How to Invent New Products: Initial Patent Search

Check with the U.S Patent Office before going forward with your invention.

You have an inventor's notebook full of ideas and you think one of them is your idea for a new, maybe patent-worthy product that will ultimately make money. It keeps you up at night thinking about how to make, market and sell it. Great, but is your idea original, an improvement on an existing product or even patentable? It's the time to determine what other inventors have done before you. An initial patent and prior art search will help you find the same or similar ideas, if any, so you can determine how to go forward.

Things You'll Need

• Notebook
• Internet
• Organization

Instructions

1. Search the Internet and literature for key words that describe your product and ideas.Often someone else has already thought of the same thing or it is in open literature and considered not patentable. Although not foolproof, an extensive Internet search will help determine the novelty of the idea and prevent a substantial investment in a dead-end road.

2. Search previous patents for your idea. You don't have to be a patent lawyer or patent clerk to search for patents. Anyone can perform an initial patent search for free on the U.S. Patent Office and Trademark Office website at USPTO.gov. It is easy, and there are variations of searches you can perform.

3. Search with purpose and clarity. Keep a list of keyword searches in your notebook as you do them. If a similar patent shows up, print a copy or save it as a PDF for later review. Even if you find almost an exact patent, don't be discouraged. Patents and new products are sometimes improvements or variations of existing items.

4. Keep a folder of copies of similar patents or products. These will be useful when you begin to file a patent. The may also be inspiration for the variations you need to make for a more useful product or a patentable idea.

5. Be organized in your searches and look for not only similarities in product or patents, but differences as well. These differences may be the basis on which you go forward with the idea, prototypes and patent application. Make notes on your printouts or your notebook. Draw sketches if you need to. Be as complete as you can.

6. If you have "the idea" of the century, consider contacting a patent lawyer. He can perform an initial prior art and patent search. Patents can be very technical from a language standpoint, so hiring a professional may be the option for you.

References

• U.S. Patent and Trademark Office
• Legal Advantage: Patent Search

Resources

• USPTO: Quick Search