Perhaps one of the most frequent points of internal conflict our clients experience is the doubt that his/her idea really is novel and unique. Surely I can’t be the first person to have thought of this?!
If you are at that wonderfully exciting point in your entrepreneurship journey and can relate to this internal skepticism, please keep reading. This article will go over the fundamentals of conducting a Patent Search, which is the first and arguably most important step in determining if your idea is worth pursuing.
What is a Patent?
A patent is a legal device, which grants exclusive rights of production and use to the holder of the patent for a period of 20 years. Patents can protect a wide variety of ideas, but most fundamentally, these ideas must be novel, non-obvious, and useful. Patentable subject matter includes novel processes or methods, new compositions, new machinery etc. There are several different types of patents. The first is a Utility Patent which, are typically what people mean when expressing a desire to obtain a “patent”.
The second is a Design Patent. Design Patents are used to provide a means of protection for a novel, aesthetic expression. Finally, Plant Patents are used to protect the work of scientists/geneticists who create asexually reproduced plants (meaning, they engineered the plant themselves.)
For Plant Patents to be viable, the genetically engineered plant must be sufficiently altered to render it novel in a meaningful sense of the word. PCT Patents provide protection on an international stage and can be immensely powerful for companies interested in taking their product/s to global markets. Lastly, Provisional Patents are “light-patents” and grant a preliminary level of protection for a year at which point the provisional patent must be converted into a full utility patent.
What is a Patent Search
A ‘Patent Search’ is the process of determining whether or not a given idea, or something sufficiently similar, already exists and has been registered in the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO)
Why is a Patent Search Important?
A Patent Search is crucial. Coming up with an idea is all well and good but what separates a great idea from a serious business proposition is doing the hard work associated with bringing the idea to fruition. The first step is making sure that your creative idea does not violate someone else’s existing intellectual property rights.
How to Perform a Patent Search?
To start your patent search you can conduct a search of the United States Patent Office (USPTO) online database. The USPTO is the central source of all patents and patent applications. However, the internet pales in comparison to the USPTO library in Arlington, Virginia. Can’t make it to Virginia? Fortunately, the USPTO also has library branches across the country.
While the USPTO is the best resource for your patent search, there are a number of other databases available. Another one is google.com/patents. There’s also the option of hiring a professional patent searcher, some are even licensed to practice by the USPTO.
How to Determine the Value of Your potential Invention and Patent?
There is no exact science to determine the value of your invention, but there a few guidelines to ask yourself. How important is the invention? Is it informative or incremental? You can answer these questions by citing how many times a similar patent is mentioned by other patents. Frequent citations are usually a good sign that you’re on to something. Another question to ask is, does the patent properly protect the value of the invention? And finally, how are owners of the patent making money off of their patent?
A thorough patent search will reveal if you too are onto something or have if you have to go back to the drawing board. Nevertheless, a patent search is undoubtedly a critical step in your journey to patenting your invention and acquiring intellectual property.
Contact your Patent Attorney to learn more.
