• Research Service

Priced research

We undertake searches in the following fields:

• Patent Searches.  If you have an invention, and are considering applying for a patent, you will need to search in international databases to see what similar patents (if any) already exist. We can carry out a search and compile a list of potentially relevant patents. We can also search in Web-based sources for relevant prior art in non-patent literature. N.B. We do not advise you on whether your invention can be patented. For that, you will need to engage the services of a patent attorney. 

• Trademark and Registered Design Searches. If you have devised a logo or trade-name, or an original design, we can search through the databases to see if anything similar has already been registered or is already in use by another company.

• Business mailing lists. We can supply you with lists of companies by activity, geographical location and/or size. We use the databases available in the Business & IP Centre, and we are restricted to a maximum of 250 companies on your list. 
  

• Market information. Using the resources in the Business & IP Centre, we can provide a report listing relevant sources on a particular market. This list can include: market reports that we have assessed for relevance; titles from our collection of trade journal literature; details of trade associations. N.B. due to licensing restrictions, we cannot quote extensively from market reports in our collections: you have to visit the Business & IP Centre to see these yourself.

Prices

Our pricing is based on the staff time spent on performing a search, plus any costs incurred in using priced online databases. Staff time is charged for at £87 per hour. We will agree with you a maximum price before we start work on a search.

Patent searches may involve variable online costs, typically around £50.

Trademark and Registered Design searches have no online costs.

Business mailing lists have online costs of £0.10 for each company on the mailing list.

VAT is charged at 20% for customers in the EU.

If you are interested in discussing a specific project or in finding out more about how our services  please contact us so that we can discuss your requirements and give you a free quote.

Email research@bl.uk or call 020 7412 7903

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