An inventor can start his or her own Patent Search by accessing the US patent information database at http://www.uspto.gov/patft/index.html. The U.S.P.T.O. US patent information database may be the most popular means of search that can be used by a layperson.The US patent information database only contains “keyword” searchable patent data from 1975 forward. A US patent information database, publications and journals is also an important step to assure the patentability of the invention. Inventors can make a search of patents already granted in text books, journals and other publications to be sure that someone else has not already invented their idea. They may hire someone to do it for them or may do the search on the US patent information at the Public Search Room of the US Patents and Trademark Office in Arlington, Virginia, on the PTO web page on the Internet, or at one of the US Patents and Trademark Depository Libraries across the country.

The U.S. Patent office is tasked with carefully reviewing patent application in order to determine the invention’s patentability. The examination process usually takes 12 to 18 months. The U.S. Patent Office will not tell you if your invention has already been invented by someone else unless you apply for a patent. The U.S. Patent Office examiners only verify that the description and claims per description by their inventors are new, unique, and not obvious to the U.S. Patent Office. They could not make confirmation with regards to the usefulness or profitability of the invention.