Visit a US Patent and Trademark Depository Library

There are a number of ways the US Patent and Trademark Office can help you search a patent database. You can go to Alexandria, Va. and visit the Patent Search Room or you can visit a designated US Patent and Trademark Depository Library, which are located around the country. You can also search for patents directly on its website at uspto.gov. A newer patent search option offered by the office is called the Patent Application Information Retrieval System (PAIR). You can find out about this unique way of accessing information about a patent at uspto.gov/ebc. At any given time, some patent applications are published and some are not. There you will also find toll free numbers and an email address to help with your search questions.

If you decide to visit a depository library, you can also obtain some technical help. Sometimes, even though searching in these ways is free, people hire patent attorneys or patent agents to help them search. This will cost money but may be worth it. If you miss certain types of key words in your search, you may miss large numbers of patents that could have relevance to your claim. Patent attorneys and agents have significant knowledge of the US patent classification systems so they can sometimes conduct a more thorough search than you can alone.

The Makers of Viagra Face Court Battles with Other Inventors

You'd be hard pressed to find anyone who hasn't heard of one of the most recent science inventions--Viagra. Unlike inventions such as the airplane, light bulb or door lock, which all have only one inventor listed on their patents, Viagra has a long list of inventors. The pill, which helps men with erectile dysfunction, was first offered in 1998 by Pfizer. The company boasts that of millions of men have been helped by the drug and at least 9 tablets are dispensed every second worldwide. The description of how Viagra works reads like a long science journal complete with formulas no one else could reasonably understand. Unlike historical inventors and inventions, the makers of Viagra have had to spend unknown amounts of money trying to monopolize its market reach. Also unlike previous famous inventions, Viagra has had to face serious market competition, especially from another similar scientific drug known as Levitra, sold by GlaxoSmithKline. They've also faced court battles including one by Eli Lilly and the ICOS Corp who were developing Cialis, still another of the same type of science invention. In that battle, the United Kingdom's High Court ruled that Pfizer's European patent was invalid. It's likely that still more similar drugs will try to capture the market share Pfizer thought it had secured. This new invention offers a compelling story about how the landscape of inventions and patents has changed. Today's inventions have to be much more carefully patented or they will be challenged by competitors who state they were the first to discover the same new idea. That's why it's important to consider hiring a patent law firm if you are an inventor so you can prevent such litigation. Otherwise you'll spend valuable time and money in court trying to fight other inventors instead of taking your product to market.

Important Contributions of Kid Inventors

Never underestimate a child. The ability of invention by kid minds is awesome. Curious and passionate about the world around them, kids have invented new products large and small.

Eleven-year-old Frank Epperson invented the popsicle in 1905 when he left a fruit drink out overnight with a stirrer in it. First naming it an epsicle, he later renamed it popsicle. Years later he also invented the twin popsicle, fudgesicle and creamsicle.

Chester Greenwood invented earmuffs when he was 15 when his ears would become too cold when ice skating. Later establishing the Greenwood Ear protector factory, h e supplied ear muffs to the US soldiers during World War I. Over the years, chester accumulated over 100 patents and was named one of Americas 15 Outstanding Inventors by the Smithsonian.

The glo-sheet was invented by Becky Schroeder at the age of ten in 1972 in order to be able to continue writing after it got dark. She became the youngest female to ever receive a patent. Her sheets are used by doctors who need to check patient's charts without waking themas well as by NASA and the US Navy.

Lastly, Louis Braille was only 12 when he invented Braille in 1821.

How to Apply For a Patent

The patent application has three parts:

1. Specifications: This is a complete written description of your invention. It must be written so that anyone skilled in the subject matter could recreate your idea and use it. Nothing must be left out. You must name all of the operative parts of your invention. You will also submit a signed declaration that you believe yourself to be the first inventor of the product or process.

2. An illustration or drawing of the invention showing every feature described in the first part of the application.

3. Your filing fee. Fees are different for the differing types of patents and they also change periodically. You should check with the US Patent & Trade Office or with your patent attorney.

You Can Have a Patent Reissued

Let's say you discover that a competitor of yours is infringing on a patent that you have issued to you. At least that's what you initially think. Once you look at the situation--and your patent wording--more closely you realize the mistake may have been yours. Maybe the wording in your patent allowed some leeway for a competitor to sell a product with some of the features of your invention but not all of them. This could occur just because you described your product to have two features connected by the word and.' That way, your competitor may not be infringing after all.

What do you do? You could still file a patent infringement and take your chances. But a good patent invention attorney would also encourage you to have your patent reissued instead. There is a grace period after a patent is filed in which it can be reissued and you should check with the US Patent and Trademark Office for those current details. This grace period is determined by exactly what type of reissue you want to achieve. In any case, the changes you want to make must be supported by your originally filed patent claim.

Unless the change was discussed somewhere in your original claim, your case may be weak for a reissue. In the example above, the inventor may be able to use the word 'or' instead of 'and' so that the competitor's activities are now considered an infringement. Patent reissues are complication business and many other sophisticated technicalities may impact the decision. If you are new to invention patents you may want to seek one of the best types of help for inventors--a patent law firm.

You Can Correct Your Invention Patent

The type of technologies and products that receive patents are often quite complicated. That's why inventors file for an invention patent for each of their separate discoveries. Even in the best of circumstances, even when you hire a patent attorney to help you file a patent, a mistake can get made. The US Patent and Trademark Office can accidentally issue a patent with a miscalculation or misinterpretation in it, or you can decide--once you review your issued patent--that the wording needs to be more clear or different to offer you adequate coverage.

Remember, your competitors can and will try to take advantage of any holes in your patent application. You should discuss these possibilities with your patent lawyer so you can brainstorm on the best wording possible to protect your invention patent. When you discover a mistake in your patent, you can obtain a change so long as the error was not made deceptively. If possible, always use a Certificate of Correction form to have such a change made. You may be able to find this form at uspto.gov, and you can use this certificate whether the mistake was committed by you or the US Patent and Trademark Office. There will likely be a fee that needs to be submitted with this form if the mistake was yours, and you should include a cover letter as well describing what is being submitted.

Mistakes you have corrected on your patent cannot be material changes that would materially affect the scope and meaning of your patent. Corrections to issued patents may take as long as three or four months to receive. Your Certificate of Correction can be sent via first class mail but keep records of everything you sent and the date you sent it.

Prototype Stages

Invention prototype development is a necessary dimension to new product development. Done is stages along the way, your prototype is not just a presentation to the outside world, but a tool that will guide you to design the best possible product. As your product becomes more complete, your prototype will develop in sophistication too.

Crude Prototype – This is a beginning prototype and can be completed by yourself. The purpose of this step is to build something that will give you a better understanding of where you are going with your invention. At this point materials are not important, and this does not have to be a working model.

Working Prototype – Your working prototype should allow people to test out some of the working features of your invention. It does not need to work as well as a finished product, but does need to perform its functions. At this stage, you will need to think about the final materials for this product and develop a more sophisticated model.

Final Prototype – A final prototype is also called a manufacturing prototype, because it closely resembles the one that will be on the market. It should look and function like a finished product. If you are going to license your product rather than manufacture it yourself, you don't need to take your invention to a final prototype.

Using the Term ‘Patent Pending'

When you patent new invention ideas, but want to begin marketing prior to receiving formal notice on your patent application, it is a smart idea to mark your product and marketing materials with the term "patent pending."

Often, companies are looking for a rapid time to market for their new products because of the competitive advantage it brings them. They cannot wait for the time it takes for the US Patent and Trademark Office to deliberate on their patent. By adding the term ‘patent pending' they are warning potential competitors that a patent is in progress. If a patent is granted for the new product and a competitor's product infringes the granted patent, the inventor will have the right to stop the competitor from making, using or selling the product.

Invention By Improvement

There are many inventions are not wholly new, but are improvements to existing products. As a matter of fact, many new inventions are not even attributable to a single moment or inventor, but to a succession of advancements made independently or in teams that lead to a product. Then as further advancements are made, the product is improved. This time line of development is at the root of the television invention, as well as the invention of the motorcycle, phone, and radio, among countless others.

Events that can be attributed towards the television invention actually began in 1831 when Joseph Henry and Michael Faraday work with electromagnetism brought about the beginning of electronic communication. Yet it wasn't until 1927 that Philo Farnsworth filed for a patent on the first complete electronic television system. And new innovations are still taking place today.

So next time you feel you need to think something up from scratch, think again. Build a better mousetrap instead.

Avoid Risk Factors for New Product Ideas

There's nothing like that light bulb moment when you know you have stumbled on a new invention. There is so much to do it's hard to figure out where to start: get a patent, consider a licensee, launch the product and start over with a new invention. But, while the initial moment of discovering a new product fades fast, that product's potential can fade quickly as well due to unexpected delays. Some experts believe one of the greatest risks to a new product is delay. Many new ideas carry a short window of opportunity; once that's gone so are the potential earnings.

How can you avoid this type of risk? By focusing on the factors that often impede progress during the process of developing a new product. One of the most common such factors is not having enough help. You may not want to hire anyone to help launch your new invention, but trying to do it all yourself is one way to miss the all-too-critical window of opportunity. Another risk factor that causes delay is not having a clear vision of deliverables. There are many ways you can create a plan for action but you should have one that details a time table for tasks that must be done, when they should be done, and who will do them. If you hire personnel to launch a new product, you must make sure that communication is clear between everyone involved.

Also, concentrate on avoiding 'bottlenecks,' that is places in the flow of production where one area holds up the tasks of the next. In today's quickly changing world of commerce, you can't afford to miss the window for selling your invention because of these and other risk factors that could have been avoided.