Is a patentability search required before filing in India?

No, it is optional — but it is the difference between investing in a strong application and spending fees on a doomed one. The search protects the applicant, not the office.

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LEGISMITHPARTNERS LLP

Patentability search report · Fixed fee · 48 hours

"Is this patentable?"
Answered in 48 hours.

Q: What is a patentability search report?

A search of worldwide patent and non-patent prior art, mapped feature-by-feature against an invention, concluding with a reasoned opinion on novelty, inventive step and — for software — Section 3(k) eligibility. Legismith delivers it in 48 hours at a fixed fee.

Before you spend on drafting, know your odds. A patentability search report maps global prior art feature-by-feature against your invention and gives you a straight file / don't-file opinion under Indian law — in two days, not two weeks.

Start the clock — quote in 24h The full patent process

48h delivery, guaranteed scope Fee adjusts against drafting Includes 3(k) assessment for software

What is a patentability search report? A search of patent and non-patent prior art worldwide, mapped feature-by-feature against your invention, concluding with a reasoned opinion on novelty and inventive step — plus, for software and AI inventions, a Section 3(k) eligibility assessment. Legismith delivers it in 48 hours at a fixed fee that adjusts against drafting if you proceed.

Inside the report

What you receive

The evidence

Mapped prior art

The closest patents and publications found, with each of your invention's features mapped against each reference — so you see exactly where the overlap is, and where it isn't.

The opinion

A straight answer

File, don't file, or file narrower — with the reasoning. For software and AI, a specific view on the Section 3(k) route. We'd rather lose a drafting fee than file you into a dead end.

The plan

Claim strategy notes

If the answer is "file," you also get the angle: which features carry novelty, what the independent claim should anchor on, and whether provisional-first makes sense.

Why 48 hours matters: most firms quote 1–2 weeks for the same scope. Founders make disclosure decisions — demos, pitches, launches — on weekly timelines. A report that arrives after the decision is a receipt, not advice.

FAQs

Patentability search report — common questions

No — and that's how portals file unpatentable ideas all day. The search is for you: it's the difference between investing in a strong application and donating fees to a doomed one.

Then you saved the drafting and prosecution spend, and the report usually shows what a patentable improvement would look like. Several of our strongest grants started as a "not yet."

Yes — attorney-client confidentiality applies from the first call, before any engagement letter. Searching does not disclose your invention anywhere.

If you proceed to drafting with us within 60 days, the report fee is deducted from the drafting fee. The search effectively becomes free when it leads to a filing.

Describe the invention. We'll do the rest.

Two or three lines is enough to scope it. Fixed-fee quote within 24 hours; the 48-hour clock starts on go-ahead.

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"Is this patentable?"Answered in 48 hours.