Forums: Discussions for entrepreneurs and small business.

Hello all,

 

I am currently developing a line of wooden puzzles, arts & crafts, and classic toys that leverage existing products but designed and illustrated for a niche market.  Obviously not wanting to invest in a business to later realize the foundation has been built on infringed intellectual property rights, I have been searching through the US patent database.  My question to this community is what is the best way to identify whether a product marketed by a certain company is patented or not?  I would hate to put myself and the future of the business at risk based on a inadequate patent search criteria.  Are companies generally willing to offer this type of information to the general public or indirect competitors?

 

Thank you for any insight you are able to offer.

Eric

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have lawyer look into prior art

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James Lindon, Ph.D. Patent Attorney
Lindon & Lindon, LLC
Cleveland, Ohio
Patents, Trademarks, Copyrights, Pharmacy Law, Litigation
[this is not legal advice - provided for discussion only]
Intellectual Property for the Individual and Small Business: Identify, Protect, Enforce, Defend.
"Fools rush in where angels fear to tread."
http://www.LindonLaw.com

Genuine Intellectual Property Solution - provide patent mining, patent analysis, patent drafting and filing & prosecution services at affordable cost.

More details: http://www.informaticsoutsourcing.com/intellectual-property-service.htm

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Before you spend a dollar I recommend you do review all your options and have a solid understanding of your options before you approach a lawyer.

 

This blog post should help you out! Keep up the good work!

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Heres some great info on patent search!

 

Hope it helps

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Birthday Cakes

Inventors are encouraged to search the USPTO’s patent database to see if a patent has already been filed or granted that is similar to your patent. Patents may be searched in the USPTO Patent Full-Text and Image Database (PatFT). The USPTO houses full text for patents issued from 1976 to the present and TIFF images for all patents from 1790 to the present.

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Fort Collins Kitchen Remodeling | Loveland Kitchen Cabinets

Definitely talk to a lawyer, but like wgriggs said do your research otherwise it'll just be a waste of your time or money. I found this resource pretty useful when looking into patent search

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Informatics Outsourcing is an Offshore Intellectual Property Services company. They are providing Intellectual Property services for Bio Technology, Biochemistry, Drug Discovery, Chemistry, etc
 

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