US Patent Search

US Patent Search refers to the search conducted to determine if the proposed invention meets the statutory conditions of patentability. The US Patent Search has traditionally been limited to the US Patent Search Office database records of prior patents and publications. With the advent of the Internet and the recognition of business method patents, changes are afoot to expand searches beyond the walls of the US Patent Search Office and into the real world of business and technology. Nevertheless, most patent searches will begin in the electronic databases of the various Patent Offices worldwide.

Armed with a collection of prior patents, printed publications, journals or other technical articles, patent counsel must now examine each of these "references" and compare them with the proposed invention. In the case of prior patents, the claims of the patent will define the scope of the invention. Reading and understanding claims is an art that comes with experience. From this examination, an opinion letter is drafted, identifying the references similar to the proposed invention. In plain English, the patent opinion explains what is shown by each reference and (hopefully) distinguishes those references from the proposed invention. Finally, the patent opinion discloses the likelihood that a patent will be granted on the proposed invention.

US Patent Search is important to prevent shelling out thousands of dollars in a patent application. An inventor has the choice to conduct their own US patent search or retain experienced patent counsel to perform a US Patent search and opinion for them. This allows the inventor to save money if the invention has already been disclosed. In some instances, certain elements of the proposed invention (embodiments), but not all, will be patentable. A prior US Patent Search and Opinion allows the inventor to identify the patentable elements and file a patent application which avoids the prior art. This may limit the need to amend the application, reducing the total cost of obtaining a patent and results in a stronger patent.

For an inventor to be able to start his or her own US Patent Search, he or she needs to access the U.S. Patent Office Database at http://www.uspto.gov/patft/index.html. The U.S.P.T.O. Patent Database may be the most popular means of search by a layperson,the US Patent Search database only contains "keyword" searchable patent data from 1975 forward. In the case of articles of manufacture it is particularly important that a manual search through the classes and sub-classes is conducted on the U.S. database. Moreover, public disclosure or public use of the invention, even without patenting, renders it unpatentable. Accordingly, a search of public databases, publications and journals is also an important step to assure the patentability of the invention.

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