Patent Searching Online

When you have a great idea for an invention, the Internet can help you find out whether someone else has already thought of it.

Everyone knows that Americans are natural-born inventors. We love to devise new ways to get things done, whether it be cutting the lawn, opening a jar, or speeding across land, air, or water. If you have ever come up with an idea for an invention, your thoughts most likely turned to the next logical question, which is, "Has somebody else already thought of this?"

Why It Matters

In the United States, if you are the first person to come up with an invention, you may very well be entitled to get a patent on it. If you get a patent on an invention, you will be granted a 17- to 20-year monopoly over its use. That monopoly, depending on how you make use of it, may give you new financial independence.

How can you find out whether someone else has beaten you to the punch (and even now may be cashing in on what you're already thinking of as your invention)? Probably the best way is to see whether it has ever been patented. Some great ideas have never received a patent, but most have. A quick spin through a patent database can give you a good head start on finding out just how innovative your invention is.

The Bad Old Days

Not too many years ago, there was no such thing as a quick spin through the patent database. A patent search required hiring a lawyer or professional patent searcher at a cost of $500 or more -- sometimes much more. Few of us are willing to spend that amount of money just to gratify our curiosity. So if you're like most people, you simply would have concluded that since you thought of it, other people had probably thought of it as well.

Online Patent Searches

Thanks to the Internet, you no longer have to give up so easily. You can now do your own patent search in your spare time, with only a reasonable amount of effort. Even better, you can do it without spending more than a few dollars. If it turns out that your invention has never before been addressed in a patent, it may be that the time for a patent has come.

You can search the texts or claims of patents for free at the U.S. Patent & Trademark Office (USPTO) at www.uspto.gov. The USPTO's system can search U.S. patents back to 1976 and U.S. patent applications back to March 2001 (when they were first published). You can also use it to make bibliographic searches -- for example, to find out the name, title of invention, or patent number -- of patents from 1790 to the present. You can easily and quickly download, view, and print the images of any patent before 1976 at the USPTO's website. For example, with a broadband Internet service, you can view and print the images of a ten-page patent in less than two minutes! Everything is free on the USPTO's website, except for orders of patents to be sent by mail.

You can also search U.S. patents and perform patent number searching of worldwide collections for free if you register at Delphion at www.delphion.com. ("Basic registration" is free. After registering, click "Research.") Delphion also offers more extensive searching capability as a fee-based subscriber service.

Another fee-based company, Micropatent www.patbase.com), a database that can search many nations' patents back to the 1800s and permits batch downloading.

Offline Patent Searches

Perhaps searching online isn't convenient for you. Or perhaps your idea involves something that is timeless, which means you need to search for old patents -- before 1976. If a patent has ever been issued for your idea, whether last year or last century, then you will be barred from receiving a patent on it, and you'll have to go on to your next idea.

A great resource for complete patent searching -- from the first patent ever issued to the latest -- is a network of special libraries called Patent and Trademark Depository Libraries (PTDLs). These libraries are well stocked not only with patent materials, but also with reference librarians who will guide you through the patent search process. Every state has at least one; the USPTO maintains an up-to-date list of contact information for all PTDLs at www.uspto.gov/go/ptdl.

Keep in mind that if you don't have Internet access at home or work, many public libraries offer free online access and instructions on using it.

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