Patent Searching

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Doing Your First Patent Search

To determine whether your idea can be patented you will want to first determine whether someone else
has already patented your invention. You do this by searching various types of databases to see if your
invention has already been described. Here is an example to help you!

 

1. Describe Your Idea or Your Invention:

Keep it simple for your first attempts. Let say your invented a toy that runs on the ground and is that is powered by the wind. If you search the word "TOY" the search results would provide you with a list of every patent that includes the word "toy". This result would be much too large for you to determine whether someone else had already patented your idea or at least had described your idea. Try it by clicking here searching all years with the single word "toy". You should receive back a list of over 16,000+ different patents. You don't have time to read all 16,000+ patents so you need to cut down the number of hits. How do you limit or narrow the search?

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To narrow this search to a smaller number of patents, add a limit, such as "AND sail". You added this limit because you know the sail is what captures the wind to propel the toy along the ground. Now click here and enter the limit and request "all years" in the searching. If you narrowed the results to "toy" and "sail" you understand and did the narrowing process correctly. Great! You now are looking at about 80 different patents instead of over 16,000 patents. This is good progress, but we still have too many patents to consider.

So now, think WHAT IS SO GREAT ABOUT YOUR INVENTION, what makes your invention better than, for example, all other sail toys that are propelled along the ground. Yep! that is it. The wind is strong and weak at different times and sometimes when the wind is too strong, it will knock the toy to the ground. But so what? You have a solution. My invention is to make the toy upright itself and start to run with the wind again. So now add the new terms to limit the search by refining the original search of "toy AND sail" by adding "AND upright AND ground". Try it by clicking here with the new limiting word. You should now receive back a list of only 5 patents using the search parameters "toy AND sail AND upright AND ground". Now five patents is reasonable , but you want to still limit the search to the real secret.

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The secret of the sail toy is locating its center of gravity at the exact right place so that regardless of wind force, the toy will always seek to upright itself as quickly as possible. So you now limit the search with the real secret "building the toy with its center of gravity precisely located to allow the toy to upright itself when blown over by the wind". Do this refine step by adding to your original search of "toy AND sail AND upright AND ground" the new limit "AND center AND gravity". Click here and try the limitations "toy AND sail AND upright AND ground AND center AND gravity". Be certain to use "all years" so you capture all the patents that have ever issued. So now you have a total of how many patents to consider? 2 patents. This is great!! If you read the two uncovered patents you will discover that the sponsor of this web site wrote US patent 4,886,478 entitled "Wind propelled sail toy vehicle" in 1989.

Review a tutorial on patent searching prepared by the University of Texas

Develop other methods of patent searching techniques.

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If you would like to engage our services to help you determine whether your idea or invention appears to be patentable, send us a sketch or brief description of your invention or idea using our invention disclosure form. We will promptly reply by providing you with a fixed price quote for conducting the patent search and for preparing and filing a patent application on your behalf. All communications with our office are held in the strictest confidence.