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A Patent Search in 7 Steps

A Patent Search in 7 Steps

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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John Alexander
John has taught keyword research and SEO skills to small groups of business owners and Webmasters from over 80 different countries world wide since 2002. John is also the Director of Search Engine Academy ; Co-director of Training at Search Engine Workshops offering live, SEO Workshops with his partner SEO educator Robin Nobles, author of the very first comprehensive online search engine marketing courses at SEO Training Online and the SEO Workshop Resource Center.
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Stephanie Robey
Stephanie Robey is President and CoFounder of Pivot Positive, LLC - an Internet marketing business focused on helping people start work at home ventures. Previously, she was employed at The Search Agency with over 20 years experience in graphic design and 10 years experience in online marketing. She was responsible for launching the Conversion Path Optimization (CPO) unit where she and her team have conducted hundreds of optimization tests for online companies across multiple verticals.

She is a successful entrepreneur having started and sold 2 companies and remains on the board of directors of the third, PhotoSpin.com   Stephanie began her career in the direct marketing realm creating and producing direct mail for many of the major cable television companies and directly attributes her understanding of Internet marketing to those early offline experiences.  Stephanie is a graduate of San Diego State University with a BFA in Graphic Arts and also holds an Executive MBA from the Graziadio School of Business and Management at Pepperdine University.

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About The Author


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.

Bryan Daigle is a Silver author on EvanCarmichael.com
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