How to Find an Invention
When someone invents something, that invention is then filed with the United States Patent and Trademark Office. If you're trying to invent something, its a good idea to do a search of this database in order to see if you've come up with something truly unique or if someone already beat you to the proverbial punch. The entire database can be searched from your Web browser. Does this Spark an idea?
Instructions
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Open your Web browser and visit the United States Patent and Trademark Office website (see References).
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Scroll down to the center of the page. You will see a blue colored box labeled "Patents" and a red colored box labeled "Trademarks."
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Click "Search" under "Patents." This will allow you to search for inventions that have been patented and officially registered with the United States Patent and Trademark Office. From the page that opens, scroll down and click the link labeled "Advanced Search." This will allow you to search for an invention by fields like inventor name, title, abstract, description and more.
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Click "Search Marks" under "Trademarks." This will allow you to search for inventions that have been officially trademarked by their owners or inventors. From the page that opens, select the type of search you would like to perform from the "Select a Search Option" box. Type the information you're looking for into the box and click "Search."
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