A way to see if something is patented
October 5th, 2005
0 votes
Received this email this week…
—–Original Message—–
From: Sharon
Sent: Wednesday, October 05, 2005 9:31 AM
message: Where would a person go to find out if some other person or company already has a patent on an invention? Is there a website or can a company help out with that?
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It’s a common question, actually, so we thought we’d provide a couple of important links.
Of course, you can always go to www.uspto.gov. That’s our nation’s patent office–the official website–and all the information about patents is right there.
You could also try www.freepatentsonline.com, a website that tries to simplify patent searching.
Please let us know which works best for you or if you have other good resources you would recommend.
October 5th, 2005 at 4:56 pm
Be careful when doing a patent search by yourself. Don’t assume that there is no patent on your invention just because you can’t find it. The first few thousand dollars you pay to a patent attorney go to thorough searching. The patent attorney will also determine whether your invention could be considered a derivative of an existing patent (you invented a 6-legged chair, but there is already a patent on a 4-legged version). In addition, even if there is no patent on your invention, you will lose your right to a patent if your invention has been publicly available for more than one year. Good luck!
October 6th, 2005 at 3:18 pm
dave,
great comment/great advice. we totally agree. always "go with the pros" on pivotal matters like this.
having said that, it’s not a bad thing to explore, get smarter, and come to your patent attorney armed with your own research, thoughts and views.
any other resources people would recommend???
October 6th, 2005 at 11:35 pm
I highly recommend the European patent office’s site. Not only can you search everything (US, all European countries, Japan, you name it), but it is free and you can see things in Adobe PDF format. The USPTO site, sadly, requires you to have a rather odd graphics viewer called AlternaTIFF that most Windows-based p.c.’s don’t inherently support. Visit http://ep.espacenet.com/espacenet/ep/en/e_net.htm?search5 for the high-powered multiple search field screen.
October 10th, 2005 at 1:59 pm
Laura, the EPO doesn’t allow searching of full text. You can only search abstracts. So, it is actually a pretty poor solution if you are trying to make sure you are being comprehensive.
Sincerely,
James
October 10th, 2005 at 5:02 pm
Hi folks:
Try this link for US Patents and full PDFs (it was listed above):
They’ve just added some features as well.
http://www.freepatentsonline.com
All the best,
Andrew
October 20th, 2005 at 3:02 pm
Greetings all,
Finding published patents using the websites described is important to determine the viability of your invention. What is as important (if not more so) is the need to include in your basic prior art, searches on Google search engines, technical magazines articles and white papers from University websites that may reference your invention (reason; the technology developed may not have been submitted through the USPTO system for personal, legal, academic or financial reasons). Performing the extra leg work will give you a level of confidence as you prepare to open up the check book to pay for legal advice, searches and patentability summary on your invention.
I have personally encountered prior art invention designs that were not patented, but published on the Internet for public domain use.
Charles
October 22nd, 2005 at 1:21 pm
You post this comment: [i]"In addition, even if there is no patent on your invention, you will lose your right to a patent if your invention has been publicly available for more than one year. Good luck!"[/i]
I have been selling an item for about 2 months that I designed. I do not have the money nor means to patent it.
So, are you saying that if I continue selling this for a year, without benefit of a patent, that I lose the right to obtain one because it has been "publicly available" for a year?
Help!!!!!!!!
Peggy in Memphis
(Yes, Graceland!)
October 25th, 2005 at 11:42 am
You can apply for a [link=http://www.uspto.gov/web/offices/pac/provapp.htm' target='']provisional patent[/link] for $100, and there is software to help (e.g., [link=http://www.patentwizard.com/' target='']Patent Wizard[/link], for $249). Provisional patents offer a layer of protection for up to one year (not sure if that is from the time of filing or the time of first public disclosure); if a full patent is not applied for within that year, the protection lapses. However, it may buy you some time … and if sales increase, perhaps you can afford a full patent filing before the clock runs out.
Disclaimer: I am not a lawyer, and have no association or experience with Patent Wizard (but a friend has used it).