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The constitution enabled congress to give this right to inventors to further science and discovery. Patents are issued by the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO).
A US patent protects
“the right to exclude others from making, using, offering for sale, or selling … or importing the invention …” it is “effective only within the United States, U.S. territories, and U.S. possessions.”
from uspto.gov
According to Patent Fundamentals for Scientists and Engineers (3rd ed.), there are three characteristics associated with a patent
It is a contract between the inventor and the government.
It is property that you could sell or license and collect royalties.
You have a limited time monopoly in the country that you own the patent.
Individual countries and sometimes regions have individual applications
Patents can expire due to time, non-payment of fees, and other reasons
One must look for active patents that relate to your invention to be sure it is unique
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“may be granted to anyone who invents or discovers any new and useful
When I hear utility, I think of the gas or electric company; however, the definition of utility is useful. It makes sense this is called a utility patent.
“may be granted to anyone who invents a new, original, and ornamental design for an article of manufacture”
“may be granted to anyone who invents or discovers and asexually reproduces any distinct and new variety of plant”
from USPTO
In order to search for a patent, you need to develop keywords. This isn't as easy as it sounds. Describing an invention can be very difficult.
Let's consider a process for a utility patent.
Ask yourself the following questions:
from the video, How to conduct a preliminary US patent search: A step by step strategy from USPTO.
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An inventor wants their invention to be as completely protected as possible, the patent titles are vague quite often.
How many of you had a Slinky growing up? I did! Let's consider a Slinky patent.
What keywords would I use to find this patent? Slinky is a brand name, so we can't use that term.
The title of this patent is Toy and Process of Use. Luckily, Google does a full-text search of the patents. Even so, I did several searches and this particular patent didn't come up. There are so many words and ways to describe this, which makes it difficult to find. The description of the invention is
“…to provide a helical spring toy which will transfer its turns from one end to the other in an entertaining manner when it is bent into general semi-circular form and the ends are moved up and down.”
from US 2415012
Try using encyclopedias and dictionaries to get ideas for keywords. You will come up with more keywords than you use and that is ok. Experiment until you find several related patents. It will help you identify Cooperative Patent Classification to use.
Go to the results list of dictionaries and encyclopedias at Mason opens new window
It was established in 2013 by the USPTO and the EPO. Older US patents have been reclassified with the number too; you just won't see it on the patent itself. This classification can help you get more relevant documents.
The CPC is complicated. Often, companies seeking a patent will hire a patent attorney or another expert in searching patents. It is difficult to find every patent that your invention is related to in order to be sure that you aren't infringing on someone else's patent.
If you are looking for patents for ideas for a school project or assignment, this is not an issue. You could choose a CPC that keeps coming up when you do a keyword search to see if you get more relevant results by using it.
This tutorial provides an introduction to using the patent classifications systems to improve your search. Focuses on the espacenet.org search and the Cooperative Patent Classification system. By U. Central Florida. A transcript is available on YouTube.
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If your browser is compatible, try the video, How to Search for Patents.