I want to apply for an invention patent, but I don't know how to search for novelty. I am in Shanghai. Is it necessary to find an agent in Shanghai?

1. Patent application is a professional job. Generally speaking, if there is no novelty retrieval experience, it is difficult to complete the application for invention patent by yourself. If your invention has great commercial prospects, it is recommended to find a local patent agency in Shanghai (you can check the patent agency on the website of the State Information Bureau to make sure that its registered place is in Shanghai, not soy sauce).

2. The work before patent application is not novelty retrieval (this is the term of information service), but patent retrieval. The scope of patent retrieval is wider than that of information retrieval, and the retrieval method is more complicated.

Under normal circumstances, patent agencies will not conduct patent search before application without direct indication. If the customer requests retrieval, an additional retrieval fee will be charged.

If you want to know the technical situation at a lower cost, you can also entrust the information service to carry out novelty retrieval.

3.CPC software is specially used to submit patent electronic applications and cannot be used for novelty retrieval.

If you want to search China's patents yourself, you can go to the website of China Patent Office, and foreign patents can be searched on the website of European Patent Office. In addition, you can search for non-patent documents (journal papers) through websites such as Wanfang and HowNet.