Before you know who needs patent assignee search services, you must know what is the meaning of patent, assignee, and inventor. A patent is a set of legal rights granted to a person for inventing something useful that was not invented before. It could be any technology or device that facilitates the functioning of different things. An inventor is a person who invents something with his skills, knowledge, and experience. And, the assignee is the company or university that the inventor works with.
For instance, if an employee invents something while working for a particular company then the person who has contributed to the invention will be known as an inventor and the company the assignee.
Often it has been seen that the inventor and assignee have conflicts for the rights of the invention. To resolve that, the assignee and inventor can go through either of the ways – assignment or license. An assignment is the full transfer of rights from the assignor to the assignee or you can say from inventor to its company. Whereas, the license is the temporary transfer of ownership rights (for a limited time) from assignor to assignee.
Note that even if you have given your patent license to an organization or individual, you still have the authority to administer its usage. As an example, you can control the time, territory, and cost of the products derived from your invention. I think now you understand what does patent assignee search services means.
Who needs this service?
Many people want to look up for the inventions that have been patented by giant technology companies, famous celebrities, or their relatives or ancestors. They do this because they are interested in the ownership rights of that particular invention. Once they have found who owns the invention, they contact them and try to strike a deal that is beneficial for both of them financially.
No wonder why big companies try hard to get the legal rights of a particular technology or invention, the moment they realize its potential to monetize. Now it is on the will of inventors whom they want to give the rights or not. Of course, the one who bets the highest wins.
Who offers this service?
Since the patent record maintained by USPTO since the year 1976 is so huge that it certainly needs a professional person to dig into the database. For that, you can hire patent attorneys or patent search firms who are willing to find out the assignee of a specific patent. Of course, they do have a charge but then they will also provide you peace of mind. You don’t need to go here and there or scan this website or that website to search patent assignees. They already have access to the useful resources that are required to find out the details of a particular patent.
In case, you would like to know the field or area they provide patent search services in, simply get in touch with them and request a quote. However, if you don’t have deep pockets you can search yourself by going through the USPTO website. But do note that you might or might not be able to fetch the desired information as their site has several terminologies that you might not understand.
So, it’s better if you opt for patent assignee search services and let patent search firms do all the hard work for you. They have expertise in what they do and the way they do it.
Should you assign patent rights to your company?
Well, the answer to this question is purely subjective. I have discussed in the upper paragraphs how transferring the ownership right to your organization makes you powerless. They will have full control over its usage till the expiry date of the patent. All the capital they generate from selling the products or services based on your invention will be their not yours.
Also, they may take the credit for your invention socially that you earlier had. So, the fact of the matter is that think before you act, and then make the decision that you are not likely to regret in the future.
Key takeaway
There are no two ways about it that the ownership of a patent belongs to the inventor. Now it is the call of inventors whom they want to give the legal rights of the patent. As far as the assignee search of patents is concerned, I must say do all the background checks before you reach a decision.
For that, you must reach out to a certified and well-known patent attorney or patent search firm that has experience in dealing with patent projects. Once they are aware of your requirements, they will offer you the best of their service that they specialize in.
Also read: Top Considerations to Put in Mind When Hiring a Managed IT Service Provider
