IP Intelligence › Myths › A patentability search tells me whether I can launch.
Patent myth
“A patentability search tells me whether I can launch.”
They are different searches with different inputs and different outputs. Patentability reads disclosures anywhere in the world; freedom to operate reads claims that are in force where you sell.
A document that destroys your patentability may be irrelevant to launch because it expired in 2009. A patent irrelevant to your patentability, because it published after your priority date, may be exactly the one that blocks you. The two questions cannot be answered by one exercise.
Launching on the strength of a patentability opinion is one of the most common and most expensive errors in product development.
Sources & further reading
- The Patents Act, 1970 (consolidated to 1 August 2024) — Official IP India text
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Before launching a product
Your own patent tells you what others may not do. It never tells you what you may do. This checklist is about the second question.
Not sure whether this applies to your invention?
The honest answer usually needs someone to look at your actual disclosure, your timeline and the prior art. That is a conversation, not an article.
Educational guidance, not legal advice. This material is published by Ragulika IP for general education and information. It is not legal advice, it does not create a professional-client relationship, and it is not a substitute for advice on your own facts. Patentability, infringement, prosecution strategy and every other IP outcome turn on the specific facts and on the law and Patent Office practice as they stand at the time you act. Please take professional advice before making a decision, and read the underlying provision or judgment before relying on any point stated here.
Last reviewed by Ragulika IP on 2026-08-23. Indian patent law and Patent Office practice change; check the position before you rely on it.