One of the most common obstacles facing the new inventor is running a patent search. There are many reasons why an inventor would want to do this. The most obvious reason is to justify spending a great deal of time and money on an invention by determining that no one else has patented it. You may even have a specific patent number that you want to investigate further for any similarities to your project. Whatever the reason may be, the ins and outs of conducting a patent search are not always obvious. In this guide, we will explain how to do so in easy to follow steps.

Step One: Narrow your search to a 5-15 very specific names.

This is a crucial yet oft-overlooked step in the patent search process. Before running any type of search, anywhere, you need to narrow your search to a handful of very specific names. This is because the United States Patent and Trademark Office (PTO) demands specificity. The vaguer a patent is the more control the holder can exercise over the market. Therefore, there is an immense burden on patent applicants to be as narrow and specific about the nature of their patent as possible. You need to heed this fact when running a patent search. For example, if the patent you are looking for pertains to an online shopping database that ties a user’s shopping preferences to his shopping history, running a search for “online shopping database” is almost pointless in this context. It will return more results than you could possibly screen, and few if any will be relevant to what you are looking for.

Instead, a much better search would be something like “online shopping history based matching metrics.” The closer you can get to describing what the patent truly protects, the more helpful your search results will be. Simply think long and hard about what you are looking for and come up with 5-15 very specific potential names for it. These are the names you will use to conduct your search.

Step Two: Run the search via the USPTO’s official website.

It used to be that the only way to run a patent search was hiring a patent attorney. Prior to the advent of the Internet, these attorneys had a near exclusive monopoly on running searches and doing all manner of patent-related work. Fortunately, this is no longer the case. Anyone who wants to run a patent search can visit the USPTO website and do so in a simple, self-service fashion.

SRC: http://www.uspto.gov/patft/index.html

There are a couple of options at this page that you can use depending on your exact needs. If you just want to run a cursory search for the patent you have in mind, the Quick Search will work wonders. From here, you can type in two descriptive terms and specify the years between which you would like to search: either 1976 to the present or 1790 to the present. Now, common sense will go a long way towards making your life easier in this regard. If the patent you are searching for is in any way high-tech, you can filter out a lot of irrelevant results by choosing the “1976 to the present” option. However, if your invention is timeless or mechanical in nature, the full “1790 to the present” option is probably best.

You can also drill down into the patent database for the exact type of information you want. Clicking the “All Fields” drop-down menu turns up a cavalcade of search options. You can search for the abstract, the issue date, patent number, assignee name and city, and about a dozen other options.

SRC: http://patft.uspto.gov/netahtml/PTO/search-bool.html

However, what if you already have a patent number and just want to see information about what it pertains to? This link takes you straight to a patent number search. Just key in the number and click “Search” to find the full text of the patent in question.

SRC: http://patft.uspto.gov/netahtml/PTO/srchnum.htm

Now, you may notice in using these pages that the USPTO’s website is not the most user-friendly resource out there. Luckily, there is an easier way: Google Patent Search. The reason we covered the USPTO’s site first (or at all) rather than Google is because this is the official first source of all patent-related data. While Google is by all counts reliable, you should use the USPTO’s site if there are any worries about gaps in the patent records you are seeking.

Step 3: Use Google Patent Search

Google Patent Search is a beta service that combines the easy searching of Google with the patent data from the USPTO. That is the true beauty of using Google instead of the USPTO: your search results and patent profiles are significantly cleaner, more readable and easier on the eyes.

SRC: http://www.google.com/patents

As a demonstration, we will run a search for the patent on the electrophotographic copier, or “copy machine.”

http://www.google.com/patents?id=Pp48AAAAEBAJ

As you can see, the page is very helpfully divided up into distinct sections, making it easy for you to find the information you are interested it. You can choose to download the whole patent, view it as an Adobe PDF document, or even click a direct link to the USPTO’s record. On this same page, you can also view the patent’s list of citations, the claims it makes, and the drawings the patent holder accompanied with his patent application. Again, while these things can be found at the USPTO site, those unfamiliar with patent records will waste hours looking for what Google organizes so readily.

There you have it: three simple steps to conducting a patent search. Above all, remember that the more specific your searches are, the more likely you are to find the patent you want – or – the more justification you will have to conclude that no one has your patent, if the search comes up empty. Good luck!

Eric Corl is the Founder and CEO of IdeaBuyer.com, a marketplace for new technology and products that gives inventors the opportunity to showcase their intellectual property to consumer product companies, entrepreneurs, retailers, and manufacturers. You can email him at EricCorl@IdeaBuyer.com. You can visit the site by clicking here > Patents for Sale.

Idea Buyer

Do you feel like you have worked so hard to move your invention along, and now you are just stuck? Do you just need some guidance as to where to go from here?

This newsletter series will help you to understand the normal progression of the invention process, while helping you figure out where you are and what you need to do in order to move forward.

The steps are going to be broken down into four phases:

Phase One: Research

Phase Two: Development & Realization

Phase Three: Presentation Material

Phase Four: Pitching to Companies

Each week our newsletter will cover another phase in this process, explaining each step and what should be completed before you move on to the next step. Time and/or money spent on each step will also be explained, so you know what to expect. In some cases, you may be able to do things on your own, but you should expect it to take more time because you are saving money. When paying for services, you are paying other people to do them for you, so your time spent should be significantly decreased.
Phase One

Step One: “Aha!”

You have a great invention. You THINK it will be wildly successful. Before you do anything else, you must conduct research in order to substantiate your feelings with fact.

Step Two: Conduct Research

Time: 30-100 Hours

Money: $750-$6,500

This phase should come almost immediately after the “Aha” moment. While research can seem like a time consuming task, you need to be conducting a very vast amount of research that may seem broad to your product idea. If you feel that you already know everything that you need to know, I ensure you, you do not. Consider it like studying for a midterm, isn’t it always better to be over-prepared and do well, then be under-prepared, fail and wish that you would have done more in the beginning?

* Patent Search-

Start with conducting a patent search. It may seem like no one else has thought of this idea because it’s not on the market, but there may be a patent for the same idea and for several reasons, it never made it to market. Starting with a patent search is going to save you time, money and hassle later.

When searching for a patent, do not specify your idea. Use broad terms related to your idea that will bring you to anything closely related.

* Industry/ Market Research-

Once you have determined whether or not your idea is truly original, determine the best industry for your product to go into. The best way to decide on your industry is to compare it to similar products. Begin with researching the industry in broad terms, getting to be more specific. Your research should leave you with a good understanding of your industry, its major companies, and past, present and anticipated changes.

Example:

“AHA! I have got it! This will change the world! Heated windshield wipers! No one will ever have to worry about their windshield wipers being frozen to their car during the winter again!”

My research will begin with the automotive industry, and then become more specific to automotive accessories.

List of Industry/ Market Research:

+ What is the environment surrounding your product like? How will these things affect your product?

• Economy

• Government

• Technology

+ What is the market defined as? How small/large is it compared to othermarkets?
+ Which companies are controlling the market?
+ What has happened to this industry in the past? Present? Future?

* Competitor Research-

Competition for your product can be direct or indirect. Existing products that consumers are using as a solution to the problem that your product solves will be direct competition. Make sure to be knowledgeable of extensive details for each of your products competitors. Including, ownership, target audience, price points, manufacturers, distributors, and contact information of company executives.

It is also necessary to be well-informed of indirect competition. These products will not necessarily have the same target audience, or may not even solve the same problem. However, a consumer may choose to purchase this product instead of yours.

For example, you have invented a travel toothbrush capable of compacting to an inch tall. Direct competition would be other travel toothbrushes, and indirect competition would be basic toothbrushes. While your toothbrush is convenient, some consumers may choose to just stick with buying a basic toothbrush and toting it around.

* Consumer Research-

There are many things that will affect the way in which a consumer decides whether or not to purchase a product. However, you should be able to anticipate what obstacles your product will face. Know the demographics of the “typical” consumer in your market, along with buying motivations and expectations.

* Product Research-

In order to understand if your product will make money, more research is necessary. A guesstimate of manufacturing costs can be made by figuring out the materials needed to make your product and roughly how much they cost (you should get a detailed estimate of manufacturing costs later).

Based on direct and indirect competition currently on the market, you should be able to determine roughly what your product would sell for. After some math, it should be evident whether or not the product would make a profit.

*If your product uses complicated materials and manufacturing techniques, it will be especially important that you contact an engineer for drawings and cost estimates.

Know which methods your product would be sold best through, a detailed description of who would buy it, and information on manufacturers and retailers that would be a good fit for your product.

Step Three: Evaluate Research

Time: 10-20 Hours

Money: $150-$400

It is extremely important to evaluate your research before you speed on. Many inventors become overly excited about their idea, and run to patent their idea without considering the results of the research. The reason that research is so important is because it will tell you whether or not you should move forward with your idea.

Reasons you should NOT move forward:

o The idea is already patented by someone else.
o The industry is not profitable and is not anticipated to become profitable.
o The sole company involved in your industry, is already selling a product like idea.
o Your product will cost more to make then people are willing to spend to buy it.
o The problem your idea is a solution for, is not a problem most people care about.

Reasons you SHOULD move forward:

o There are few patents related to your idea.
o The industry has grown rapidly and is expected to continue to grow.
o The leading companies in your industry are actively researching and developing new products.
o Manufacturing costs are estimated to be 10% or less of what similar products are selling for.
o Many people have the problem your idea solves. Or, if only some people have the problem, it is a large obstacle that they would greatly spend money on.

Once you have completed step one, you will know if this is the right invention to take to Phase Two.

Next week’s newsletter will cover development and realization of your idea.

For more information or questions about phase one, please feel free to email me at: Lindsey@IdeaBuyer.com

Recommended Service Providers and Resources for Phase One:

- Product Development Co – Market Research & Product Design

- Patent Help Now Articles - “Searching for Issued Patents”

Lindsey Yeauger is the Product Marketing Director for Idea Buyer LLC, a new product development company that owns and operates IdeaBuyer.com- The Online Marketplace for Intellectual Property. The site gives inventors the opportunity to showcase their intellectual property to consumer product companies, entrepreneurs, retailers, and manufacturers. You can email her at Lindsey@IdeaBuyer.com.

Research is Key!

Last week’s focus was on creating a prototype and drawings for your invention. This week, we will discuss how crucial it is for you to research everything about your invention. Because next Thursday is a holiday, we will be sending out the newsletter on Wednesday, so watch for it a day early!

Being told to research may remind you of being in school and preparing to write a report. Well that is basically what you will be doing. Hopefully this won’t turn you off to the idea of it, because it is so important for your invention.

Now that the internet has made it so easy to access information, at times it can make us forget about the good old fashioned LIBRARY. I would recommend using both. The library has a lot of the same information that the internet has, but it will always be free. With the reliance upon internet search engines, companies have begun to charge you for information that was certainly published in a book, and that book is probably sitting at your local library.

Here are some search engines that I would recommend using, other than our beloved Google.

1. The Thomas Register

The Thomas Register is a great tool for specified searches on manufacturers and suppliers.

http://www.thomasnet.com/index.html

2. Hoovers

Hoovers offers a searchable database of companies, executives, and expert advice.

http://www.hoovers.com/free/

3. IndustrySearch.com

IndustrySearch is a great resource if you are looking to do market research on the tech or manufacturing sectors.

http://www.industrysearch.com/

If these websites do not allow you to find the information below, try visiting the library.

With that in mind, let’s talk about what you should be researching. If you haven’t done one already, you certainly need to start with a search on potential competition. Some of you may be saying that your product is the first of its kind so it won’t have competition… WRONG!

You created your invention to solve a problem. Chances are there is already something on the marketplace that is currently being used to solve that same problem.

Research that product and the companies that it is affiliated with. Find out how long it has been on the market, how it is being manufactured, sold, and distributed. Write up a summary of the information that you have found, it may even be beneficial to do a comparison with your product.

After analyzing the results you may consider placing your product on a similar path.

Using your competitor as an example, you will need to find out who your potential users are, down to demographics. Demographics for the consumers of your industry can be found when doing your industry research. Before you begin that, start by asking yourself who is going to want to use your product and why? Try to narrow down as much as possible, WHO your target buyer is.

Start your industry research by narrowing down what industry your product should be placed in. Get as specific as possible. For instance, if you have invented a new type of pencil, you might consider your product being sold in through the office supply industry. An industry more specific to your product like writing utensils would be more beneficial. Specificity allows for more opportunities. Consider if you had gone with office supplies as your industry, you would have lost out on the school supply market.

The market that you are going to be supplying your product to is constantly changing. Some markets change with consumer spending, and some don’t. Some markets only last a year. It is extremely important for you to research the market’s history, and the anticipated changes that the market may go through. These changes will affect your product, so they are extremely important to be aware of.

Industry and market research can be frustrating and time consuming. As an added down side, much of the information on the internet is usually not free. Here is a tip for finding out information about your market or industry:

Find out what publications are specific to your product. Think about which of them would have the same or similar target audience. Look at the media kits and advertising information that they are providing for their advertisers. They have already paid to have this information researched and typically, they are placed on the website.

This write-up of all of the research you have conducted, will be a great tool in your decision making process, and also something you can use in a presentation for potential buyers or investors.

This week: In-depth Research… CHECK!

Next week: The materials needed for a great presentation!

About the author of this article:

Lindsey Yeauger is the Director of Communications for Idea Buyer LLC, a new product development company that owns and operates IdeaBuyer.com- The Online Marketplace for Intellectual Property. The site gives inventors the opportunity to showcase their intellectual property to consumer product companies, entrepreneurs, retailers, and manufacturers. You can email her at Lindsey@IdeaBuyer.com.

For an inventor, conducting a patent search is one of the most important steps in preparing to patent an invention. It is fundamental in determining the similarity of your idea to the ideas of past innovators and in ensuring you have a thoroughly researched and documented patent application. Luckily, there are a couple of online resources that make patent searching both convenient and easy.

The United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) offers the most comprehensive and precise collection of past patents available for review online. These entries date back as early as 1790 and offer descriptions and, in many entries, images of the invention. This directory, however, requires a few searching techniques to accurately find information that you are looking for.

According to the experts at about.com, there are three different ways to search for a patent in the USPTO search database. The first and simplest way begins with a patent number search. Patent numbers can be found on various patented inventions, on its packaging, or in its instruction manual. In most cases this patent number will be in a standard number format with comma separators but, depending on the type of patent, may begin with letters.

In this search, all you must do is enter the number in the “query” field and press “search.” The results page will contain the patent entry for that number. Not only is this process extremely easy, but it is also the most thorough. A search conducted by patent number allows the oldest online searches in the USPTO database and is the only search that goes back further than 20 years.

A search by patent number usually works great, unless you don’t know the patent number of the invention. In that case, a search by inventor’s name might be a better option. If you know the first and last name of the inventor, this type of search is easy as long as you know how to format the query. The proper way is: in/lastname-firstname-$, where “$” means any middle name. If you know the middle name of the inventor, replace the “$” with that. The results for this type of search will list the inventions by any inventor with that name. On a side note, this method will not be as accurate for extremely common names.

The last and most general method of searching for patents on the USPTO database is by keyword. This method allows an inventor to easily use words that relate to their idea to find similar prior inventions. You must first begin with a thorough list of words that relate to the types of inventions you are looking for. Then, narrow down the list to one or two words that you feel best uniquely describe what you are looking for. Enter the first word into “field 1” and, if you have one, the second into “field 2.” Then, if you used more than one word, you must specify how you would like the search to relate those words by using “and,” “or,” or “andnot” from the dropdown list. You may also use keyword phrases by inserting quotation marks around a phrase. This may yield more precise results.

The results, however, will not be nearly as specific as the previous two types of patent searches. You will most likely have a long list of entries that will need to be picked through to find what you are truly looking for. If you are looking for a particular patent, try to stick to the other searches.

While these are the most traditional ways to conduct online patent searches, a new, more convenient method has become available through search giant Google. They have recently launched a website called Google Patent Search. According to Google, this search engine holds detailed information for around 7 million patents and also includes simple searches for patents older than 20 years, unlike those on the USPTO search page. All of the inventions are cataloged and hosted on Google webpages which allows for uniform entries and an easily searchable database. Also, all information is obtained from USPTO records to ensure accurate entries. For those who like more traditional USPTO information, the Google patent search entries actually have links to their corresponding USPTO entries.

The methods of searching on the Google site are extremely straightforward. The simple search on the Google Patent Search homepage is run like any Google site, allowing keyword entry and results listed by relevance. If you have more specific information such as patent number or inventor’s name, a specific search can be performed from the advanced search page. This search engine has made the patent search process extremely quick and simple.

Patent searches are extremely beneficial to an innovator’s goal of patenting an invention. The painstaking process, while sometimes a hassle, can be very important in determining whether or not an invention truly is a novel idea. Just stick with these resources and this overwhelming process will undoubtedly be made much simpler.

This article is provided for your personal use by http://www.IdeaBuyer.com. Idea Buyer is the online marketplace for intellectual property and gives inventors the opportunity to showcase their intellectual property to consumer product companies, entrepreneurs, manufacturers, and retailers who are looking for new products to bring to market.

Please do not redistribute or reproduce this article without written permission.

by Max Bellamy

One of the primary things to do when a commercially viable idea hits the brain is to search for a patent for the concept. A patent allows for the conversion of the concept into a business and prohibits others from infringing on the idea. Commonly, patent searches through patent search offices entail some footwork as well as money.

However, with the onslaught of the Internet, there are several free patent searches available. Free patent searches are powered by search engines, and contain databases that include all patents applied for over the past few years (within the patentable period, which generally implies 20 years in the US). Past inventions are carefully documented, with pictures and features wherever needed. As soon as a keyword is typed in the search bar, a search is triggered that displays similar concept patents that may have been given. It is important to type a relevant keyword, as this will affect the results of the search. It is advisable to try searching using different keywords.

Typically, free patent search websites contain all documented information on US patents (available from the USPTO) and European patents (Esp@cenet). However, there are many websites that contain patent information from other countries. Before punching in the keyword, the searcher has to click on the appropriate country tab.

The reason for the surfeit of free patent search sites is the huge workload that national patent offices face each year. National patent offices also provide their own free websites to search patents, in order to decrease their quantum of work. Most ideas that purport to be original get nipped in the bud when a similar concept is found.

The current trend is to first search for a patent on a free search engine. If no patent is found, a patent attorney is approached for the legal work. The attorney will also search for the patent on the free search engine before accepting the case.

http://www.freepatentsonline.com is a popular free patent search site that has a database of over 300000 US and UK patents. The site is constantly getting updated, as more and more patents are being awarded.

Patent Search provides detailed information on Patent Search, US Patent Searches, Free Patent Searches, European Patent Searches and more. Patent Search is affiliated with Online Trademark Searches.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Max_Bellamy

One of the basic steps that need to be taken prior to applying for a patent is doing a search to ensure that there are no existing patents that would conflict with your filing. You can either perform this search by yourself for free or hire an attorney to do a patent search and file a provisional patent application. Note that we don’t require you to have a patent to list on our site but it is up to you to protect your idea using partial disclosure or a non-disclosure agreement while talking to potential buyers. You should consult your attorney for any legal advice.

Do It Yourself

• The USPTO Patent Search is free: A little complex but it provides a lot of information along the way if you are patient.

Service Providers:

• Legal Zoom

File Your Provisional Patent in 3 Easy Steps has a comprehensive package that includes a comprehensive search and professional filing for only $299.
Legal Zoom also offers a 100% satisfaction guarantee on their service.
Click here to get started

To find a patent attorney registered with the USPTO visit here.