The search is conducted in patent databases containing publications from all over the world. Although it can never be guaranteed that an exploratory novelty search is 100% complete, it provides you with a good and comprehensive picture of the "state of the art," that is to say, of what is known at that time in the field of your invention.

A novelty search yields many patent publications, providing an inventor with new ideas to further refine their own invention! As a result, the costs of a novelty search are often recouped on the very same day.

It is also possible to specifically investigate what your competitors are doing. In that case, a novelty search can be focused on patent applications filed by a specific competitor.