First, look to see whether your invention
qualifies.
Second, learn the basics of the
patenting process from the materials provided by the USPTO
at 800-PTO-9199 or 703-308-HELP or under "General Information."
Next, a search of all previous public
disclosures (prior art) including, but not limited to
previously patented inventions in the U.S. (prior art)
should be conducted to determine if your invention has been
publicly disclosed and thus is not patentable. A
search of foreign patents and printed publications should
also be conducted. While a search of the prior art
before the filing of an application is not required, it
is advisable to do so. A registered attorney or agent
is often a useful resource for performance of a patentability
search. After an application is filed, the USPTO will
conduct a search as part of the official examination
process. Conducting a thorough patent search is
difficult, particularly for the novice. Patent
searching is a learned skill. The best advice for the
novice is to contact the nearest Patent
and Trademark Depository Library (PTDL) and seek out
search experts to help in setting up a search strategy. If
you are in the Washington, D.C. area, the USPTO provides
public access to
collections of patents, trademarks, and other documents at
its Search
Facilities located in
Alexandria, Virginia. These facilities are open
weekdays (except holidays) from 8:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m.
For further information on search services offered at the
USPTO, please refer to Public
Search Services offered by
the USPTO.
Disclaimer
We
have provided links to the site below because it has
information that may be of interest to our users. The
USPTO does not necessarily endorse the views expressed or
the facts presented on this site. Further, the USPTO
does not endorse any commercial products that may be
advertised or available on this site.
It is possible, however difficult, for
you to conduct your own search. For an introduction to
patent searching for the novice please refer to the Patent and Trademark Depository at the
Richard W. McKinney Engineering Library, the University of
Texas at Austin. Although some of the
instructions given here may be unique to the Austin library
and the focus of this introduction is on the Cassis CD-ROM products, the
fundamentals of patent searching remain the same for any
location.
You should not assume that your
invention has not been patented even if you find no evidence
of it being publicly disclosed. It's important to
remember that a thorough examination at the USPTO may
uncover U.S. and foreign patents as well as non-patent
literature.