Read this tip to make your life smarter, better, faster and wiser. LifeTips is the place to go when you need to know about United States Patent and Trademark Office and other Invention topics.
Although it is recommended that a professional such as a patent lawyer or patent agent conduct a formal patent search for your new invention, it is a wise idea to conduct your own preliminary patent search using the online database at the US patent And Trade Office web site.
In addition to this being a free patent search, the advantages of conducting your own preliminary search are:
- You will familiarize yourself with the patent process.
- You will learn about product categories and sub-categories, and about how to present patent materials.
- You might find patents of products in your field or industry, giving you competitive information
- You might just find another product like yours, eliminating the need for a more costly, formal search.
Just remember that the online database at the USPTO only goes back as far as 1975, so it would never be a compete search.
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Mary White |