A patent is a form of intellectual property. A patent gives its owner the right to exclude others from making, using, selling, and importing an invention for a limited period of time, usually twenty years. The patent rights are granted in exchange for a detailed public disclosure of the invention.
In short - A patent is a legal authority to the 'ownership' or 'right' of a product for a set amount of time.
Brainstorm ways to describe your design or invention. A good method to use for Step 1 is to determine FUSE for your design or invention.
Function
Use
Structure
Effect
By determining FUSE you are describing your design based on its purpose, composition, and use.
Finding synonyms is an important step in any search process. When determining if your design is new or finding a particular patent it is important to remember that all devices/inventions/designs will be titled or called different names by different inventors, companies, and countries. Therefore, it is important to find various names, spelling, and wordage prior to beginning your patent search.
For example, you are searching for a patent on cell phones
You might want to consider the following terms: cellular phone, cellular device, mobile phone, mobile device, hand-held phone, iPhone, wireless telephone, smartphone, etc.
The best way to search for patents is by classifications. Performing a classification search allows you to search a larger range of patents that might be related to your design or invention. Make sure to keep a track of all classifications and sub-classifications that relate to your design/invention -- you will be using these codes to search for patents.
There are two main classification schemes - CPC and IPC.
CPC - Cooperative Patent Classification
IPC - International Patent Classification
Classification searches can be conducted via the USPTO and Espacenet.
USPTO:
Espacenet
Once you have a list of relevant CPC/IPC codes, you can begin searching for patents. You can search both the USPTO database and Espacenet with classifications and sub-classifications, follow help sections to determine how the search text should be formatted.
When searching the USPTO PatFT (Patent Full-Text Database) use the following searching options:
When searching through patents, focus on the front page information first to help determine relevancy.
Make sure to keep track of all patent numbers/titles you search.
Once you have found relevant patents, it is important to review each patent individually for similarities to your design/invention. Pay close attention to drawings, specifications, and claims. You may also want to review cited references by both the applicant and examiner, this might lead to over relevant patents.
Make sure to keep track of all patent numbers/titles you search.
This search can only be performed via the USPTO, Applications Full-Text and Images Database or AppFT. Use the same approaches as you did in Step 4-5 to find relevant Patent Applications. Remember to pay close attention to additional drawings pages, specifications, and claims.
When searching the USPTO AppFT (Applications Full-Text Database) use the following searching options:
NOTE: Espacenet already searches patents and patent applications when a classification search is conducted.
Once you have searched one patent database, you should search another. For example, if you searched the USPTO database first you should then search Espacenet. Each new patent database will present you with new patents that might be relevant to your design/invention.
Remember to keep track of all classifications/sub-classifications you search AND account of all the patents you reviewed.
The resources below will indicate whether they are restricted to MC users or are publicly available.