Protect Your Next Business Decision with Intellectual Property Searches
Search international patent and trade mark records, investigate ownership and status, and gather the information needed to assess intellectual property connected to a business, product or transaction.
International intellectual property research for businesses, advisers and organizations worldwide.
Why This Matters
Intellectual property can carry significant commercial value, but only when the underlying rights can be identified and understood.
A patent may have expired. A trade mark may belong to another party. An ownership change may not be reflected where expected. A company may claim rights that cannot be confirmed through the available records. Copyright may exist without appearing in any official international register.
These gaps matter during acquisitions, investments, licensing negotiations, product launches, disputes and other decisions where intellectual property affects risk or value.
Duly Noted researches the relevant international records and supporting sources so clients can establish what is recorded, who appears to own it and what may require further investigation.
When Intellectual Property Research Matters
Before Acquiring or Investing in a Business
Confirm whether important patents and trade marks appear in the name of the company or individuals connected with it before accepting an intellectual property portfolio at face value.
Before Launching a Brand or Product
Identify existing trade marks or patents that may affect a proposed name, product, invention or commercial launch before additional money is committed.
Before Entering a Licence or Assignment
Review recorded ownership, status and transaction history before relying on another party’s claimed right to license or transfer intellectual property.
When Investigating a Dispute
Locate relevant registrations, applications, ownership records, documents and historical information that may help advisers understand the position.
How It Works
Tell Us What You Need to Establish
Provide the company, individual, patent, trade mark, work or transaction being investigated and explain the decision the research needs to support.
We Identify the Relevant Worldwide Sources
The search scope is built around the rights involved, the available identifiers and the level of ownership, status or historical research required
Receive the Findings
The results are organised into a clear report with the records located, important details, source information and any areas that could not be verified.
Intellectual Property Services
01
Patent Research
Duly Noted can assist with:
Worldwide patent records can be searched to locate similar inventions, identify registered owners and examine publicly available patent information. The International Intellectual Property Office specifically provides patent records for checking similar patents, ownership and potentially usable inventions.
- UK patent searches
- Patent ownership searches
- Patent portfolio research
- Patent status checks
- Patent application and publication research
- Inventor and applicant searches
- Patent document retrieval
- Assignment and ownership-history research
- Related patent and citation research
- Supplementary Protection Certificate searches
- Competitor patent research
Decisions This Research Can Support
02
Trade Mark Research
An international trade mark search can identify similar marks, recorded owners and applications or registrations connected with a name, phrase or image. Official wordwide search tools permit searching by mark number, owner, keyword, phrase and image.
Duly Noted can assist with:
- Exact-name searches
- Similar-name searches
- Phonetic and spelling variations
- Interational registered trade marks
- Pending International trade mark applications
- Logo and image searches
- Relevant goods and services classes
- Owner and applicant searches
Ownership and Portfolio Research
- Trade marks connected with a company or individual
- Recorded ownership details
- Assignment and transfer research
- Portfolio identification
- Current registration status
- Renewal and expiry information
- Registered interests where available
Documents and Monitoring
- Trade mark document retrieval
- Registration and status records
- Application-history research
- Portfolio monitoring
- Newly filed conflicting-mark monitoring
- Ownership or status-change monitoring
Registered records alone may not reveal every potential conflict. Unregistered marks can also be commercially relevant in the UK, making wider market and business-name research appropriate in some cases.
03
Copyright Research
Copyright must be handled differently from patents and trade marks.
There is no official worldwide register containing every copyright-protected work or its owner. UK copyright generally arises automatically, without an application or registration fee.
Duly Noted can therefore research available evidence rather than promise a definitive UK copyright-register search.
Research may include:
- Claimed authorship and ownership
- Company and creator information
- Publication records
- Publisher and production details
- Earlier versions or editions
- Licence and assignment information
- Rights notices and attribution
- Publicly documented ownership claims
- Historical archive sources
- Connected companies or individuals
- Relevant overseas registrations where instructed
- Supporting documents supplied by the client
Copyright Ownership Investigations
This research may be useful when a business needs to understand:
- Who created a work
- Whether it was created by an employee or contractor
- Whether rights may have been assigned
- Whether a licence appears to exist
- Whether an earlier work predates the material being investigated
- What evidence supports a party’s ownership claim
Because no complete UK copyright register exists, conclusions depend on the records, contracts, publication history and other evidence available.
04
Intellectual Property Portfolio Research
A single asset rarely provides the full commercial picture.
Portfolio research can bring together international patents and trade marks connected with a business, organisation, founder, inventor or other named party.
A portfolio report may include:
- Registered intellectual property located
- Patent ownership searches
- Recorded owners and applicants
- Relevant dates
- Current recorded status
- Expired or lapsed rights
- Assignments or ownership changes
- Related entities
- Available supporting documents
- Matters requiring further investigation
This can be especially useful during corporate due diligence, investment reviews, acquisitions, restructuring and insolvency work.
05
Ownership and Chain-of-Title Research
Registration does not always tell the full ownership story.
Rights may have been transferred, licensed, mortgaged, inherited, merged into another company or affected by corporate restructuring. The UKIPO maintains processes for recording changes of trade mark ownership, but the recorded entry is not itself a substitute for the underlying assignment evidence.
Research can examine:
- Original applicant or registered owner
- Recorded transfers
- Previous owners
- Assignment details
- Registered licences or interests
- Company-name changes
- Mergers and reorganisations
- Supporting documents available from public sources
- Breaks or inconsistencies in the apparent ownership history
Where ownership is commercially important, the underlying agreements should also be reviewed by an appropriately qualified legal adviser.
06
Document Retrieval
Duly Noted can locate and retrieve available worldwide intellectual property records and supporting documents, including:
- Patent publications
- Patent specifications
- Application records
- Trade mark registration details
- Trade mark application records
- Status information
- Ownership and assignment records
- Available correspondence or case documents
- Replacement or official documents where obtainable
- Historical archive material
The UKIPO provides routes for obtaining patent, trade mark and design documents, although availability and delivery depend on the document and record involved.
Intellectual Property Can Look Valuable Until the Records Are Examined
A registration number does not confirm current ownership. A company name does not prove that the company owns the work. A portfolio list does not show whether rights have expired, moved or become subject to another interest.
The purpose of the research is to reveal what can be supported by the available evidencebefore the intellectual property influences a larger commercial decision.
Why Businesses Choose Duly Noted
Focused Research
The work is centred on international intellectual property records, institutions and corporate information.
Research Built Around the Decision
The scope is determined by what the client needs to verify rather than by supplying a standard database extract.
Multiple Rights Investigated Together
Patents, trade marks and copyright-related evidence can be examined as part of one connected commercial investigation
Clear Source-Based Reporting
Findings distinguish between what was located, what the records indicate and what could not be confirmed.
Support for Worldwide Clients
International businesses and advisers can obtain UK records and research without navigating each UK source independently.
Tailored Searches
The search can focus on a single asset, an individual right, an ownership question or a wider intellectual property portfolio.
Frequently Asked Questions
What intellectual property can Duly Noted research?
Research can cover UK patents, trade marks, patent and trade mark ownership, portfolio information, assignments, status records, available documents and evidence connected with copyright ownership.
Can you search whether a trade mark is available worldwide?
Yes. Searches can examine identical and similar worldwide trade marks, pending applications, relevant classifications, owners and visual marks. The scope should reflect the name, goods, services and proposed use involved.
Can you confirm that a trade mark is safe to use?
A search can identify relevant records and potential conflicts, but it cannot guarantee that a mark is legally safe to use. A trade mark attorney may need to assess the legal significance of the results.
Can you check whether an invention has already been patented?
Patent research can locate similar published patents and applications. A full patentability or freedom-to-operate opinion requires specialist legal and technical assessment.
Can you identify who owns a patent or trade mark?
he current recorded owner and available ownership history can often be identified through UKIPO and supporting records. Important transactions may also require examination of the underlying assignment or corporate documents.
Can you provide a definitive copyright ownership report?
Copyright ownership may not be conclusively established from public information alone. The
strength of the findings depends on the contracts, attribution, publication records, company information and other evidence available.
Can you research an entire company’s intellectual property portfolio?
Yes. Portfolio research can identify patents and trade marks recorded against a company, connected entity or named individual and highlight ownership or status issues requiring further review.
Do you provide copies of intellectual property documents?
Available patent, trade mark, ownership and status documents can be retrieved where the relevant authority or archive makes them accessible.
Do you provide legal advice?
No. Duly Noted provides research and document retrieval. Solicitors, patent attorneys and trade mark attorneys should interpret the legal consequences where formal advice is required.
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Establish What the International Records Support
Worldwide intellectual property research for clients worldwide.
Tell us which patent, trade mark, copyright claim, owner or intellectual property portfolio needs to be investigated.