Validity/Invalidation Search

Subject Patent: US2014/0025681A1

(Apparatus and Method forPerusing Selected
Vehicles Having aCleanTitleHistory)
Manager: Ms. Shivani
Mittal
Mentor: Mr. Honey
Chawla

Trainee: Mahak Maini

Goals

Features of Invalidation (Validity) Search:

What is it?
Why is it performed?
How is it performed?
Basic steps of Invalidation
Laws and Date Restrictions
About the patent:
Novelty
Key features
Search Strategies Implemented:
Key words generated
Formulation of queries in various patent search portals
(Thomson, Orbit, Invalidator Tool of XLPAT)
Results:
Short-listing results
Mapping and highlighting the best results

Invalidation Search
What is Invalidation Search?

In an invalidation search, the idea is to find prior art

that is relevant to the validity of the CLAIMS of the
subject patent keeping in mind the date criteria(<=
Earliest Priority Date)
Why is Invalidation Search done?
Case 1: Patent Office may have issued the patent (or
allowed specific claims contained in the patent) in error.
Case 2: A company being sued for infringement can
invalidate the patent in question by performing an
invalidity search which will cause the patent owner to
loses his legal right to sue over products that were
infringing on those claims.

How is invalidation performed?

We perform query based search to find NPL and

patents which have priority before the subject
patents priority.
Steps for performing invalidation:
Read the patent carefully to understand the keyfeatures of the claims.
Read the file wrapper to understand the novelty
of the patent and the office sections.
Find NOT, EQUITABLE ,WEBBING and use
INVALIDATOR tool for the subject patent.
Generate keywords from the patent and
formulate search queries.
Google , IEEE are used for NPL search
Orbit, Thomson, XLPAT are used for Patent

What is the date criteria?

We always search for NPL and patents which

have publication date or priority date before the

earliest priority of the subject patent.
For foreign patents we check the publication
date, it should be before the priority of our
subject patent.
For cases when the priority of the patent is before
the subject patent but its filing date is after, we
check the priority document for relevant data.
US Patent Laws
An invention must be useful (35 USC 101).
An invention must be novel (35 USC 102).
An invention must be non-obvious (35 USC 103).

Steps for Invalidation

NOT
INEQUITAB WEBBIN
(Thomso LE
G
n)
(Thomson) (Orbit)

INVALIDAT
OR
(XLPAT)

Gives us
the list of
the
family
members
and back
citations
of the
subject
patent.
We
compare
in this list
our every
result
and

Generates a
patent
bucket
which are
related to
the subject
patent and
automaticall
y extracts
key-words
from the
patent.

Gives us a
list* of the
patents
that might
have been
cited by the
applicant in
other
countries.
*(A NOT B
Where
A=NOT
query
B=INPADOC
C family
members of

Gives us
a basic
idea
about the
subject
patent
and
related
art.
(Forward
citations
of the
backward
cited
patents
and

Continuation Applications
This patent application is filed by an applicant who wants

to pursue additional claims to an invention disclosed in

an earlier application of the applicant (the "parent"
application) that has not yet been issued or abandoned.
The continuation uses the same specification as the
pending parent application, claims the priority based
on the filing date of the parent, and must name at
least one of the inventors named in the parent application.
This type of application is useful when a patent examiner
allowed some, but rejected other claims in an application,
or where an applicant may not have exhausted all useful
ways of claiming different embodiments of the invention.
In a continuation application there is no modification in
the description of the application only the claims are
added or modified.

Case Study
US20140025681A1
TITLE: Apparatus and Method for
Perusing Selected Vehicles Having
aCleanTitleHistory

Subject Patent

The patent is a continuation application

US20140025681A1
TITLE: Apparatus and Method for Perusing Selected Vehicles Having aCleanTitleHistory

claiming its earliest priority to provisional

application Ser. No. 60/316,547 filed Aug.
31, 2001.
The patent is based on asystem and

method for allowing a consumer to search

adatabasecontaining usedvehicles from a
variety of sellers that can be queried to
provide search results that include
onlyvehicles havingcleantitlehistories.

Understanding the Patents

Claims
The present invention creates a database

of clean title vehicle records by flagging or

preventing the storage of salvage title or
branded title records.
It claims to append an identifier to each
clean title record.
It claims to create a vehicle history record
wherein the user can access the past
records of the vehicle
It claims that all the records created will be
accurate and will correspond to particular
vehicle.

Key Features:

Key Words Extracted:

ACCURATE

DATABANK

LEMON

REGISTER

ALLOW

DATABASE

LOT

REMOVE

AUTOMOBILE

DATARECOR

LOW

RESTRICT

BAD

DELET

MOTOR

SALVAGE

BANK

DETEC

MOTORCYCLE

SCREEN

BASE

DIRECTORY

MOTORVEHICLE SHOW

BLACKLIST

DISCREP

PERMIT

SLIP

BRAND

DISPLAY

PINK

STORE

CARS

FLAG

PINKSLIP

TABLE

CERTIFY

FRAUD

PRESCREEN

TITLE

CHECK

GOOD

PREVENT

VEHICLE

CLEAN

INDEX

PRODUCE

VEHICULAR

CLEAR

INVENTORIES

QUALITY

VIEW

COMMODITY

INVENTORY

RECORD

WARE

Classes Extracted:
CPC/IPC CLASSES
G06F 17/30
B60S
G06Q 30/00
G07C5/00
G06Q 10/08
G07C5/00
G06F 19/00
Y10S707/00

US CLASSES
235/375
707/740
705/28

Search Queries Used:

Sr
No.
1

Search String (ORBIT)

Hits

( ((CLEAN_TITLE+ OR CLEAR_TITLE+ OR BRAND+ OR CLEAN_RECORD+ OR PINK_SLIP+ OR SALVAG+) 4D (VEHICULAR+

12

OR VEHICLE+ OR CAR OR CARS OR MOTOR_VEHICLE? OR AUTOMOBIL?? OR MOTOR_CYCL+))/TI/AB/IW/CLMS AND

((DATA_BASE OR RECOR??? OR DIRECTOR+ OR DATA_BANK OR INVENTOR+) 4D (VEHICULAR+ OR VEHICLE+ OR CAR
OR CARS OR MOTOR_VEHICLE? OR AUTOMOBIL?? OR MOTOR_CYCL+))/TI/AB/IW/CLMS ) AND PRD <= 2001-08-31

( ((DATA_STOR+ OR DATA_BAS+ OR DATA_RECOR+ OR DIRECTOR+ OR DATA_BANK+ OR INVENTOR+ OR TABL+) 8D

28

((PREVENT+ OR REMOVE+ OR FLAG+ OR DELET+ OR RESTRICT+) 6D (BRAND+ OR SALVAG+ OR TITLE+ OR PINK+_SLIP+

OR FRAUD+ OR DISCREP+ OR BAD_QUALITY+ OR LOW_QUALITY+ OR QUALI+ OR CLEAN+_DATA)))/TI/AB/IW/CLMS AND
((VEHICULAR+

OR

VEHICLE+

OR

CAR

OR

CARS

OR

MOTOR_VEHICLE?

OR

AUTOMOBIL??

OR

MOTOR_CYCL+))/TI/AB/IW/TX ) AND PRD <= 2001-08-31

( ((CLEAN_TITLE+ OR CLEAR_TITLE+ OR BRAND+ OR CLEAN_RECORD+ OR PINK_SLIP+ OR SALVAG+) 4D (VEHICULAR+

55

OR VEHICLE+ OR CAR OR CARS OR MOTOR_VEHICLE? OR AUTOMOBIL?? OR MOTOR_CYCL+))/TI/AB/IW/TX AND

((DATA_BASE OR RECOR??? OR DIRECTOR+ OR DATA_BANK OR INVENTOR+) 4D (VEHICULAR+ OR VEHICLE+ OR CAR
OR CARS OR MOTOR_VEHICLE? OR AUTOMOBIL?? OR MOTOR_CYCL+))/TI/AB/IW/CLMS ) AND PRD <= 2001-08-31

( ((DATA_STOR+ OR DATA_BAS+ OR DATA_RECOR+ OR DIRECTOR+ OR DATA_BANK+ OR INVENTOR+ OR TABL+) 4D

(VEHICULAR+

OR

VEHICLE+

OR

CAR

OR

CARS

OR

MOTOR_VEHICLE?

OR

AUTOMOBIL??

OR

250

MOTOR_CYCL+))/TI/AB/IW/CLMS AND ((ALLOW+ OR PERMIT+ OR SHOW+ OR VIEW+ OR DISPLAY+ OR STOR+) 6D

(REGISTE+ OR +QUALI+ OR CERTIF+ OR CLEAN+ OR ACCURA+))/TI/AB/IW/CLMS ) AND PRD <= 2001-08-31

(((STOR+ OR DATA_BAS+ OR RECOR???? OR DIRECTOR+ OR DATA_BANK OR INVENTOR+ OR DATA+ OR TABL+) 6D

(GOOD+ OR COMMO+ OR WARE+ OR PRODUC+ OR LOT+ OR STOR+)) 8D ((PREVENT+ OR REMOVE+ OR FLAG+ OR
DELET+ OR RESTRICT+) 5D (BRAND+ OR SALVAG+ OR TITLE+ OR PINK+_SLIP+ OR FRAUD+ OR DISCREP+ OR
BAD_QUALITY+ OR LOW_QUALITY+ OR QUALI+ OR CLEAN+)))/TI/AB/IW/CLMS AND PRD <= 2001-08-31

219

Sr.
No.
1

Sr,
No
1

Search String (THOMPSON)

Hit
s

CTB=(((stor* or databas* OR recor* OR director* OR

(data ADJ bank) OR databank OR inventor* or tabl*)
near6 (good* or commo* or ware* or produc* or lot* or
stor*)) near8 ((prevent* or remove* or flag* or delet* or
restrict*) near5 (brand* or slavag* or title* or (pink* ADJ
slip*) or fraud* or discrep* or bad* or quali* or low* or
clean*))) AND PRD<=(20010831)

234

Search String (NPL)

(automobile OR car OR vehicle OR "motor vehicle or motorvehicle)(record OR database OR index OR directory)(screen
OR check OR "pre-screen" OR allow) ("pink slip" OR "clean
title" OR "salvage title OR branded title OR clear title)
(database OR "data-base" OR "data base" OR record OR
directory OR "data bank" OR inventory) (vehicle OR vehicular
OR car OR "motor-vehicle" OR "motor vehicle") ("clean title"
OR "clear-title" OR "clean title" OR "clean-title OR "branded
title" OR "clean record" OR "pink slip" OR "salvage title" OR

Sr No.

Combination Search String

Hits

1
(ORBIT
Class
based)

( ((DATA_STOR+ OR DATA_BAS+ OR DATA_RECOR+ OR DIRECTOR+ OR

DATA_BANK+ OR INVENTOR+ OR TABL+) 4D (VEHICULAR+ OR VEHICLE+ OR
CAR OR CARS OR MOTOR_VEHICLE? OR AUTOMOBIL?? OR
MOTOR_CYCL+))/TI/AB/IW/CLMS AND ((PREVENT+ OR REMOVE+ OR FLAG+ OR
DELET+ OR RESTRICT+) 6D (BRAND+ OR SALVAG+ OR TITLE+ OR
PINK+_SLIP+ OR FRAUD+ OR DISCREP+ OR BAD_QUALITY+ OR
LOW_QUALITY+ OR QUALI+ OR CLEAN+_DATA))/TI/AB/IW/TX ) AND PRD <=
2001-08-31 (B60S+ OR G07C+ OR G06F+)/IPC/CPC AND PRD <= 2001-08-31
2 AND 1

45

2
(THOMSO
N class
based)

TAB=((PREVEN* OR REJEC* OR DELET* OR FLAG* OR REMOV*) NEAR6

(BRAND* OR SALVAG* OR QUALI* OR BAD* OR LEMON* OR (PINK ADJ SLIP) OR
DAMAG* OR DISCREP*)) AND AIC=(G06F001730 OR B60S* OR G06Q003000
OR G07C000500 OR G07C000500 OR Y10S070700) AND PRD<=(20010831)

357

3
(ORBIT
Inventor
based
search)

( ((TAKAZAWA 3D TAKAAKI) OR (MARCHAND 3D LANCE) OR (FORMAN 3D BERT)

OR (GESCHWENDER 3D MICHELE) OR (DAUDENARDE 3D PAUL) OR (FINCH 3D
VANCE) OR (KADLEC 3D JAROSLAV) OR (ROSE 3D EDWARD) OR (HUGHES 3D
CHRIS) OR (YOUNG 3D EDWARD 3D TYONG 3D DENNISLIAT 3D LIMTONG 3D
JAMES 3D K 3D CCHENG 3D VIKTOR 3D C 3D HRAWLS 3D JUDY 3D K) OR
(HONG 3D CHIL) OR (ROSE 3D EDWARD) OR (LINDSEY 3D ALBERT) OR
(SKEIRIK 3D RICHARD) OR (AHMED 3D ROBERT) OR (SJOEBERG 3D PER) OR
(HSIAO 3D YUAN) OR (COLE 3D JAMES) OR (MAEDA 3D HIROHISA) OR
(UNDERWOOD 3D TROY) OR (COSTIGAN 3D RYAN))/IN/OIN/INH/INV ) AND PRD
<= 2001-08-31
( ((DATA_BASE+ OR DATA_STOR+ OR DATABASE+ OR INVENTOR+ OR TABL+
OR DATA_BANK+ OR DIRECTOR+) 4D (VEHICULAR+ OR VEHICLE+ OR CAR OR
CARS OR MOTOR_VEHICLE? OR AUTOMOBIL?? OR
MOTOR_CYCL+))/TI/AB/IW/CLMS AND ((TITLE+ OR SHOW+ OR DETEC+ OR
FLG+ OR PREVENT+ OR REMOV+) 8D (BRAND+ OR SLAVAG+ OR FRAUD+ OR
DISCREP+ OR BAD_QUALITY+ OR LOW_QUALITY+ OR QUALI+ OR

Results Shortlisted:
US5325291A: This result has been mapped in the

presentation as it contains all the embodiments of

the subject patent.
US6076064: File history is created but provision for
flagging and prevention of branded title storage is
absent
US5521815: Database of vehicles is created but no
identifier is appended nor is there an option to
prevent storage of branded vehicles.
US2002133371: This patent was rejected because it
claimed priority from a foreign patent CA2332255A1,
hence we checked the publication date which was
after the earliest priority of our subject patent.

Mapped Result
US5325291A: Method of verifying insurance

on registered vehicles
This patent covered all the novel points of

the subject patent which have been

displayed in the subsequent mapped and
highlighted report.

Thank You!

HAPPY
SEARCHING!