It's okay to look: searching other companies' patents can help keep a company safe.

Companies pursue patents for a variety of reasons--competitive advantage, company valuation, tax credits, and others. However, in chasing patent claims, did you know that it actually benefits companies to look at patent applications filed by competitors, too?

That's what one patent expert, attorney Roger Maxwell, believes. In his experience, searching competitors' published patent applications and existing patents has helped his clients maximize their commercial advantages and follow the law.

"We can take a lesson from Hollywood," Maxwell said. "Every aspiring screenwriter's lament is that no producer will ever accept an unsolicited manuscript. The reason is that in copyright law, just as it almost always is in parent law, lack of intent is not a defense. In other words, if an agent or a producer even opens an unsolicited script, and five years later produces a film with elements from that script entirely by accident, they could be sued for copyright infringement. To prevent that, they simply don't accept unsolicited material unless it comes from a licensed agent they trust."

Maxwell said that the same principle can be applied for companies seeking patents, only in reverse. Whereas access in the copyright arena can lead to inadvertent copying and infringement, access in the patent area can lead to a better understanding of the state-of-the-art, better product design, and better patents.

"It is very possible--and even likely in some cases--that one company's patent may well duplicate elements from someone else's application or existing patent," he said.

"Because intent is not normally an issue, that company could actually be held liable for patent infringement, even if it didn't know what the other company's patents said. In the case of patents, it's important to refrain from having your patent infringe on anyone else's, even if it's by accident."

In order to avoid wasting time and money proving a violation of the law, setting themselves up to pay damages, or both, it is critical for companies that are preparing patent applications to search already published patent applications as well as existing patents, according to Maxwell.

"In examining other applications, a company can ensure that no elements of their applications cross over with something already on the books, even if it's in an application filed by someone else," he added. "If you know what your competitors are working on with regard to their patents, as the public records afford...