So you have that great idea or invention, now what? Well, in many cases you want to see if your invention is 1) unique and 2) protectable. One of the first steps you need to do as an inventor is conduct a patent search. If you don't want to pay someone thousands of dollars, you can always do the search, or at least an initial version, yourself.
Based on a presentation given by a patent depository librarian, we've put together 7 simple steps to conduct your own patent search.
1. Create a list of search terms that may describe your invention. Consider function, use, structure, and effect.
2. Browse the patent classification categories using your search terms
3. Determine the classifications that might fit your product. You can use the Manual of Classification to help you.
4. Research Classes and Subclasses of patents to understand where your product will best fit. It may be able to fit into more than one class.
5. Put together a list of patents that might be similar to your invention.
6. Review the individual patents to ensure non-infringement.
7. Search the references listed in each of the patents, both forward and backward to ensure non-infringement.
Voila, those are the basic 7 steps to conducting your own patent search. It may take you many hours, but you'll potentially be saving thousands of dollars.
Here is a great in-depth tutorial on how to conduct a patent search:http://www.lib.utexas.edu/engin/patent-tutorial/index.htm. It doesn't follow the same order of steps we were recommended, but then again, there is more than one way to do this.
A Patent Search in 7 Steps - To learn more about this author, visit Bryan Daigle's Website.
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Bryan Daigle
(Visit Bryan's Website)
Bryan is the founder of a Web 2.0 company
IdeaTango.com, that gives industry-leading
information and resources to everyday
inventors trying to get their inventions
and ideas off the ground. Bryan also
co-founded a market research company that
was acquired by World Innova Inc. Prior to
his entrepreneurial ventures, Bryan worked
in various technical and management roles
at IBM and ExxonMobil. As an avid
traveler, Bryan has lived in seven
countries and visited over thirty.
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