent application:
When receiving the application in this first phase, the NOIP will check and prepare with the documents listed in the declaration to consider whether to receive the dossiers. In case of sufficient dossiers according to the law, the receiving officer shall receive the dossiers and stamp the submitting date in the dossiers and send back a declaration to the applicant. In case of insufficient dossiers, the NOIP shall decline to receive the dossiers.

Secondly, formality examination of patent application:
The purpose of formality examination is for examination of observance of regulations on formalities applicable to applications, serving as a basis for concluding whether applications are valid or invalid. If the application is valid, it will be proceeded to the next step, otherwise, it will be denied. The formality is considered related to the language in the application, application presentation, word size; the declaration must ensure the compulsory information and be uniformed; regarding the documents required to have the confirmation of competent authority then those documents must have that seal. Besides, the NOIP also check the filing date and priority date (if any). If there are any errors in the dossiers, the NOIP will send a notification to applicant of intention to refuse the valid application and set a period so as the applicant can correct the errors. In case applicant does not reply to the notification, the NOIP will issue the refusal notification of the application; if the application is valid, the NOIP will issue the acceptance notification of the valid application.

Thirdly, publication of valid application:
After being accepted the validity, the NOIP will publish the valid application on Industrial Gazette in the nineteenth month from the date of priority or the filing date in case the application has no date of priority or within two months after it is accepted as a valid application, whichever is later. If the patent application is under the Patent Cooperation Treaty, it shall be published within two months from the date it is accepted as a valid application and entering the national phase. Regarding the application which request for earlier publication, it shall be published within two months from the date the NOIP receives that request or the date it is accepted as a valid application, whichever is later.

Fourthly, substantive examination of patent application;
The purpose of substantive examination is to assess the protect ability of objects stated in those applications under the protection conditions and corresponding protection coverage. Be noted that during the substantive examination process to the application having the priority, the NOIP may use the searching information result and corresponding substantive examination result of the application submitted abroad. However, the applicant could actively provide the following documents for substantive examination: (i) searching information result and corresponding substantive examination result of the application submitted abroad (ii) the copy of protection title on the basis of similar application submitted abroad (iii) the documents related to technical art of the subject mentioned in the application which provided by oversea competent authority and other documents. The content of substantive examination is to assess the corresponding of the subject in the application to each protection claim. After finishing the substantive examination period, the NOIP will issue one of the following notifications:

-The subject in the application does not satisfy the protected conditions or satisfies the protection conditions and remains some errors. Then, the NOIP will issue a notification of intention of refusal to grant protection title and set a period for applicant to have opinion and correct the errors. If the applicant replies to the notification and the NOIP considers to be suitable, then NOIP then issues the intention of granting protection title and set a period for application to submit the granting fee.

-If the subject in the application satisfies the protected conditions, the NOIP then issues the intention of granting protection title and set a period for application to submit the granting fee.

In both the above cases, if the applicant submits the granting fee, publication of granting decision fee; registration protection title fee and first year remaining validity fee, applicant will then be granted the patent registration certificate. Every year, applicant will have to submit the remaining validity fee, otherwise, the protection title will be invalid.  It is suggested that patent attorney in Vietnam will be assigned to follow up with the authority for effective management of IP properties.












Thứ Sáu, 13 tháng 3, 2020

Condition, Procedures and Period of Patent Registration in Vietnam

BY Minh Anh IN , , , , , , No comments


Before applying the patent registration, applicant needs to find out the matters related to conditions, procedures and period from the time of submission the application until granting the protection title when registering a patent to avoid the cases that National Office of Intellectual Property in Vietnam (NOIP) may issue the notification on denying examination due to not meeting criterias or non-compatible dossiers.


According to Law on Intellectual Property in Vietnam, a patent needs to satisfy 03 following criterias to be protected:
-An invention shall be deemed novel if it has not yet been publicly disclosed by use or by means of a written description or any other form either inside or outside Vietnam before the filing date or the priority date, as applicable, of the invention registration application.
-An invention shall be deemed not yet publicly disclosed if it is known to only a limited number of persons who are obliged to keep it secret.
-An invention shall not be deemed to have lost its novelty if it is published in the following cases, provided that the invention registration application is filed within six (6) months from the date of publication:
1.It is published by another person without permission from the person having the right to register it;
2.It is published in the form of a scientific presentation by the person having the right to register it;
3.It is displayed at a national exhibition of Vietnam or at an official or officially recognized international exhibition by the person having the right to register it.

-An invention shall be deemed to be of an inventive nature if, based on technical solutions already publicly disclosed by use or by means of a written description or any other form either inside or outside Vietnam prior to the filing date or the priority date as applicable of the application for registration of the invention, the invention constitutes inventive progress and cannot be easily created by a person with average knowledge in the art;
-An invention shall be deemed to be susceptible of industrial application if it is possible to realize mass manufacture or production of products or repeated application of the process which is the subject matter of the invention, and to achieve stable results.
For registration procedures, after the application was filing, it will go through 02 phases of examination:
-The application will be examined formality from 1-3 months. If the application meets the formality criteria according to the law, NOIP will issue the decision on accepting the formality of the application. Then, it will be published on Industrial Property Official Gazette within 02 months from the date of issuing the above decision.
-Then, when having the request, the application will go through a substantial examination within 12-16 months. If meeting the protection criteria as mentioned above, NOIP will issue the Patent to applicant.
However, the actual examining period will be shorter or longer than as regulated.
In case of authorizing ANT Lawyers as IP agent in Vietnam, the client needs to provide the following documents:
-Name and address of the applicant;
-Name and address of inventor(s);
-POA to ANT Lawyers;
-Specification, Figures and Claims of the patent;
-Priority documents (if any);
-Other related documents.
ANT Lawyers - A Law firm in Vietnam is supported by a team of experienced patent, trademark, design attorneys with qualification and skills handling full range of legal services relating to intellectual property rights in Vietnam.  We have specialized in the preparation and registration of patents, trademarks and designs for our clients.












Thứ Hai, 17 tháng 2, 2020

Overview of PCT System for Invention Protection Abroad

BY Minh Anh IN , , , , , No comments


PCT System is a tool which helps protecting Inventions abroad and based on the Patent Cooperation Treaty (PCT). PCT is international treaty with more than 150 Contracting States. This system makes it possible for patent owner to protect theirs invention simultaneously in a large number of country by filing only one international application instead of national or regional submitting, normally through the support of IP attorney.
However, the patent is granted under the control of national or regional patent offices via national phase. The application when filing by this system is called PCT application. The general PCT procedures includes: filing application; international search; international publication; supplementary international search (optional); international preliminary examination (optional); national phase.

PCT is widely used by individuals and different organizations. Patent owner is entitled to file PCT application if they are a national or resident of a PCT Contracting States. If there are several applicants named in the international application, only one of them needs to comply with this requirement. Also, the PCT application can be filed, in most case, with national patent offices or directly with WIPO if pursuant to national law.
One of the most important matters which applicant notice is the time schedule when filing PCT application. Normally, applicant will have up to 18 months from the time they file their international patent application (or usually 30 months from the filing date of the initial patent application of which they claim priority) before they enter national phase with the separate procedures of each national patent offices. Be noted that you always can ask for an early entry into the national phase without waiting for the expiration of 30 months.
During the time period of PCT process, the PCT application will be gone through an international search which is the main search beside supplementary international search, by International Searching Authorities which may be either a national office or an intergovernmental organization, such as the International Patent Institute, whose tasks include the establishing of documentary search reports on prior art with respect to inventions which are the subject of applications, with the result of an international search report. The report enable applicant to evaluate the chances of obtaining patents in national phase. After that, the application will be published or this step called International publication. WIPO (World Intellectual Property Organization) publishes the international application shortly after the expiration of 18 months from the priority date together with the international search report on PATENTSCOPE. After the international publication, applicant can also request for a second evaluation of the potential patentability of the invention which is International preliminary examination. This examination allows applicant to amend the international application before entering the national phase. At the end of the procedure, an international preliminary report on patentability will be issued. This report give the opinion on the compliance with the international patentability criteria of each of the claims which have been searched and an even stronger basis on which to evaluate the chances of obtaining patents.
Finally, you may decide to push your application go further when proceeding with national phase. From that time, the procedures would comply with the national where it is elected or designated.
For PCT registration in Vietnam, the patent attorney in Vietnam at ANT Lawyer will be of help for advisory, and filing with National Office of Intellectual Property in Vietnam.












Thứ Tư, 12 tháng 2, 2020

Protecting Invention Abroad via Patent Cooperation Treaty (PCT)

BY Minh Anh IN , , , , No comments


Patent is an intellectual property right which owner could benefit from limited monopoly or commercialize through licensing the patent to others in return for royalty.  To protect  invention internationally, an inventor may file an international application with a national or regional patent office or WIPO and this aplication must comply with the Patent Cooperation Treaty (PCT) formality requirements. The patent owner should have a patent lawyer to help out with the process of patent registration, and filing an international protection through PCT process.
 What is Patent Cooperation Treaty?
The PCT is an international treaty with 153 Contracting States. This treaty helps the applicant in protecting their invention internationally when filing only one international patent application to be protected in a large number of countries instead of filing several separate national or regional patent applications. The granting of patents remains under the control of the national or regional patent offices in what is called the “national phase”.
The general procedures when filing an PCT application would be:
Filing, International search, International Publication, Supplementary International Search (optional), International Preliminary Examination (optional), National Phase.
With the filing step, the applicant needs to file an international application with a national or regional patent office or WIPO, complying with the PCT formality requirements, in one language, pay one set of fees. Before International Publication, the patent must go through an International Search by an “International Searching Authority” (ISA) (one of the world’s major patent offices). The purpose of this Search is to identify the published patent documents and technical literature which may have an influence on whether invention is patentable. After that, a written opinion on invention’s potential patentability will be issued. Then, the PCT application can go directly to national phase. However, there are two optional steps which applicants may go through: (i) Supplementary International Search (optional), and (ii) International Preliminary Examination (optional). These two steps based on applicant’s request should publish documents which may not have been found by the first ISA and carry out an additional patentability analysis, usually on an amended version of application, respectively.
How long does the PCT process take? Normally, applicant will have 30 months from the filing date of the initial patent application of which they claim priority or up to an additional 18 months from the time applicant files their international patent application before they have to begin the national phase procedures with individual patent offices and to fulfill the national requirements.
At any time, however, applicant may request an early entry into the national phase instead of waiting for the expiration of 30 months from the earliest filing date of their patent application. Once the application has gone into national phase, the time required for the examination and grant of a patent varies across patent offices of each state.
One of the important steps in filing PCT is to make sure the translation into Vietnamese language match up with the original language.  Patent attorneys in Vietnam at ANT Lawyers will assist along the process including the translation of the patent and work with the national office of intellectual property in Vietnam to follow the instructions to complete the registration process in Vietnam.









Thứ Sáu, 27 tháng 12, 2019

How to Protect Business Secrets through Non-Disclosure Agreement (NDA)

BY Minh Anh IN , , , , , , No comments


In business or production process, individual or organization being may have to share its business secrets with others.  Legal solution for this situation is to enter into a Non-Disclosure Agreement agreement (NDA).
Non-Disclosure Agreement (NDA) are often used by inventors or companies when sharing business ideas, sample products which have just been created, patent and many other business secrets. This disclosure’s purpose is to explore the possibilities to cooperate, manufacture; to commercialize a particular product in relation to another company when seeking licensing contracts, financial source to develop a product; to deploy a business secret, to enter into a Merger and Acquisition transactions, or to create binding obligations on employees if they know or are known secrets of the company they are working for.
What does the content of the Non-Disclosure Agreement (NDA) include?
NDA should begin with a clear statement of who the owner’s non-disclosed information is (owner); party who receives non-disclosed information (recipient); identify non-disclosed information and the reason for disclosing such information to the recipient. The most important thing of NDA is to identify the scope of non-disclosed information or confidential information to avoid the parties in dispute if one party discloses certain information. Another thing to keep in mind is that the NDA can achieve the purpose of the parties when stipulating clearly how the recipient has to protect that information and what is allowed or not allowed to do with that information. In particular, it is necessary to detail that the recipient has to take responsibilities if they violate the information security obligations specified in the NDA.
Besides, the parties may agree to a reciprocal NDA. Sometimes, the source of information is two-ways, both parties will then disclose confidential information to each other, for example when the two parties form a joint venture, or have intention of acquiring the target company through M&A. Accordingly, NDA will refer to the agreement of formation a joint venture, M&A which clearly states that which confidential information two parties will share, what are the rights and obligations of the two parties.
Of course, the best way to keep a secret is to not tell anyone. However, this is not always possible in the collaboration world when shared economy is thriving in Vietnam.  If the owner needs to share business secrets, they could sign with the recipient an non-disclosure agreement or contract to avoid unfortunate circumstances.
ANT Lawyers - Law firm in Vietnam could help clients to create NDA in various business transactions in M&A, joint venture, IP commercialization, labour to address the needs of business requirements in Vietnam.





Thứ Năm, 28 tháng 11, 2019

How to register a patent in Vietnam?

BY Minh Anh IN , , , , , No comments


Law on Intellectual Property of Vietnam had come into effect from 2005 to keep up with the considerable development of the world. One of the most important subject of Intellectual property is patent which contribute a huge part for the mankind development. According to Vietnamese law, to be granted patent title, a patent must fulfill 3 conditions which are: (i) novelty; (ii) inventive nature; (iii) susceptible of industrial application.


Firstly, a patent shall be deemed novel if it has not yet been publicly disclosed by use or by means of a written description or any other form either inside or outside Vietnam before the filing date or the priority date, as applicable, of the invention registration application. Besides, a patent shall not be deemed to have lost its novelty if it is published in the following cases, provided that the invention registration application is filed within six (6) months from the date of publication:
-It is published by another person without permission from the person having the right to register it;
-It is published in the form of a scientific presentation by the person having the right to register it;
-It is displayed at a national exhibition of Vietnam or at an official or officially recognized international exhibition by the person having the right to register it

Secondly, An invention shall be deemed to be of an inventive nature if, based on technical solutions already publicly disclosed by use or by means of a written description or any other form either inside or outside Vietnam prior to the filing date or the priority date as applicable of the application for registration of the invention, the invention constitutes inventive progress and cannot be easily created by a person with average knowledge in the art.

Thirdly, an invention shall be deemed to be susceptible of industrial application if it is possible to realize mass manufacture or production of products or repeated application of the process which is the subject matter of the invention, and to achieve stable results.
If a patent fulfills the above criteria then it is granted patent title.

What is the process of registration a patent in Vietnam?
After submitting the patent application into Noip (Intellectual Property office of Vietnam), it shall gone through 2 phases of examination which are formal examination and substantial examination.

Formal examination of applications means examination of observance of regulations on formalities applicable to applications, serving as a basis for concluding whether applications are valid or invalid, this phase would take from 1-3 months. All applications accepted as valid shall be published by the Noip in the Industrial Property Official Gazette.

After the publication, if there are no third parties object the application, then it go to substantial examination. The purpose of substantive examination of applications is to assess the protectability of objects stated in those applications under the protection conditions and corresponding protection coverage (volume). This phase would take from 12 months to 16 months. If it does meet protection criteria, NOIP will grant Patent for Invention.
However, in practice, the time from the filing to granting will be 18 months to 20 months due to huge load of work.

It is wise to consult the advice of a patent attorneys in Vietnam to help assist you with your patent. We are a legal marketplace with quality lawyers who are knowledgeable in various areas of the law—including patents.


Thứ Sáu, 25 tháng 10, 2019

Can you resell patents? Is there a platform for this?

BY Minh Anh IN , , , , No comments


A patent is a business asset, just like machinery or great processes - therefore it can be sold. A patent is simply a legal document granted by the USPTO that grants ownership of an invention for a period of 20 years (in most cases). However, in order to actually profit from a brilliant idea in which you’ve patented you must either sell the patent, license the usage rights, or market/create the product yourself. With a creative idea and strong patent, that list definitely goes from easiest to most difficult.


If you have full rights to patent and have made the decision to sell, there are a few ways to make this happen. Unfortunately, there is not some online exchange for this. However, you can still find the right person or company to sell your invention to. I recommend making direct contact with businesses that are in the same market and may be interested in your product. Additionally, you can attend trade shows to further network.

Sometimes it does take some money on the part of the patent holder in order to sell a patent. You may have some success buying ad space in industry magazines or trade publications to reach additional potential buyers. If all of these steps still don’t offer any leads, it may be necessary to use a broker to sell the patent. They will take a percentage of the total sale for their efforts.
Source: Raad Ahmed - Quora


Thứ Năm, 17 tháng 10, 2019

Can an invention be patented if it isn't new?

BY Minh Anh IN , , , , No comments


While you can’t patent an invention that has already been patented, you may be able to patent a particular function or design of it.


A utility patent is appropriate for new or improved inventions. Of course, in your situation, it would be for an improvement on an existing invention and not a patent for a brand new idea.

A design patent doesn’t focus on the use of the product at all. Instead, it focuses on the ornamental features of it. So, if you are creating a brand new look to an existing invention, then this may be protectable under this type of patent.
Source: Quora


Thứ Tư, 16 tháng 10, 2019

Intellectual Property Law: What makes a patent valid?

BY Minh Anh IN , , , , No comments


The validity of a patent can be relevant in two ways:
First, someone can challenge the validity of your patent and second, you can question the validity of theirs. Patent validity is an important question when litigation is being brought or considered.
A patent is a set of rights granted by a government that protects an invention. If a patent is given to the applicant, they have the right to block others from making, selling or importing their invention into the country for twenty years from the date of filing.

Prior Art is any evidence of your invention existing before the date you filed your patent application. Prior art can be evidence that an invention – the same or similar to yours – has been demonstrated to the public, written about in a magazine or that there are existing patents related to your invention.

Any references used to invalidate a patent must be from before the date of priority. The date of priority is when you filed your application. For prior art to be relevant, it must have existed before this date.

When you apply for a patent, you are obliged by law to report all known relevant references. Your patent application will also prompt the patent office to perform a prior art search to determine if the invention is novel and non-obvious.
If another inventor or company believes that prior art exists, which would invalidate your patent, they may start litigation against you.

After Infringement:
If you have infringed someone else’s patent, there are a few options open to you depending on how willing the patent holder is to negotiate. The patent holder may agree to sell you the patent or license it out to you for a fee.

Intellectual property laws have been constructed to encourage companies to cross license and come up with solutions to infringement that result in innovations and products. If you have infringed a patent, particularly in error, you stand a good chance of coming to an agreement with the patent owner.

A Blocking Patent:
 If no agreement can be reached with the patent owner, then their patent becomes a blocking patent. It blocks or prevents you from manufacturing or selling your invention. In this case, you need to take steps to invalidate their patent.

Patent Validity Search:
A patent validity search is a search of prior art designed to examine all possible areas where information might be found. The search is guided by information about the target patent; the patent which is stopping you from operating.

Claims Mapping:
Claims chart mapping is an infringement analysis. This process involves examining the claims in a patent.

Unlike the invention description, the patent claims can change throughout the process of the application. Inventors usually start off claiming a lot of protection across broad ideas and are told they can’t get that level of coverage. They then narrow down what they are claiming legal protection for in the patent.

An examination of the claims is essential to understand where the prior art may be relevant. This is true whether you are seeking to prove that your patent does not infringe anyone else’s rights or if you think someone else has infringed yours.

Infringement of Your Patent:
A patent validity search can interchangeably be called an invalidity search. The same extensive search for prior art is undertaken but with a view to proving a rival patent invalid rather than ensuring the validity of your own.
In this case, you want to examine any prior art that may invalidate the claims made in the target patent.

NPE Demand Letters:
A demand letter is a letter putting forward a legal claim and demand for restitution. This could come from a rival company who think you have infringed their intellectual property rights, or it could be from a non-practicing entity or NPE.

NPE companies have no products or services. They make money by acquiring intellectual property rights such as patents and using them as a basis for legal action.
NPE companies are bad news because they are only after financial gain and cannot be appealed to on any other grounds. The best way to counter these companies is to deter them from choosing to go after you.

Having a strong and well-protected intellectual property portfolio is central to this strategy. A good claims chart mapping process is in important in this case also.

The Importance of Validity Searching:
Validity searching improves your business on some levels. It can help you to prove infringements and refute accusations of infringements. Both of these actions build the strength of your intellectual property portfolio and make it more valuable. This is true whether you want to use, sell or license your intellectualproperty.

A strong reputation can be built upon this strong intellectual property portfolio. If rivals and NPEs think you are a soft target, they will commit resources and time to trying to find a problem with your patents. If you have a highly defensible patent portfolio, you will reduce the amount of people who see you as a worthwhile target.

Conduct a Patent Validity Search to:
- Invalidate a blocking patent
- Establish deterrents to demand letters from NPEs
- Carry out due diligence on a patent, patent portfolio or pending patent application.
Source: Quora