Will Google Patent Infringement Finder Put Power in Hands of Inventors?

By David Tobia
August 24, 2012

Google has created a new Infringement Finder feature within Google Patents to help patent owners and lawyers investigate cases of patent infringement.
Google indicates the feature is meant to aid in its internal attempts to ward off patent infringement. But the company has made the feature open to the public, suggesting Google’s explanation is little more than a way to defend itself against critics.
Users access the feature within Google Patents. After choosing a specific patent to explore, users click the “Find prior art” link and then look through the search results.
Google automatically sets an “end date” based on the date of the patent, and then researchers “only need to remember one of the simplest truisms of patent law: That which infringes if later anticipates if earlier,” notes Gametime IP. “Thus, by changing the ‘earlier’ (End date) to become ‘later’ (Start date), you can sift through a variety of sources that might indicate infringement.”
“Google’s motivation to create this new feature are not entirely clear, but they have provided what should be a useful advancement in patent analysis,” concludes the post. “By speeding up access to information that may lead to evidence of infringement, Google puts more power back into the hands of inventors and patent owners.”

No Comments Yet