Prior Art searches in Software Patents-Issues Faced

Prior-art-search is a critical activity carried out by intellectual property professionals. It is usually performed based on known source o f literature to ascertain novelty in a said invention. Prior-art-searches are also carried out for invalidating a patent, knowing state o f the art, freedom to operate studies etc. In many technological domains such as chemistry, mechanical etc., prior art search is easy as compared to domain such as software. In software domain, prior-art can prove to be a complex and tedious process relying heavily on non-patent literature which acts as a pointer to the current technological trends rather than patent documents. This paper tries to highlight the issues faced by patent professionals while performing prior-art search in the field o f software patents.