A patent search is your first step in getting a patent. New inventions can be great assets. This is particularly true when it is properly protected with patents. ln order to obtain a patent, however, the new invention must truly be new. To determine whether the new invention is truly a new invention you must preform a thorough search.
Prior art, as it is called, is all the information that has been made available to the public in any form. This includes .prior patent publications, periodicals, thesis papers, web publications, and any other information that has been made publicly available. To perform an exhaustive search is all but impossible. One would have to search every publication in the world to see if there is any relevance to the new invention. This exhaustive search would include electronic documents and catalogs as well as paper cataloged collections. A more practical solution is to search a subset of the vast collection of publicly disseminated information. The subset must be large enough to reasonably find any article of significance, and at the same time not be cost prohibitive. How does one strike this balance between performing a reasonably thorough search and performing that search with a finite amount of resources? It is a delicate process, but a process that shouldn't performed, as explained below, before seeking patent protection.
While patents can be valuable, even critical assets to startups and those with new inventions, procuring a patent, like any other worthwhile business endeavor, takes a lot of time, effort and money. Because there are so many resources that go into obtaining a patent, seeking patent protection without first performing prior art search is just plain stupid. Why would anyone want to invest so many resources without a reasonably assurance that the invention is new? New startups that succeed rarely conduct business in such a fashion. In addition to protecting against wasted resources, a thorough search may reinforce the strength of any patent that might eventually issue. Patents that have not been thoroughly searched may get invalidated if prior art shows up that teaches the new invention. Can you imagine building a business around a patent only to have it invalidated because a thorough US patent office search wasn't performed? While the patent office performs a search in the process of examining a patent application, the patent office has limited resources and thus may not conduct a very extensive search.
A free search performed by you the inventor is often a good place to start. You can learn how with the link below. You can discover any obvious patents that are close to your invention. However, how do you know that your search was thorough enough?
An experienced patent attorney is the answer. When your free US patent office search seems to say that your invention is really original with you then it might well be time to turn to a patent attorney to get a professional search performed. Patent attorneys are experienced in balancing the need to perform a reasonably thorough search and performing it within limited resources. Patent attorneys recognize the importance of performing patent research in order to strengthen your patent that may eventually be issued based on his diligence in his search.
Again, new inventions can be great assets to startup businesses if they are properly protected with patents. The first step in obtaining a patent is for you to perform a free search. When you are satisfied that you are on the right track, it is time for a more thorough search A reasonably thorough search should ideally be performed by a competent attorney that will balance limited resources with the need to perform a thorough search
Mike was a patent examiner at the United States Patent Office. While there he examined over 300 patent applications. This experience has helped him to understand all the subtleties of getting a patent. You want that experience on your side.
Mike is extraordinarily creative in finding patentable features. Sometimes it requires thinking outside of the box to find the patentable features of an invention. He has an expertise at finding ways to get patents on new inventions that other patent professionals would not consider.
For a free consultation with Mike about your invention fill out and submit the form below
