How Your Own Work can be Used Against You

 


 

Search Creatively!
Search your idea online without giving it away.


 
Patents
 are
 organized
 by
 class
 and
 subclass
 denoted
 by
 the
 numbers
 “123/456,”
 the
 
later
  indicating
  the
  subclass.
 
  Start
  with
  a
  broad
  search
  on
  Google
  Patents®
  and
 
narrow
  in
  on
  a
  class
  (“123”),
  followed
  by
  an
  in-­‐class
  search
  until
  you
  pin-­‐point
  a
 
subclass.
 
 You
 can
 then
 expand
 by
 organization
 (assignee)
 and
 by
 inventor
 to
 get
 a
 
better
 grasp
 on
 existing
 prior
 art
 (inventions).
 
 

 
People
 have
 different
 ways
 of
 searching
 through
 existing
 patents,
 there’s
 nothing
 set
 
in
  stone,
  eventually
  you’ll
  develop
  your
  own
  technique.
 
  Searching
  is
  an
  iterative
 
process
  and
  one
  piece
  of
  prior
  art
  will
  give
  you
  ideas
  on
  how
  to
  modify
  your
 
searching
  strategy
  to
  fine
  tune
  your
  technique.
 
  There’s
  no
  way
  of
  knowing
  whether
 
you’ve
 exhausted
 all
 prior
 information,
 so
 at
 some
 point
 you’ll
 have
 to
 stop
 scanning
 
documents
 and
 move
 on.
 
 

 

The
 USPTO
 does
 not
 examine
 provisional
 patent
 applications
 for
 patentability,
 they
 
only
 get
 looked
 at
 for
 completion
 to
 insure
 all
 the
 information
 is
 there.
 
 Should
 you
 
decide
  to
  file
  a
  non-­‐provisional
  at
  some
  point
  before
  the
  12-­‐month
  deadline,
  the
 
patent
  office
  will
  perform
  an
  exhaustive
  prior
  art
  search
  using
  state
  of
  the
  art
 
software
 and
 they’ll
 apply
 the
 most
 relevant
 art
 in
 the
 examination.
 

 
You
  should
  still
  perform
  a
  search
  before
  you
  apply
  for
  a
  provisional
  patent
 
application
  just
  to
  insure
  you
  are
  not
  wasting
  your
  time
  with
  something
  that’s
 
already
 invented.
 
 If
 you
 find
 a
 gizmo
 that’s
 not
 exactly
 the
 same
 to
 yours,
 you
 might
 
still
 be
 able
 to
 patent
 your
 idea.
 

 
Nothing
 there?
 
 Well
 then
 proceed
 with
 a
 provisional
 patent
 application.
 

 

 
Start
 Searching
 Today!
 

 
Legal
 told
 me
 to
 include
 this:
 

 
The
 intellectual
 property
 information
 that
 we
 provide
 does
 not
 constitute
 legal
 advice.
 
 We
 are
 not
 
intellectual
 property
 lawyers
 nor
 are
 we
 a
 law
 firm,
 consequently
 we
 do
 not
 provide
 legal
 advice.
 
 No
 
attorney-­‐client
  or
  confidential
  relationship
  exists
  or
  will
  be
  formed
  between
  you
  and
  Youvention
  nor
 
any
 of
 our
 company
 members.
 
 The
 accuracy,
 completeness,
 adequacy
 or
 currency
 of
 the
 content
 is
 
not
 warranted
 or
 guaranteed.
 
 We
 recommend
 you
 consult
 a
 lawyer
 if
 you
 want
 legal
 advice.