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August 15, 2012

Google Turns to European Patents to Fire Up its Patent Search

By Steve Anderson, Contributing TMCnet Writer

While Google's (News - Alert) patent search capability was already pretty impressive, covering a wide array of United States patents, pretty much any good software is considering what to do next. Google looked to make a good thing even better by turning to the patents of Europe, the results of which will start hitting Google this week.



The patents in question are numbered in the millions, at last report, and cover a wide array of patents sought from the European Patent Office, providing access to two regions' worth of patent technology, which will no doubt prove to be a boon for anyone looking to do some research involving patents.

Of course, consider the sheer number of patent lawsuits either currently going on, about to begin or recently concluded in both Europe and the United States, as well as in other countries.

Google will further augment its patent search capabilities, at last report, with the use of what's called a "Prior Art Finder" that will use a variety of different sources – Google properties Google Scholar, Google Books and of course Google Patents – including the Internet as a whole to help determine the potential novelty of a patent and likely save some time and money on actually applying for a new patent.

Google, sensing there would likely be some language issues involved in bringing in European patents, also kicked in updates to Google Translate in a bid to help bridge the gap between the various languages spoken throughout Europe and the one mainly spoken in the United States.

The "Find Prior Art" button is active starting today, according to reports, and this will all likely prove helpful for anyone in contact with patents – inventors, lawyers and researchers alike – on a regular basis. Those individuals may find a similar interest in a patent/suit conference for the telecom industry, an event colocated in this fall’s ITEXPO hosted by TMC (News - Alert).

Improving the search capability for patents may well prove helpful overall, as if inventors can see what has already been patented, they can tell where to not focus their efforts. Meanwhile, inventors can also get a good idea of items that could use improvement, or potentially even find new products to create based on old patents in a way that doesn't infringe.

It may very well serve to reduce the total number of patent lawsuits by making previous patents easier to find and determine, as well as remove fodder for future patent trolls to work with.

Whether through TMC’s October event or the search engine giant itself, the exact effects of Google's recent upgrades to their patent search function remain to be seen. However, it's a fair bet that someone – inventor, lawyer or otherwise – will be glad to see the enhanced capabilities.


Want to learn more about patents in the telecom industry? Then be sure to attend
Synopsis Under IP/Patents Telecom Sourcing Conference (SUITS), collocated with ITEXPO West 2012 taking place Oct. 2-5, in Austin, TX.  Stay in touch with everything happening at SUITS. Follow us on Twitter.




Edited by Braden Becker
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