Patent Search at the USPTO – How Hard is It?

So you have invented something that you think America just can’t live without? What now? Where do you begin to get your invention patented? Well, first you have to make sure that your idea was not someone else’s idea first. Your first stop is the United States Patent and Trademark Office. ( USPTO)

The USPTO website is designed to make searches as easy as possible. Items can be word-searched using the FirstGov search engine. To begin with use the search button to conduct a text search of informational pages on the USPTO website. This is designed to take one word and search for texts that have that word in the title. You can restrict your search to some selected portions of the site by choosing a folder of related web pages from the dropdown menu on the site search page. There are a number of different resources found here other than USPTO.

Patents, Trademarks and information about large groupings of very similar items are not on these web pages but are accessed through online database systems that are linked to from the web pages at USPTO and cannot be searched using FirstGov. The database is set up this way so that the system does not get bogged down. Millions of people research this site each week and if the site were not set up right it would run incredibly slow.

To search the databases you have to connect and follow the instructions. These are called search queries. To run the first search query you have to begin with the word that best relates to your search. If you are searching for invention patents having to do with, for instance, car washers, and then that is what you type in. The results you will see will be car washers that have patents already. It is at this point you may want to be more descript in order to narrow your search down further.

Another way to search the databases is to begin with the alphabetical subject index to the Manual of Classification. Here you would look for common terms describing the invention and its function. If that doesn’t work enter in the effect, end-product, structure, and use of the invention. It is important to note here that you will want to have a pen and paper to take notes with. You must document the path you take so that if you want to go back you can.

According to the USPTO the Patents BIB includes bibliographic information for patents from 1969 to present and published patent applications from 2001 to the present. If you need to search further back than that you will have to utilize the other databases connected to the USPTO system.