Search services
- Our search services
- Delivery time
- Our data sources
- Search report
- Price list
- Contact our consulting engineers for further information
When you have come up with an idea, you can begin your information search by using patent databases available free of charge on the internet. Searching might however be a laborious and time-consuming task, and you also need to know foreign languages to conduct a comprehensive search.
An alternative to conducting novelty searches on your own is to let us do it for you – we have more than 100 patent search experts, whose work involves information retrieval.
Our search services focus on finding information. We recommend that you contact an expert, such as a patent agent, to help you interpret the patent publications found in the search, for example regarding patentability.
Our search services
- Report on the state of the art
- Preliminary examination of novelty (novelty search)
- Examination of obstacles to marketing or manufacturing
- Competitor monitoring
Delivery time
Our delivery time is usually about 4 weeks. Holiday seasons may in some cases extend the examination time, as we usually give the assignment to an expert in the particular technical field in question.In special cases the delivery time may be shorter – please contact our consulting engineers for further details.
Our data sources
Usually, we use patent publication databases in our searches, which are the same databases we use when examining patent applications. The databases include patent publications from the 19th century onwards from dozens of countries in Europe, North America and Asia.Besides patent publications, the databases also include scientific publications, magazines etc.
Search report
The report consists of a list of publications considered relevant to the assignment. In connection with preliminary examinations of novelty, or examinations of the state of the art, we also provide a comment on the publications found in the search if requested, where we tell more about the contents of the publication and what solutions described in your search request can be found in the publications etc.The search covers public patent and utility model applications pending in Finland. The identification details of non-public patent and utility model applications can however be found in our free PatInfo database, which enables you to complete the search on your own.
Please note that we cannot make a statement about whether your invention is patentable or not in the search report or the comment, but we will give you our opinion on the patentability when we examine your patent application.
Go to the PatInfo database
Price list
We charge by the hour for the time we spend on the search. We add a fee for copies of publications (if you wish to have copies of any publications found in the search), and VAT of 23% to the sum.You can set an upper limit for the number of hours or the amount of money to be spent on the search. Two or three hours is however seldom enough when you need reliable results – if there are a lot of patents in a particular technical field or the technology is complicated, the examiner needs to spend more time on the search than when examining more simple inventions.
Price list for search services
Contact our consulting engineers for further information
Postal address:
National Board of Patents and Registration of Finland
Consulting engineers
P.O.Box 1160
FI-00101 Helsinki
Tel. +358 29 509 5858 (Mon–Fri 9.00–11.00 and 12.00–15.00)
Fax +358 29 509 5316
Email: neuvonta.patentti(at)prh.fi