Using special character in an input form for search feature

I want to make a search by inserting special characters such as '<'. For an entry 'xxx <' , if I make a search 'xxx' it returns correct entry. However,typing 'xxx <' it does not return anything. If I insert 'xxx <' it returns the same entry successfully. Should I simply change the input characterset? The HTML portion of the code is as follows;

<ui:define name="main">
        <h:form id="search" acceptcharset="UTF-8">
            <input name="utf8" type="hidden" value="&#x2713;"/>
            <f:validateBean disabled="true">
                <h:panelGroup styleClass="search">

I am sure the solution is very straightforward, but unfortunately I am a newbie.