| An inventor looking to patent an idea should consider | | | | free and easy to use. One user-friendly site is search, |
| doing a personal patent search before hiring a patent | | | | but it only searches a database of US patents. The |
| attorney. Patents are granted to novel ideas. If | | | | United States Patent and Trademark Office also has |
| someone else came up with your idea before you | | | | a free search site. It is harder to use, but you can |
| did, you might not be able to get a patent. That | | | | learn the basics in a few minutes. After you have |
| would be too bad. But it would be worse if you also | | | | searched some patent databases, try doing a general |
| paid a lot of money only to find out that someone | | | | search using your keywords. You may discover an |
| had beaten you to the punch. | | | | article or product similar to your invention. |
| By taking a few minutes to perform a simple search, | | | | Use your results to decide if you should pursue |
| inventors often find that they are not the first to | | | | patent protection for your invention. If you find prior |
| have a really good idea. The term of art used for | | | | art that is similar to your idea, a patent might not be |
| evidence that someone has come up with your | | | | a good idea. But before you abandon your invention, |
| invention before you is "prior art." Prior art might be a | | | | look carefully at the prior art. There may be alternate |
| patent, a patent application, a product, or an article | | | | ways of doing your invention or choke points that |
| that embodies your invention. If you find prior art | | | | are critical to implementing your invention that you |
| that is same as your invention, you should reconsider | | | | can protect, even if someone else also had the |
| filing a patent application. | | | | general idea. |
| The first step is to determine the key words that | | | | If you don't find prior art for your invention, a patent |
| describe your invention. Think of the words you | | | | may be a good idea. Talk with a patent attorney |
| would use in a search if you wanted to buy your | | | | about how to proceed. She should offer to perform |
| invention, rather than patent it. After you have a set | | | | another patent search for you using an experienced |
| of key words, expand that set by thinking of | | | | search expert with much expertise in finding relevant |
| alternate ways to describe the invention. Try to | | | | prior art. I recommend inventors have their attorney |
| come up with three or four distinct sets of | | | | perform another search, even if they have already |
| keywords. | | | | done their own. It will probably turn up prior art that |
| When you have created keywords, you can start | | | | you missed, but that you should consider. |
| looking. There are a number of sites that are both | | | | |