In any business, before commercializing a product or technology, it is necessary to perform a freedom-to-operate (FTO) search so as to ensure that the required product is safe to get launched in a specific market place without violating any third-party intellectual property rights falling under that particular jurisdiction.
FTO can be implemented during the course of product lifecycle for determining the direction of technology or product development.
FTO helps to reduce the litigation costs arising due to an unknown and unintended infringement in any new marketing region. Also, this search can orient and guide the R&D programs of a company that is with a vision to create a new technological domain.