The technological industry is getting crowded every day. Each product, be it a small automobile or a toy or a highly intensive product component, is a combination of different functional concepts and diverse ideas protected by a pile of patents, design registrations, and utility models. For instance, even a simple product like a razor comes with patent protection to secure every part of the model. In this scenario, before initiating the development and design of a new product, the owner should include a clear concept about the proprietary rights around that technology, design, or product to develop. Through this, an inventor can protect the various product features by implementing various intellectual property tools like designs or patents.
Freedom to operate search is a type of approach that can entangle the freedom or clearance search in a legal jurisdiction. It can examine or check the protection of the legal intellectual patent or properties in any country. It offers exact information or concepts about the infringement charges in the country where the organization or company is seeking opportunities to launch their technology or product. There is a huge risk if anyone launches a product or a technology with no analysis of the FTO search patent. In those cases, the newly launched technology or product is quite vulnerable to the infringement suits that can threaten the company business itself.
The best way of going through the freedom to operate analysis and search is even before someone starts inventing in setting the manufacturing plant of the discovered product, technology, or design. Through this search, one can understand the freedom degrees available to the development team while developing and designing new technology or product in the market. The final goal of the product development team is to come out with a new model that will not include any redesign pattern or infringed components.
An FTO analysis is due diligence that requires execution with a lot of seriousness and care before taking any manufacturing activity. It offers immense details that ascertain the facts whether the proposed or the existing product can be used, produced, or sold with no infringement of another valid patent.
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Role Of The Freedom To Operate Search In The Competitive Intelligence
Now let us check out the various roles of FTO Search in competitive intelligence as described below.
- FTO patent search offers all the information about the patent lifetime (20 years for the utility patent and 14 years for the design patents) or the claim of any competitive company or organization. For example, payment details of the maintenance fee, priority date, jurisdiction rules, infringement due to the third party, patent, or claim territory regions.
- Sometimes the competitive companies or organizations sign a non-exclusive cross-licensing agreement. According to that, every company who signs the agreement will include some authority or scope in the data of the intellectual property of other signed companies.
- It also enlightens the future outcome of the new product or technology or development program launched by the organization or company in a country. It offers a detailed technological and interpretation of the intellectual protection of the properties relevant to the pre-launched technologies, patents, or products by the competitors.
- Freedom to operate patent search offers more vital data for the examination of landscape patents during competitive intelligence. It is one of the easiest ways of connecting with the global activities of a competitor organization or company related to the advancements of intellectual property. It offers information regarding the developmental programs of competitive companies all over the world. The search also delivers enhancement in the success rates of the newest technological plans.
The Outcome Of The Freedom To Operate Analysis
The outcome of the extended freedom to operate search offers a vital strategy in the following decisions.
- Selection Of Manufacturing Product
From freedom to operate search, one can understand the launching product feasibility into the market with the optimized threat of infringement.
- Selection Of Manufacturing Process
Even when the product is not new, you can manufacture it through the new process. In these cases, the freedom to operate search analysis ascertains if the proposing method is infringing on some patent or not. If it is infringing, you can also provide the player details with whom you have to make the licensing agreements.
- Selection Of Design And Equipment Of The Workflow And Plant
FTO offers insights on how to design around the available proprietary technology by deliberately selecting the non-infringing variables in the overall processing flows.
- Selection Of The Labels, Packaging, And Other Details
Labeling and packaging of the processing products come into the picture at a very late stage. FTO search offers insights for precluding the possibilities of the other form infringements of intellectual properties, especially trademarks and copyrights.
- Country-Wise Market Selection
Patents include territorial restrictions and therefore constitute an infringement that is not present in other countries where there will be no enforceable patent related to the process or product in question.
- Selection Of Strategic Alliance, Technological And Cross-Licensing Partners
In typical and complex business situations, coming across a purely non-infringing product or process is a rare thing. In such rare cases, product development becomes one of the collective efforts. Freedom to operate search offers an overall concept about different players in the given segment with their specialties. You can make strategic decisions regarding cross-licensing, licensing, and forming strategic alliances with the other companies based on the freedom to operate finding search.
Conclusion
Conducting freedom to operate patent search has become one of the imperatives in today’s world. The freedom to operate search cost is also minimal compared to other search costs. It makes sure about the objective and impartial examination. One can implement Freedom to Operate opinion from the parent company or attorney as a defense against infringement or allegations.
