One of the most common misconceptions is that a granted patent guarantees that there is no violation of the patent rights of third parties. The roots of this misconception and the problems arising from this lie in the consonance of the terms “search for patentability” and “patent clearance search”, as well as in the persistent, but erroneous opinion, that since the state granted a patent, it gave the right to use the invention protected by him without restrictions.

In fact, the search for patentability and the patent clearance search have different objects and objectives, different order and methodology. The search for patentability is carried out in relation to a technical solution in order to obtain a patent. Patent clearance search is conducted against an object of technology introduced into the economic circulation with an assessment of all the solutions implemented in it. When searching for patentability, any information sources available in the world are searched for analogues of the given solution, and compared with it, in order to conclude whether this solution is so different from them so that a patent can be granted for it. When checking for patent clearance, only valid patents are examined in the country where the object of technology is put into economic circulation, the purpose of this study is to find patents issued for the same objects and their parts, materials for their manufacture and methods for producing these materials, methods for interacting parts and application facilities.

The patent clearance search is done by non-governmental organizations and private individuals, therefore it is quite important to correctly determine the qualifications of an expert performing it and agree on the type of presentation of the results. A report with a statement on patent clearance is a guarantee that the risks of infringement of foreign patent rights are identified with respect to the country of inspection. Moreover, a negative conclusion should not be taken as a conclusion that the market is closed forever - it merely allows you to plan and take timely measures to make the necessary changes to the object of technology in question or its components, as well as to study the prospects of acquiring a license or challenging patents that may be infringed.