A company has developed new equipment and plans to bring it to market. The engineers have finished the design, production is preparing a prototype, and the sales department is discussing the first deliveries. Only at this stage does the question arise: “Does the product infringe the valid patents of other companies?” This cannot be checked with a single search query.
It is necessary to determine the essential technical features of the object, select the countries, set the depth of the search, find relevant patents, check their legal status, and compare the scope of legal protection with the specific products. The results of this work are set out in a patent research report.
In Russia, the requirements for conducting and documenting patent research are established by GOST R 15.011-2024 “Intellectual Property. Patent Research. Content and Procedure” (ГОСТ Р 15.011-2024 «Интеллектуальная собственность. Патентные исследования. Содержание и порядок проведения»). The standard has been in effect since March 1, 2024 and sets requirements for the organization, content, documentation and use of the results of research.
One of the tasks of such research is the study of patent clearance.
And here it is important not to confuse two different questions: “Can our development be patented?” and “Can we use and sell it without infringing the valid exclusive rights of others?”
These are different studies and different legal risks.
Why a patent research report is needed and who requires it
A patent search in itself is a process of obtaining information. A patent research report goes further: it shows what exactly was studied, which sources were searched, which documents were found, how they were analyzed and what conclusions were reached.
GOST R 15.011-2024 applies to patent research carried out at the stages of planning and performing research, experimental design, technological and production work. It is also intended for research under contracts and initiative projects of legal entities and individuals.
The report may be required by:
- a customer of R&D
- a developer of new products;
- an industrial enterprise;
- a technology startup;
- an investor;
- a manufacturer before launching serial production;
- a company before entering a new market;
- participants in projects with a government or corporate customer.
The value of the report lies in the reproducibility of the analysis.
Another specialist must understand:
- what object was studied;
- for what purpose;
- for what period;
- in which countries;
- in which classes;
- in which databases;
- which search queries were used;
- which documents were selected;
- why specific conclusions were drawn.
This is why a good report is not a list of twenty links to patents. It is a consistent study.
A separate scenario is a report for an investor: patent clearance.
For an investor, it is important to understand not only the technical appeal of the project. If the key product potentially falls under a valid patent of a competitor, this may affect the launch of production, licensing, the financial model and the geography of sales.
However, the report should not be regarded as an absolute guarantee that there are no claims of any kind. A patent search has established limits as to subject matter, territory, time and available data.
What the report consists of: mandatory sections under GOST
GOST R 15.011-2024 provides for structured presentation of the research results. A patent research report is prepared in accordance with the requirements of the standard and GOST 7.32. Its mandatory annexes are the terms of reference for patent research, the search regulations and the search report.
In simplified form, the structure of a patent research report includes:
- a title section;
- information about the contractors;
- a table of contents;
- if necessary, a list of designations and abbreviations;
- data on the object of research;
- the main analytical part;
- a conclusion;
- annexes.
For the main part, the standard provides recommended forms collected in Annex G. The structure of the standard separately includes annexes with the terms of reference for patent research, the search regulations, the search report and forms for the analytical part.
Terms of reference for the research
First, the task is recorded. For example: to conduct a patent clearance study of the design of an industrial pump for production and sale in Russia, Kazakhstan and China.
This is much more precise than the wording “check the pump against patents.”
Search regulations
This is where the strategy is defined:
- search subjects;
- countries;
- depth of search;
- patent databases;
- classification headings;
- keywords;
- other sources of information.
It is the search regulations that make the research clear and reproducible.
Search report
It records how the information search was conducted and which documents were identified. The annexes to a patent research report make it possible to reconstruct the logic of the work: from the formulation of the task to the specific documents found.
Analytical part
This is the central part of the research. Here the documents found are not merely listed but compared with the object of research. Depending on the task, the analysis may concern:
- the state of the art;
- development trends;
- patentability;
- patent clearance;
- the competitive situation;
- individual right holders.
Therefore, two reports on the same technology may differ greatly if they address different tasks.
Patent clearance study in the report: what it shows
A patent clearance study answers the question of whether the object of research can be used in a particular territory without infringing the valid exclusive rights of third parties, within the limits of the study conducted.
The GOST itself defines patent clearance as a legal property of an object of technology or a technique, associated with the possibility of its use in a particular country without infringing the exclusive rights in force on its territory.
This is fundamentally different from a patentability check.
Suppose an engineer has developed a new device. The research results show that:
- there was no exact copy of the solution before;
- certain design features are indeed new;
- the development may potentially show signs of patentability.
But at the same time, a valid patent of another company is found, the claims of which cover one of the key components of the product. It turns out that one’s own patent can potentially be obtained, but commercial use of the specific design may create a risk of infringing another patent.
The reverse situation is also possible.
The solution has been known for a long time and lacks novelty, so a new patent cannot be obtained. But the old patents have expired, and manufacturing the design may not create a patent barrier.
A patent clearance conclusion should reflect:
- what object was studied;
- with respect to which countries;
- which technical features were analyzed;
- which protection documents were found;
- whether the corresponding rights are in force;
- which elements of the object potentially overlap with the scope of legal protection;
- which risks were identified.
Patent clearance check by countries of use
Patent rights are territorial. They are in force in one country, but this does not mean that the same exclusive right automatically exists throughout the world.
Therefore, a patent clearance check must be carried out with respect to specific territories.
For example, a Russian company has developed equipment and plans to:
- manufacture it in Russia;
- supply it to Kazakhstan;
- sell it in Germany;
- assemble part of the equipment in China.
In such a project, a study of the Russian patent collection alone will not fully solve the task. It is necessary to take into account the countries in which legally significant actions with the product are expected. This is exactly why patent clearance for export requires a separate geographic search strategy. The same technical object may have a different patent status in different markets.
For example:
Russia: no relevant patent.
Germany: a European patent with the corresponding territorial coverage is in force.
China: a national patent of another company exists.
This may affect the design of the product, the choice of market or the need for license negotiations.
In the analysis, it is important to take into account not only the presence of a document in a database but also its legal status. An application may be:
- under examination;
- result in the grant of a patent;
- withdrawn;
- terminated;
- not maintained in force;
- belong to a patent family with different statuses in different countries.
Therefore, a patent clearance conclusion cannot be made solely on the basis of matching titles or abstracts. What matters most is the scope of legal protection, determined by the patent claims, and the current legal status of the document.
Patent clearance search: how the evidentiary basis of the report is formed
A patent clearance search begins with the decomposition of the object. Suppose an industrial installation is being studied. It consists of:
- a housing;
- a reaction chamber;
- a feed system;
- a heat exchanger;
- a filter;
- a control unit;
- a control algorithm.
Checking only the phrase “industrial installation for…” is not enough. A competitor’s patent may relate not to the installation as a whole but to an individual component or its method of operation. Therefore, the object is divided into search subjects.
For each of them, the following are determined:
- technical features;
- synonyms;
- classification headings;
- terminology variants;
- related technologies.
Next, a search is carried out in national and international patent sources. The documents found go through selection. At this stage, some of the results are excluded as irrelevant, and the closest documents are analyzed in more detail.
The evidentiary basis may include:
- bibliographic data;
- patent publications;
- patent claims;
- patent families;
- information about right holders;
- legal status data;
- results of feature comparison;
- references to the information sources used.
After that, a comparison table is created. For example:
Feature of the object: the filter module is installed after the reaction chamber.
Patent X: a similar module is a mandatory feature of the independent claim.
Status: the patent is in force in the territory under study.
Conclusion: additional risk analysis is required.
It is this logic that distinguishes a full patent clearance check from an ordinary search for similar images and titles. It is also important to take into account the date of the study. The patent situation changes: new applications appear, patents are granted, and existing rights expire. Therefore, the report characterizes the situation as of a particular moment and for the specified scope of the study.
How “POSINT” automatically prepares a patent research report
A classic patent study includes many sequential operations:
- Analyze the technical description.
- Identify the search subjects.
- Prepare the queries.
- Find the documents.
- Select the relevant results.
- Study the analogues.
- Systematize the data.
- Create the tables.
- Prepare the conclusions.
- Compile everything into a report.
Part of this work can be automated.
“POSINT” supports patent research under GOST R 15.011-2024, international patent search, and the generation of processing results in the form of reports and documents. These functions are stated on the official website and in the User Agreement of the Service.
The work begins with a description of the object. The User uploads technical information, after which the AI assistant helps break the development down into features and form search directions. Next, the Service conducts an international patent search and analyzes the solutions found. For patent research, the system helps structure the materials needed to prepare the report:
- information about the object;
- the search strategy;
- the documents found;
- the main analogues;
- a comparison of technical solutions;
- the analysis results.
On the advanced and maximum plans, “POSINT” specifically offers patent research under GOST R 15.011-2024, technology reviews and patent landscapes.
At the same time, an automatic result should not be regarded as an absolute legal guarantee. The Service itself recommends using the generated results as a basis for analysis and verifying final conclusions in accordance with the User’s internal procedures.
This is especially important for a patent clearance study, since it is necessary to assess not only the technical similarity of documents but also the current legal status of the patent, the territory and the scope of legal protection.
Conclusion
A patent research report is needed not simply to show the customer a list of the patents found. It records the entire logic of the research: what was checked → where it was searched → what was found → how it was analyzed → what conclusions were reached.
A patent clearance check is a separate task. It helps assess the risks of infringing valid exclusive rights in specific territories and is especially important before launching production, making major investments or bringing a product to export markets.
At the same time, patentability and patent clearance are not the same thing. A new technology may overlap with the valid rights of third parties, while a long-known design, on the contrary, may be free of current patent restrictions.
Conduct patent research before launching the product
If you are preparing a new technology, equipment or another technical product for production, conduct patent research before you invest significant funds in serial production.
Upload the description of your development to “POSINT”. The AI assistant will help you perform a patent search, analyze the documents found and prepare the materials of a patent research report under GOST R 15.011-2024.
Check your development with “POSINT” and get a structured picture of patent risks before the product enters the market.