Do You Need a Trademark?

Copyright (c) 2006 Elias Stassinos

Here's what you need to know about trademarks.

Even though all starting businesses need one or more business licenses and tax ids before legally starting business operations, another consideration when starting a business is the trademark of the business name, product or service. After reading this article you will know what is a trademark and whether you need to register one.

What is a Trademark?

A trademark is a word, phrase, symbol or design, or a combination of words, phrases, symbols or designs. This word, symbol or design identifies and distinguishes a company's products or services from products and services of another company. Note that a trademark of a product is the mark of the product itself or a mark associated with the offering of a product. Similarly, a trademark of a service is the mark in connection with the services.

Do I need to register a trademark?

Trademark registration is not required but it will help you in case the use of the mark is challenged. You can establish rights in a mark based on legitimate use of the mark. "Legitimate use" in general means that the name, mark or symbol used in connection with a bona fide offering of goods or services within a specified geographical region. Thus, if, for a period of time, you use the mark to sell toys in the Los Angeles Metropolitan Area, you acquire rights to the mark selling toys in that particular area. Or, if you do business nationwide, you acquire rights to the use of the mark, nationwide.

You can establish rights to a trademark if you register the trademark at the federal or state level. That will establish that you are commonly known by the registered trademark. If it is a name, you can establish that you are commonly know by that trademark name if you register a corporate name as a corporation or the trade name as a "doing business as" ("DBA"). In addition, registering a trademark provides constructive notice to the public, and a presumption that you are the owner or the mark and you use it in connection with the goods and/or services listed in the registration.

Federal trademark registration allows you to to bring an action concerning the mark in federal court. The trademark registration is also a basis for registration in other countries. You can also file with the U.S. Customs Service to prevent importation of infringing foreign goods. Keep in mind, however, that you any time you claim rights in a mark, you may use the "TM" (trademark) or "SM" (service mark) designation to alert the public to your claim, regardless of whether you have filed an application with the United States Patent and Trademark Office. However, you may use the federal registration symbol "?" only after the United States Patent and Trademark Office actually registers a mark, and not while an application is pending. Also, you may use the registration symbol with the mark only on or in connection with the goods and/or services listed in the federal trademark registration.

How do I file a Trademark Application?

If you hire a trademark attorney, you normally fill out a secure online trademark application form. I recommend hiring an attorney because if you prepare and submit an application, you must comply with all requirements of the trademark statute and rules. If you choose to appoint an attorney to represent your interests before the United States Patent and Trademark Office, the United States Patent and Trademark Office will correspond only with your attorney.




Elias Stassinos, Esquire is a trademark and incorporation attorney that has assisted thousands of small business owners and entrepreneurs launch their first business enterprise. Attorney Elias Stassinos, Esquire is also a corporate legal counsel for businessnameusa.com online legal filing service .

Trademarks - An Exercise In Patience

Trademarks are a form of intellectual property for a person or business. To protect your mark, you always should formally trademark it. This brings us to the subject of patience.

Trademarks - An Exercise In Patience

A mark is simple a distinctive name, brand or whatever for your person or business. At the risk of being sued to high heaven, the name "Google" is a trademark for a certain search engine. When it is mentioned or you read about it, you know exactly what it refers to. As a business becomes successful, it will almost always want to trademark its brand, logo or whatever.

Obtaining a trademark is not particularly difficult to do. The process is controlled by the United States Patent and Trademark Office. The "PTO" is an agency falling under the control of the United Stated Department of Commerce. Fascinating, eh?

Filing a trademark application with the PTO is an interesting ordeal. From a technical stand point, it is fairly simple. You can search online to see if anyone else has already obtained the trademark you are after. If not, you can fill out an application and file it online. The PTO will assign an attorney to it. He or she will either approve the application, send correspondence asking you to clarify some aspect or outright reject your application. While this sounds straightforward, there is one aspect that turns the process into an annoying one - time.

The trademark office is a government agency. As such, one can expect a certain amount of lag time in getting things done. The trademark office, however, takes this to the extreme. When you first file your trademark application, you can expect to wait for up to two months before you receive anything. When you do, it will only be a postcard verifying that the office has RECEIVED your application. Yes, it takes two months for this.

At this point, you need to have a lot of patience. Roughly six months will pass before you hear anything else on your application. It could be longer. The delay means nothing in relation to the merits of your application. It just takes forever. If you finally receive correspondence accepting your application, you will need to wait another month for it to be published and then become approved. If the trademark office wants clarification on your application, you will have thirty to sixty days to send it in. Once you do, it is time to sit and wait some more - often two to four months. It can be maddening. The process can often take more than a year to play out.

Whether you attempt to obtain a trademark on your own or use an attorney, it is important to understand what you are getting into. Don't worry when you do not receive anything for four or five months. This is standard operating procedure at the PTO. Sooner or later, they will get around to it.

Gerard Simington is with FindAnAttorneyForMe.com - an online trademark attorney directory.

Trademark Considerations to Protect Your Name

In Trademark Law; first use is the key, but still you need to document this and get a trademark at the Federal Level or a service mark at the state level. Without it you may find a bigger firm moving into your area, which had used your name in interstate commerce prior to your local use and thus they can make you change your name.

Imagine the cost in changing all your signage and disrupting your good will with your brand name in your local market. This confuses customers and puts a question mark about your credibility where none had previously existed.

How hard is it to get a trademark? Well not so difficult once you do a search to make sure no one else is using this name or a similar symbol elsewhere. Generally service marks or trademarks are searched by category and so if you are in a cross-over type category or straddle several SIC codes it makes sense to search it thoroughly and find a competent patent and trademark attorney to do it correctly.

If no one challenges you during the initial term of your trademark you can file for a permanent trademark so be sure to ask your trademark attorney about this also. Protect your logos and business name, as it is not worth the risk if you have a successful and on-going business to allow this to slide. Think on this in 2006.

Lance Winslow, a retired entrepreneur, adventurer, modern day philosopher and perpetual tourist.

US Trademark Searches

Trademarks are names, phrases, logos or images used to uniquely identify your company and your products and services. Because trademarks are used in businesses, there are rights you can claim to protect your company, and there are governing bodies that regulate the use of your trademark. In the United States of America, the governing body called United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) is the governing body that makes your trademark and patented product unique. They guarantee that no other company can carry the same name, logo or product without proper approval from you.

Before any company is given approval for a trademark application, the USPTO scrutinizes the application, making sure that the trademark filing is unique and is in no way identical to any existing trademarks. Their primary task is to reject an application if there is the slightest possibility that any copyright infringement is or can be violated. In fact, a few years ago, a 17 year old boy named Mike Rowe registered and operated the web site www.mikerowesoft.com.

When the software giant, Microsoft, discovered this, they filed to move that the site be shut down immediately. The courts granted in favor of Microsoft, stating that it would be damaging and confusing to the software company. Another well-publicized lawsuit over a URL address was between World Wildlife Foundation with the site www.wwf.org and the World Wrestling Federation bearing the site address www.wwf.com. The former sued the latter to drop the URL address stating that the practices of the former are detrimental to the image of the wildlife foundation. The World Wildlife Foundation was granted favor by the courts and World Wrestling Federation had to change their name to World Wrestling Entertainment and refrain from using the acronyms WWF.

Trademark Search provides detailed information on Trademark Search, Free Trademark Searches, Online Trademark Searches, US Trademark Searches and more. Trademark Search is affiliated with Free Patent Searches.

Online Trademark Searches

Trademark is a very important part of your company. It differentiates your company from the rest that are in the same category or with those that have identical or almost the same name as your company. It also differentiates you from companies that bear a logo or company seal that represents your establishment. Nowadays, jingles are also used to uniquely distinguish a company.

With the introduction of the Internet, you can now make inquiries online by going to the website of the States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO). In this website, you can search for existing trademarks to make sure that the trademark you plan to use is unique and can distinguish you from other companies.

Within the USPTO website, you can find the Patent and Trademark Depository Library that can be downloaded. One document that could be of important use to you is the List of Acceptable Identification of Goods, which is a list of terms used to recognize the terms that you might need to know to identify your products. There is also a list of deleted names and terms that could come in handy. Documents that can help you with basic facts about trademarks are also a good source of information.

When you do file for your application, it is worth it to visit the Trademark Application and Registrations Retrieval (TARR) system that will help you keep track of the progress of your application. With many applications being filed everyday, you wouldn?t want your application to be left in a large pile that has been submitted for approval.

Applications for trademark are subjected to outmost scrutiny before they are approved. So best be prepared to know what to do to get the trademark you want.

Trademark Search provides detailed information on Trademark Search, Free Trademark Searches, Online Trademark Searches, US Trademark Searches and more. Trademark Search is affiliated with Free Patent Searches.

What Is A TradeMark And Why Should I Have One?

The short answer to this question is that a trademark can become a brand. Even if you're business is local, a brand name is important not only from a marketing but also a customer perception basis.

When many people think government business registration documents, they naturally think patents. General copyrights which establish ownership of certain types of property like writings, music etc. Trademark registration however is used to establish ownership rights to a specific design, character, lettering style or combinations and of all these into 1 single general identifying mark.

Good examples of Trademarked products would be the NIKE swoosh or McDonalds Golden Arches. These trademarked designs are readily identifiable with the company using them. Trademarks, Servicemarks and other official registrations are good because they establish ownership. That is, you simply could not open up a fast food restaurant and use the McDonalds If you're considering a trademark, the first thing to do is a quick check to make certain what you want to register is even available.

There are many trademarks of obscure companies that may be similar enough to your idea to create confusion and a potential problem. This research can be done by several methods including the use of a patent and trademark attorney. A better approach, especially if you're a small company or one starting out, is to simply contact the federal government and request information on the process steps. The first stop on your journey should be http://www.uspto.gov to get the latest information and process to follow.

Be advised that the federal government is pushing for paperless transactions whenever possible. Their current fees to process a trademark application is 325 dollars if filed electronically. If you prefer to file the application with physical paper In addition to the application and fee, a drawing must be presented showing your design and proposed trademark. You should also be prepared to have examples of how you're using the proposed trademark - Servicemarks currently in your business. If approved, you will then have the exclusive ownership of that particular design.

The benefits of having an easily recognizable Servicemarks cannot be denied. Go anywhere around the world and even if you cannot read the language, a familiar red can with silver ribbons will announce and identify the drink in the container as Coke, the real thing! How much more valuable would your business be if you had a service mark as distinctive and as easily recognizable as a can of Coca-Cola?

Abigail Franks writes on a variety of subjects which include family, travel, health, and business. For More information on Trademarks visit the site at http://www.trademarks.openbriefcase.com

Free Trademark Searches

Before filing for trademark, it is a good idea to search for information such as Trademark Acceptable Identification of Goods and Services, Trademark Manual of Examining Procedure, Design Code for the logos and images. With these guidelines, you can make certain the trademark you are developing is unique. It can also help you avoid any trouble or violations not only on the possible similarities on existing trademark, but on violation of standards that have been set.

When you file for a trademark with the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO), there are many considerations you have to make to ensure the uniqueness of your trademark. Conventional things to consider are the name, word or phrase, the logo, symbol, design or images used in your trademark, making sure they are distinct from any of the existing trademarks out there. The main concern of the USPTO is to look for possible copyright infringement that your application may incur and to find ways to reject your trademark. With this risk at hand, it is best to search for trademarks existing and under application. There are free methods available for you to search for trademarks.

The Patent and Trademark Depository Library (PTDL) keeps records of patent and trademark materials within the United States of America at your disposal. They are also tasked to disseminate information involving patents and trademarks. You can go to the depository to manually check for whatever details you may need regarding trademarks or patents.

If there are other details, like laws or frequently asked questions you may need, you can visit the USPTO website to retrieve information they have posted. You can search for queries regarding trademarks, patents and copyrights. There are also news and articles related to the matter available , and you can use the Trademark Application and Registrations Retrieval (TARR) to search for the status of applications.

Trademark Search provides detailed information on Trademark Search, Free Trademark Searches, Online Trademark Searches, US Trademark Searches and more. Trademark Search is affiliated with Free Patent Searches.

What is a Trademark Search?

A trademark search can, in actuality, be many different things. In theory, a trademark search is performed to determine whether or not the mark you are hoping to use is already taken by another. This allows an individual to apply with a greater level of confidence for the use of a trademark with the United States Patent and Trademark Office (herein referred to as the USPTO). A trademark search is, ideally, a comprehensive, analytical way of researching a name, slogan or logo for prior use.

A trademark search can also be performed in a sloppy and ineffective manner, and may not protect you from potentially infringing upon another?s name or logo. This is why it?s important to ensure that the trademark research you have commissioned is done comprehensively and thoroughly!

It is not unusual for a trademark research company to charge hundreds of dollars for searching the USPTO, which you can do for free. Comprehensive research firms search Federal, State and Common Law records, which is a more logical and thorough way to research your name. When commissioning research on your name, it is important to ask the company you?re considering using to clarify what exactly their searches entail, each step of the way.

Companies may try and save money in other ways, including letting you pour through the raw data they collect without any summary of what it all means. It is important to be sure once you?ve decided to commission research on your name that the information is compiled into an easily readable report. Examining the results of your research can sometimes be difficult, even when placed in an edited report. If you?re left to decipher the meaning of a company?s raw data, chances are you may under react or overreact to the results.

When searching your name, it is important that phonetic spellings of the name are searched, as well as vowel variations. This should be done in order to find any potential matches of your name, whether these matches are similar or identical. Ultimately, the goal of the search is to allow an individual to apply for the searched name feeling as though they are informed, and free of any potential legal ramifications. Unless your search is comprehensive, there is no way to promise the same peace of mind a thorough search can!

Applying for a trademark does not have to be a painful, convoluted process. It can actually be quite easy if you follow the correct steps throughout! Remember, it is a process to research a name.

Marit Lee is a Researcher for TradeMark Express. Since 1992, TradeMark Express has met the needs of their clients with comprehensive research, application preparation, attorney referrals and trademark consultation. For further details, please visit us on the web at TradeMark Express or call Marit directly at 800.550.1520.

Trademark Renewal & Maintenance - How Do I Keep My Trademark?

After you?ve applied for your trademark, there will be a waiting period of approximately 18 months before your name is actually registered with the United States Patent & Trademark Office (herein referred to as the USPTO). Until then, it will be listed as "Pending." Sometimes there are hold-ups; the USPTO may not allow you to use the name you?ve chosen to apply for because there is a similar name already trademarked. In this case, you will receive an "office action", which is a notification from the USPTO. If you do receive an office action, it might be due to the USPTO simply needing more information in order to complete your trademark application. However, it also may be because your name is blocked by another name, which is the worst case scenario, and another reason why it is incredibly important to purchase comprehensive research before you file for your name!

After your name is registered with the USPTO, between years 5-6 you will file a "Continuous Use Form." This form conveys to the USPTO that you have been using your trademarked name, and you intend to continue to stay in business or to sell your product under that name. After a 10 year period, you will be required to renew your trademark. It is important to be aware that some maintenance is involved in keeping your trademarked name.

It is recommended that each year you commission research on your name. This is done to ensure that no one has begun using your name since doing initial research on its availability. By continuing to do annual research, you are adding a greater sense of protection for your name and business. It is up to you to remain informed on what businesses are using what marks, and how this might affect your own personal business ventures.

Once trademarked, you may take legal recourse if another business has begun using your name. A "cease and desist" letter is a way of conveying to another business that they are infringing upon your trade-name. While you do not need a trademark in order to draw up a letter such as this, having a federally registered trademark gives you a greater ability to disallow the use of your name by another. These documents should always be drawn up by an attorney, rather than an individual, as the action conveys that you are taking legal recourse against another business. Please communicate with the USPTO directly, a trademark attorney OR a trademark research company if you have more specific questions about maintaining your trademark!

Marit Lee is a Researcher for TradeMark Express. Since 1992, TradeMark Express has met the needs of their clients with comprehensive research, application preparation, attorney referrals and trademark consultation. For further details, please visit us on the web at TradeMark Express or call Marit directly at 800.550.1520.

How Do You Get a Trademark?

While some individuals choose to hire attorneys to walk them through the process of applying for a trademark, others choose to use a trademark research firm, which can cost thousands of dollars less. It is important to remember when hiring someone to do your research that they not only search through Federal and State trademark records for name similarities, but also Common-Law listings.

Many people are under the impression that they can perform their own comprehensive search utilizing the help of search engines, in addition to the United States Patent and Trademark Office (herein referred to as the USPTO). While it is a good idea to become familiar with the USPTO website, individuals sometimes believe that the data they collect from this website is truly representative of the trademarked names which are currently being used. The USPTO?s website is never a thorough way to search the name you?re hoping to trademark! The website is not updated regularly, and in addition to this, you can ONLY search Federal trademark records on the USPTO, NOT State trademark records OR Common-Law records!

It is imperative to search Federal and State trademark records AND Common-Law records because it is the only way to ensure that your search was done in a comprehensive manner. Federal and State trademarks records are looking at businesses that have either a federally registered trademark, or those who have registered a state trademark. When these records are searched, any federal or state trademarks that are either pending or registered will be visible to the researcher. Common-Law records examine those businesses who are in business but not have necessarily filed for a Federal or a State trademark. When Common-Law records are searched, thousands upon thousands of newspaper articles, city business listings, periodicals, incorporation listings, DBAs, LLCs, etc. are examined for any name similarities. Although such businesses do not have a trademark, they might have "first-use rights" to the name. This could mean that they still have ownership over the name within their trade area AND the capacity to take legal recourse if they determine that your name and business is the same, or similar.

If the research proves clear, the next step is to prepare and file the application. This can be done by anyone; however, the USPTO is very particular about how the application is prepared, so it's best to leave it to professionals.

Three Steps -- Federal & State trademark search, US National Common-Law search and Application Preparation & Filing ? and the Trademark could be YOURS!

Marit Lee is a Researcher for TradeMark Express. Since 1992, TradeMark Express has met the needs of their clients with comprehensive research, application preparation, attorney referrals and trademark consultation. For further details, please visit us on the web at TradeMark Express or call Marit directly at 800.550.1520.

To Successfully Enforce Your Patent Do Not Let Form Triumph Over Substance While Writing The Patent

Chemical and pharmaceutical companies protect their investment in research and development and the future of the companies by securing patents on their inventions. Patents help you resist competition. Success or failure of the company often depends on the strength of the patent. The words in the patent document must meet rigid formality requirements under the patent laws. Even if the invention covered by the patent is a fantastic one, the court will throw out the patent if it violates any one of the formality requirements.

The patent document is normally divided into several sections, for example, one section describing the background of the invention, another section describing the invention as a summary, another section describing the drawings of your invention, yet another section describing in detail how to make and use the invention, and a final section that lists various aspects of your invention in numbered sentences, typically from 1 to 20. These numbered sentences or claims form the most important section of the patent.

It is the claims that define the invention. When a competitor wants to design around your invention, he will look to the language of the claims. When you sue someone for infringing your invention, the court will look at the claims in your patent. It is clear that the claims are of paramount importance.

The patent contains independent claims and dependent claims. Dependent claims will refer back to an earlier claim. Independent claims do not refer back to any other claim. For example, dependent claim 2 will refer back to independent claim 1. When dependent claims refer back to other claims, they should meet certain rigid formality requirements, one of which is that the dependent claim cannot be broader in scope than the claim it refers back to. Thus, for example, if claim 1 describes a drug in acid form or its salt form, claim 2 can describe the drug in salt form. However, if claim 1 describes only the acid form, claim 2 cannot describe the salt form. If it so describes, then claim 2 will be broader than claim 1, which is forbidden under the patent laws.

In a recently concluded battle between pharmaceutical giant Pfizer Inc. and generic drug maker Ranbaxy Laboratories, the generic drug maker was able to knock out a patent that covered the blockbuster drug Lipitor. The patent claim that Pfizer asserted against Ranbaxy was held invalid by the high court. Here, Pfizer asserted claim 6 describing a calcium salt of the drug against the opponent. Claim 6 referred back to claim 2 which described an acid form of the drug but not the salt form. The high court held that claim 6 cannot properly refer back to claim 2. The harsh result faced by Pfizer is somewhat surprising because it was believed by many that a court would not look at the form over substance, just as the lower court did. The lower court was reluctant to find fault with the patent claim.

The high court opinion emphasizes the fact that filing a winning patent requires careful consideration of various legal concepts including the intricate formality requirements of the patent law. Copyright 2006

Dr. Xavier Pillai specializes in patent law matters involving chemistry, pharmaceuticals, biotechnology, and polymers; see http://www.leydig.com/Attorneys/AttorneyDetail.aspx?AttorneyID=160.

WikiPatents Enables Community Patent Review

"Bad patents" cost infringers--and, ultimately, all consumers--millions, if not billions, of dollars every year. Yet, "good patents" often go unrecognized. Until now, there has been no web site encouraging large-scale, organized public comment to clarify the true merits and value of U.S. patents.

WikiPatents.com, officially launched August 28, 2006, addresses these problems. WikiPatents' goal is to strengthen the patent system by clarifying whether a patent really protects a new idea and how much that idea is worth. The United States Patent & Trademark Office is very effective at reviewing patents given its limited time and resources. WikiPatents provides patent examiners at the Patent Office and the entire patent community another powerful resource that will add reliability, clarity, and efficiency to the patent process.

WikiPatents is a free-access web site and database containing millions of patents that allows the interested public to discuss, rate, and vote on published patents and, soon, pending patent applications. Most notably, users can add prior art references (publications that closely relate to and predate the patented technology), as well as comment and vote on the relevancy of prior art. Users can also comment and vote on patent value, licensing, technical, and other issues for each patent.

WikiPatents seeks to become the crossroads where patent examiners, inventors, investors, patent attorneys, and litigants join to discuss the merits of patents and patent applications.

Peter Johnson and Kevin Hermansen are co-founders of www.WikiPatents.com - Community Patent Review, a new free-access web site and database that enables public commentary on published patents

To Crush Your Competition A Strong Patent Is Important Learn How and Why

Chemical and pharmaceutical companies protect their investment in research and development and the future of the companies by securing patents on their inventions. Patents help you resist competition. Success or failure of the company often depends on the strength of the patent and the longer the term of the patent, the greater will be its value. A strong patent is one that defines your invention broadly and but at the same time builds in fallback narrow invention.

The United States Patent and Trademark Office receives hundreds of thousands of patent applications each year. In fact, the Patent Office has recently proposed new patent rules to ease the Examiner workload. According to one proposed rule, if a patent application is rejected, to be able to present your case again, the patent applicant will be limited to filing one request for continued examination (or RCE). In light of the new rule, unless the patent applicant masters the complexities of patent law, the applicant might end up getting a weak patent instead of a strong one.

Imagine you have filed a patent application where you have defined your invention broadly as well as narrowly in ten succinct sentences in what are known as patent claims. These patent claims will be numbered 1 through 10. Typically claim 1 will represent the invention of the broadest scope, and the higher numbered claims represent fallback narrow inventions. In our hypothetical, claims 2 to 10 will refer back to claim 1. Thus, claim 2 refers back to claim 1. Claim 4 refers back to claim 3, which in turn refers back to claim 2. Claim 5 refers back to claim 1 or claim 4. In this example, say claim 5 refers back to claim 1. Keep in mind that the more number of fallback claims you have, you have a better chance of winning the lawsuit in the event your competitor challenges your patent.

Now imagine that the Examiner rejects the patent, as it often happens, stating that the invention is not new or is only a minor modification of what is known already. You, as patent applicant, have a chance to respond to the Examiner. You present arguments stating why the invention is new and not obvious and why you should granted a patent. The Examiner rejects your argument. Now, to continue your effort to get a patent, you wish to present new arguments. To do so, you may have to file an RCE (and the fee) along with the new arguments.

The Examiner takes it up again. This time, the Examiner softens a little and says, in a non-final rejection, that invention of claims 4 to 10 would be allowable as a patent if you rewrite claim 4 without a reference to claim 1, but continues to reject the broader invention of claims 1, 2, and 3. You now have a choice of taking what the Examiner gave you, that is, claims 4 to 10 or alternatively, argue some more. You choose to argue. The Examiner finally rejected your application, repeating what he said before, that is, claim 4 onwards would be allowable if you rewrite it as indicated before. Now, the options you have are very limited. You can rewrite claim 4 as the Examiner indicated, as new claim 1, and obtain a patent with new claim 1. However, you will not be able to get a patent with claims 5 to 10.

The Examiner would refuse to grant claim 5 to 10 because he will say that claim 5 now has been changed in its scope even though you did not change the wording of the claim. The Examiner will argue that original claim 5 referred back to original claim 1. Now, claim 5 refers back to new claim 1, which is of a different scope. The Examiner would indicate that, as the scope of the claim has changed, he would need to carry out further search and examination on claims 5 to 10. He would say that the patent law would not allow him to do so since the rejection has been made final already. The only way to get the Examiner moving on this would be if you could file an RCE. However, you have already used up your RCE option. You cannot file another RCE now, and therefore, you cannot get claims 5-10. You will get a patent with just one claim. If an infringer challenges your patent, and proves that your only claim is invalid, your entire patent would be thrown out.

If you had rewritten claim 4 (as new claim 1) when responding to the non-final rejection, rather than when responding to the final rejection as you did, patent law would have allowed the Examiner to carry out further search on claims 5 to 10, and the chances of getting those claims would have been favorable. If you had fallback position of claims 5 to 10 also, you would have a greater chance of winning the case. Copyright 2006

Dr. Xavier Pillai specializes in patent law involving chemistry, pharmaceuticals, biotechnology, and polymers; see http://www.leydig.com

Demystifying Google's new patent

On August 22, 2006, Google's latest patent (#7096214) was approved.? This patent is extremely interesting in light of the recent excitement surrounding social search.? The patent if broken down into its most simplistic form states, Google is going to take their existing algorithm and temper it with shared book marking sites and other trust networks.?
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The Patent itself is called, "System and method for supporting editorial opinion in the ranking of search results".? What does this all mean?? If your web site has gained and lost significant ranking over the past month, it is very likely due to your inclusion or not in trust networks, such as links from www.myspace.com, http://del.icio.us<, Google Co-op and others.? Though the patent does not go into detail on which sites are trusted sites and which are not, it is likely that the trusted sites are the ones that are being talked about heavily with in the social networking arena.?
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It is also important to note, that just having a patent approved does not necessarily mean that you must use the patent.?? Filing for a patent further does not mean that you have disclosed everything there is to know an invention.? For example, it is common practice to withhold all trade secrets from any patent application, because a patent becomes public knowledge and anyone can read it.?

Prior to filing the aforementioned patent application, Google used a computer generated algorithm which did not take human editorial comments or votes into its ranking, with the exception of links from relevant web sites.? The new patent, takes the search results that would appear previously, and then checks to see if any of the sites in the results "relate to a list of favored or non-favored sources", or whether any of the web sites correspond to at least one major category of favored web sites.
The patent makes reference to a plethora of claims.? However, a select few claims express very telling statements.? In claim #3, Google speaks to how it will determine a score of a web site that is not linked to on either favored or non-favored sites using a primary set of logical parameters (the general algorithm).? The claim goes on further to state Google will determine a score for web sites that are referenced by Google's list of favored or non-favored sites, using that same set of parameters and then takes into account an editorial option, and ranking the final search results based on the score.? This seems to implicate that a web site which is listed on a favored site, and has solid editorial opinions will rank higher than a site which is not referenced by the favored or non-favored sites, even if it is still keyword dense, has great titles and all other factors that has been used in the past to rank a site.

In the next few claims the patent backs up claim #3, by stating the editorial opinions cause the rank of those web sites, Flash movies, images etc. that correspond to favored sites to be increased while those corresponding to non-favored sites will be decreased.? Claim #10 goes on to restate how Google will score a web site based on its relationship to a favored or non favored web site and if so, that the ranking will be further fine tuned by an editorial opinion of those favored sites.?
The statements about these favored and non-favored sites as well as editorial opinions leads one to believe that Google is simply referring to good and bad neighborhoods, which have been used in the past.? The editorial opinions leads one to believe Google is looking for specific positive or negative content on shared book marking sites and human reviewed directory sites such as Myspace.? Myspace is especially high on this attorney's list of sites Google may be relying on based on their recent acquisition of ad space on myspace.com.

What is the reasoning behind this new patent of Google?? There must be a way to fine tune the results of general searches.? For example, a search for printers will come up with thousands if not millions of results.? Why not utilize the experience of web users, and enhance the ranking of search results by integration editorial opinions into the scoring of web sites, then applying the score of an overall web site to each individual page, which will be relevant to a keyword search.?
It appears as if Google has made huge strides in exploiting the social networking craze that is sweeping the SEO world.? Yahoo has already done so, with their local search, Yahoo Answers, Flickr, Trip Planner and other programs, but Google is the one who has come out and actually documented what they are doing and provided search engine marketers a manual of sorts to better optimize their client's web sites for the most popular search engine on the planet.

The above entry was written by Michael Goldstein, Esq.?of Goldstein and Clegg, LLC.? A Massachusetts trademark law firmDisclaimer: Attorney Goldstein is not a member of the United States Patent Bar, and his opinions should not be taken as legal advice in any shape, mean or manor, nor should his opinion be legally relied upon.

Twelve Steps To Filing A U.S. Patent Application: [With Time And Cost Estimates]

Inventing is a challenging task. Before you bring the invention to market, it is wise to take the appropriate steps to insure that you protect your invention. The most important protection that you can get is a patent. Intellectual property law is complex. Obtaining a patent can be expensive and usually requires the services of a patent attorney, who can walk you through the steps of evaluating your product, and assist you in the patent acquisition process. This guide is intended to give you an overview of the steps needed to acquire a U.S. patent.

1. Preparation and submission of a disclosure in written form to designated company managers of the idea or innovation by its creator(s) for initial review and summary evaluation [Estimated Time: 1-2 hours; Cost: company time].

2. Review by designated company mangers of the disclosed idea or innovation for potential commercial worth and value [Estimated Time: 1-2 hours; Cost: company time].

3. Summary evaluation of the disclosed idea or innovation by patent counsel to identify its technical working essentials and to assess whether these essentials might meet the patent merit requirements of utility, novelty, and non ?obviousness in view of the relevant prior art [Estimated Time: 2- 4 hours; Cost: $195.00 per hour]

4. Review and decision by designated company managers whether and how to proceed with commercial development of the idea or innovation and also whether or not to seek patent protection for the innovation based on patent counsel?s summary evaluation [Estimated Time: 3- 6 hours; Cost: company time].

5. Holding an in-person (if possible) meeting of the creator/inventors, patent counsel, and company mangers in order to determine and decide what is or should be the broadest possible scope for the innovation in commercial and non-commercial terms; and to detail and characterize inventorship, the number and types of commercial formats, kinds of variations, preferred embodiments and minimum essential parts, operation limits and optimal use ranges, and the like which are or might come to be within the defined limits of the innovation [Estimated Time 2- 3 hours; Cost: patent counsel @ $195.00 per hour & company time].

6. Preparation and submission to patent counsel of a complete and full written description of the innovation/invention prepared by the creators/inventors (in one or more documents) which provides sufficient technical detail, relevant drawings, useful background information, a listing of unexpected benefits and desirable advantages, and the relevant prior art for patent text purposes [Estimated Time: 8-24 hours; Cost: company time].

7. Preparation and distribution of a first draft text of the patent application by patent counsel to the named inventors and designated company managers [Estimated Time: 30-35 hours; Cost: $195.00 per hour]

8. Review and substantive revision of the first draft patent application text by the named inventors and designated company managers and return of the revised first draft text to patent counsel [Estimated Time: 5-10 hours; Cost: company time].

9. Preparation and distribution of a second (and presumably last) draft text of the patent application by patent counsel to the named inventors and designated company managers for final comments and changes to the text [Estimated Time: 10-14 hours; Cost: $195.00 per hour].

10. Receipt by patent counsel of final desired or needed changes to the patent application text from the named inventors and designated company managers and preparation of a fully approved text ready to be submitted to the U. S. Patent Office [Estimated Time 2-4 hours; Cost: $195.00 per hour].

11. Preparation by patent counsel of required supporting formal documents and fee payments to accompany the fully approved patent application manuscript [Estimated Time: 2-3 hours; Cost: $195.00 per hour].

12. Submission, with or without prior signature by the named inventors, of the fully approved patent application manuscript, supporting formal documents and requisite fee payments to the U.S. Patent office and obtaining an official serial number and filing date sufficient for patent pending purposes.

David Prashker is a registered patent attorney north of Boston. He has been practicing patent law for 27 years, and specializes in obtaining intellectual property rights for innovations in life and chemical sciences. For more information about David, see his website, http://www.scicounsel.com

Publish Your Patent Application? ... or Not.

Infringement and Provisional Damages

There is no action for infringement of your patent until it actually issues. However, through publication of your application, it may be possible to obtain provisional damages for the time between publication of the application and the issuance of the patent. Once your patent issues, infringement can give rise to treble damages and an award of attorney fees. During the phase from publication to issuance, only reasonable royalty damages can be awarded. Furthermore, a claim must survive and be substantially identical from publication to the issued patent.

Provisional damages require notice. Notice is achieved by both publication and provision of actual notice. Thus, you still have the burden of detecting infringement and of providing notice of your application to the alleged infringer.

Why You Should Consider Early Publication

An inventor can accelerate the publication process by filing a request for early publication. This can be done at any time and should result in publication within four months of the request. There are two logical times to file such a request: 1) when you first file your application--to gain the maximum published time available, and 2) when you believe an infringement may be taking place. In this latter case, where you have actual evidence of infringement, you can then file a petition to "make special" and hope that the Patent Office will accept the petition and begin examination of your patent application within six months. That way, you will possibly get the benefit of provisional damages, with the patent issuing shortly thereafter with higher damage awards available.

Benefits of Non-Publication

Non-publication keeps 'em guessing. When a patent is filed, the inventor-applicant is entitled, and should, claim "Patent Pending" status. "Patent Pending" means that an application is on file with the Patent Office and is in the patent process. The inventor should mark his product "Patent Pending" and claim such status in any written material related to the invention. So long as the patent application is secret, competitors do not know what the inventor has disclosed or the breadth of the invention being claimed. Once a patent application publishes, competitors can at least determine the maximum scope that is disclosed in the application. However, while they will see the claims presented in the application, competitors still do not know the breadth of the invention claims that might eventually issue in the patent.

The Hazards of Requesting Non-Publication

Until the American Inventors Protection Act of 1999 (effective November 29, 2000), United States patents were kept in secrecy until they issued. Subsequent to the AIPA, inventors can elect to keep their application secret, but only if they will not file in a foreign country or file an application under a multilateral international agreement, such as the Patent Cooperation Treaty. If an inventor later files such a foreign or international application, it can lead to abandonment of the U.S. application unless the non-publication request is rescinded before 45 days after filing the foreign or international application. Thus, extreme caution is recommended before considering non-publication.

C2006, Williamson Intellectual Property Law, LLC; all rights reserved, world-wide. This article, and/or the reading thereof, shall not be construed as offering, containing or receiving of legal advice, and shall not create any attorney-client relationship or privilege. If you are considering protecting your intellectual property, you should consult with an attorney of your choice.

For more information, please visit http://www.trwiplaw.com.

Thomas R. (Terry) Williamson III, Ph.D., Registered Patent Attorney Williamson Intellectual Property Law, LLC 1870 The Exchange, Suite 100 Atlanta, GA 30339 770-777-0977 http://www.trwiplaw.com

An intellectual property law firm providing a full range of services for patent searches, preparation and filing patent applications, trademark searches, preparation and filing trademark and service mark applications, preparation and filing

Technology Asset Services Announces New Patented Technology Solderite Products.

Lead Free Soldering Solution for Printed Circuit Board Assembly.

Technology Asset Services announced today a cost effective solution for manufacturers implementing lead free solder into PCB Assembly. The Solderite? product line has been developed for hand soldering stations. The new patented technology employed by the Solderite? products provide the manufacturer a cost effective solution to lead free solder implementation.

The Solderite? products are specifically designed to help manufactures faced with RoHS Compliance. The implementation of lead free solder has generated a need for soldering tools to withstand the higher temperatures and the corrosive nature of lead free solder. The use of hand soldering is often performed in the final stages of assembly. The product is at its highest value point. The necessity of securing equipment designed to implement RoHS Compliance is of growing concern.

The new Solderite? products address RoHS Compliance by providing substantial changes in the design of the soldering station. The three foremost properties of any soldering station are: Power, Temperature Control, and Soldering Tip. The patented technology and design of the power supply and temperature sensing in these new products produce the fastest temperature recovery time on the market. Specially designed electroplated soldering tips ensure quality soldering and extended tip life.

The tip replacement and cost of lead free soldering has increased the soldering cost to manufactures. The corrosive nature of lead free solder combined with higher temperature has on average cut the tip life of standard soldering tips in half. The manufactures cost has doubled in tip replacement. Standard soldering tips average fifteen to twenty five dollars per tip. The average lifespan of lead soldering tips in an industrial environment averages one week. Manufacturers commissioning several solder stations are faced with significant cost increase when implementing RoHS Compliance.

Solderite? soldering stations have underwent strict testing, from lab, contract manufacturing, and lead free soldering training centers. The tip life has averaged a two to one rate compared to standard soldering tips. The tip replacement cost of the Solderite tips did not exceed the cost of standard soldering tips.

For more information on Solderite Products, including Distribution and Representation opportunities contact Ken Fry or visit http://www.solderite.com/

Technology Asset Services provides solutions for Printed Circuit Board Assembly, and Semi Conductor Industries.

Ken Fry CTO Technology Asset Services, Inc. 515 Hanover Dr. Allen TX. 75002

Shouldn't Great Inventions Deserve Iron-clad Patents?

Chemical and pharmaceutical companies spend millions of dollars on research and development, and come up with great inventions, be it on a novel drug to treat high blood pressure or a new kind of plastic that can resist a bullet; however, they often find that their patents do not stand up to a challenge by an infringer who wants to sell a copy-cat product.

Patents are valuable tools in a company's arsenal to resist competition because it provides an exclusive right up to a period of twenty years. However, often inventors and businesses find out, five or ten years down the road, that the patent does not cover the product that they are selling or does not cover the product the competitor is selling. By the time they realize that the defect, it is often too late to correct it.

Patents are expected to describe the discovery in detail, and end in one or more succinct definitions of the invention, what are called patent "claims". The "claims" section is an important part of the patent, and success or failure in the market place rides on the accuracy of the claims. The claims, most often written by lawyers, contain many legal terms. When the legal terms do not match with the scientific meaning the inventor had in mind, then the patent may not survive a challenge by the competitor.

Take for example the patent for an extended release drug formulation containing a drug solvent described in the claims as a "solubilizer". The patent holder argued that the term covers many different kinds of solvents and not just a surfactant. The infringer argued that the disputed term covers only a surfactant and nothing else. The appeals court ruled, much to the disappointment of the patent holder, in favor of the infringer saying that the invention was described in the patent with only a surfactant as the solubilizer.

Consider the patent for making crisp and flaky cookies. The patent claim stated, as part of the baking step, that the cookie dough is heated to 400 to 800 degrees. Can a cookie really survive this intense heat? Wouldn't it produce a charcoal briquette rather than a crisp and flaky cookie? The judge ruled against the patent holder. The patent could have succeeded had it used "at", rather than "to".

To avoid such problems and unpleasant surprises, the patent must be written carefully, keeping in mind that every word used to describe the invention must scientifically and legally correct, and every argument made to obtain the patent must be consistent with the original intent of the inventor.

Dr. Xavier Pillai specializes in patent procurement worldwide in chemistry, biotechnology, and pharmaceuticals; see http://www.leydig.com.

Patent Me This, Batman

Copyright 2006 Find Your Prosperity.com

I believe there is creativity in every person and so, apparently, does Simon Cowell (or maybe he knows it makes great TV!). The crazies on American Inventor aside, I believe that people's creativity may may be suppressed, out of fear or embarrassment, or just undiscovered. But maybe you already knew that. Maybe you have a little workshop in your garage or in a corner of your apartment. Maybe you spend your free time tinkering around, trying to make a better mousetrap. Maybe you count yourself among the inventors, a rare breed of maverick that feels compelled to solve the most mundane of problems. And I, for one, thank you for being that kind of freak.

If you're going to be an inventor, though, it's crucial to protect your Intellectual Property from people who might try to steal your idea and your resulting profits. There are three types of patents currently granted by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office. They are:

*Design Patents

*Utility Patents

*Plant Patents

Design and Utility Patents are the two most commonly applied for. As of the time of this writing, Design Patents are issued for a period of 14 years, and protect the design of a device, machine or process. For instance, you cannot patent a woman's purse. But if you've made substantial enough changes to it in terms of its structure and overall look, you may be granted a Design Patent.

A Utility Patent is granted for a period of 20 years, and governs the way a device, machine or process might be used. If significant improvements are made to the way a process, such as yoga or physical exercise, is used, it may be granted a Utility Patent.

Plant Patents protect new varieties of plants, which may be patently (sorry) obvious.

Some people choose to go through a patent attorney, and that can be very helpful for newbies. But if money is an issue, Design Patents are very easy to apply for, and the services of an attorney are not required. The typical cost of obtaining a design patent is approximately $400, which does not include an international patent search or technical drawings. An international patent search is necessary to make sure someone else has not yet patented your idea or design. Patent searches can be done in patent libraries, or through a patent searcher, who is likely to charge around $200-300 per search. Technical drawings are usually necessary, unless your product has been prototyped (at least one of them has to exist, in other words).

Applying for a patent provides "patent pending" or "patent applied for" status, usually in about six weeks. Much, if not all, of the process can be done online (www.uspto.gov), or easily with PatentWizard 2.0. Doing things this way allows you to seek out venture capital, if you want to start your own business and take care of manufacturing, or approach a licensing agent, if you'd prefer to farm out the manufacturing in exchange for a cut of units produced and sold.

Licensing is another issue, but suffice it to say that you will need a logbook to track the process of inventing your product. In the event of a challenge by the Patent Office, you need to have a record of drawings, sketches, ideas and random jottings that are dated along the way. Inventor's Place has a wonderful logbook that not only gives you the space you need to keep track of your invention's progress, but also gives encouragement and valuable tips that will save you money before you fork any more over to the government.

If you like your information straight and simple, Richard Levy's book will walk you through the entire patenting process, without the BS. As the inventor of the Furby, among 125 other products, he's got the goods to help you get started on the path to invention success!

I'm sure I'll thank you for it later.

For more stories like this, go to http://www.FindYourProsperity.com

Alyson Mead is founder of http://www.FindYourProsperity.com. In her 18-year career as an award-winning writer, she has published hundreds of articles in over 25 outlets, including Salon, AOL, MSN-NBC, BUST, New York Daily News, Bitch, The Sun, In These Times and more. She has received the Columbine Award for Screenwriting, the Roy W. Dean Filmmaking Grant, and a Writer's Digest Award.

Patents, Trademarks, Copyrights--What's the Difference?

Patents

A patent protects inventions through federal law. Inventions are your creative ideas for new products (articles of manufacture), machines, processes, methods, compositions of matter, ornamentation on products, or new plants. An improvement on an existing product may also be patented.

Utility patents protect the majority of these. To be patentable, your invention must be useful, novel and non-obvious. Design patents protect the ornamentation on devices. Plant patents protect new plant varieties.

Utility patents give you a monopoly (no one else can make, use, sell, offer for sale, or import your invention) for twenty years from the date of filing.

Design patents give you a monopoly for fourteen years from the date of issue, and prevent others from making the patented device with your ornamentation on them. (By way of example, a table is a useful device. If you could obtain a utility patent on a table with a flat surface and four legs, you could stop anyone from making such a table. If your table had an unusual ornamental shape or surface pattern, you would be able to prevent others from making tables with that shape or surface pattern.)

Plant patents last for twenty years from the filing date of the patent application.

Infringement of your patent allows you to potentially obtain treble damages plus attorney fees.

Trademarks

Trademarks (or service marks for services) protect names, logos, slogans, and the like through both federal and state laws. Your name, logo or slogan identifies you to your prospective customers as the source of the goods and services that you are offering, and thus constitutes a trademark.

There are both federal trademarks and state trademarks. There are also common law trademarks that are not registered at either the federal or state level. Federal trademark applications can be filed even before you are using the trademark name, logo or slogan to reserve your trademark.

Other than common law trademarks, federal and state trademarks must periodically be renewed. Federal trademarks must be renewed every ten years. If you no longer use the trademark, you lose your rights. Otherwise, so long as you continuously use and/or renew the mark, you will continue to have rights forever.

Infringement of your trademark allows you to potentially obtain treble damages and attorney fees.

Copyrights

Copyright protects your creative artistic expression, but only once it is set into a tangible form. For instance, you create and sing a song. There is no copyright unless the song is recorded or written, because there is no tangible representation of your artistic expression. However, once you write, record, photograph, draw, or otherwise create a tangible record of your artistic expression, you automatically have copyright. That is, you are the only one who has the right to make or sell copies.

Ideas cannot be copyrighted. They may only be patented. Examples of copyrightable materials are written words, such as in books, magazines, poems, songs; written music; performances of music; paintings and drawings; photographs, videos, architectural plans, website content and layouts, and computer software.

Copyright lasts for 70 years plus the life of the creator (or last to die for multiple authors) for new works under current law. If the work is made for hire, then the term is the shorter of 95 years from publication or 120 years from creation.

Federal laws provide you with the right to enforce your copyright, but only once it is registered. There is the possibility of obtaining statutory damages of up to $150,000.00, plus the possibility of being awarded attorney fees. Thus, it is very important to register your copyright as soon as practicable.

Other

Finally, trade secret protection is another means of providing protection to ideas. However, the key word here is secret. Let someone who has no need to know in on the secret and it is no longer protected. Trade secrets are most suitable to keep secret formulas or processes protected.

For more information, please visit http://www.trwiplaw.com.

C2006, Williamson Intellectual Property Law, LLC; all rights reserved, world-wide.
This article, and/or the reading thereof, shall not be construed as offering, containing or receiving of legal advice, and shall not create any attorney-client relationship or privilege. If you are considering protecting your intellectual property, you should consult with an attorney of your choice.

Thomas R. (Terry) Williamson III, Ph.D., Registered Patent Attorney
Williamson Intellectual Property Law, LLC
1870 The Exchange, Suite 100
Atlanta, GA 30339
770-777-0977
http://www.trwiplaw.com

Has It Been Done Before? Optimize Your Patent Search Using Patent Scraping Technology

Since the US patent office opened in 1790, inventors across the United States have been submitting all sorts of great products and half-baked ideas to their database. Nowadays, many individuals get ideas for great products only to have the patent office do a patent search and tell them that their ideas have already been patented by someone else! Herin lies a question: How do I perform a patent search to find out if my invention has already been patented before I invest time and money into it?

The US patent office patent search database is available to anyone with internet access.

http://www.uspto.gov/patft/index.html

Performing a patent search with the patent searching tools on the US Patent office Webpage can prove to be a very time consuming process. For example, patent searching the database for "dog" and "food" yields 5745 patent search results. The straight-forward approach to investigating the patent search results for your particular idea is to go through all 5745 results one at a time looking for yours. Get some munchies and settle in, this could take a while! The patent search database sorts results by patent number instead of relevancy. This means that if your idea was recently patented, you will find it near the top but if it wasn't, you could be searching for quite a while. Also, most patent search results have images associated with them. Downloading and displaying these images over the internet can be very time consuming depending on you internet connection and the availablity of the patent search database servers.

Because patent searches take such a long time, many companies and organizations are looking ways to improve the process. Some organizations and companies will hire employees for the sole purpose of performing patent searches for them. Others contract out the job to small business that specialize in patent searches. The latest technology for performing patent searches is called patent scraping.

Patent scraping is the process of writing computer automated scripts that analyze a website and copy only the content you are interested in into easily accessible databases or spreadsheets on your computer. Because it is a computerized script performing the patent search, you don't need a separate employee to get the data, you can let it run the patent scraping while you perform other important tasks. Patent scraping technology can also extract text content from images. By saving the images and textual content to your computer, you can then very efficiently search them for content and relevancy; thus saving you lots of time that could be better spent actually inventing something!

To put a real-world face on this, let us consider the pharmaceutical industry. Many different companies are competing for the patent on the next big drug. It has become an indispensible tactic of the industry for one company to perform patent searches for what patents the other companies are applying for, thus learning in which direction the research and development team of the other company is taking them. Using this information, the company can then choose to either pursue that direction heavily, or spin off in a different direction. It would quickly become very costly to maintain a team of researchers dedicated to only performing patent searches all day. Patent scraping technology is the means for figuring out what ideas and technologies are coming about before they make headline news. It is by utilizing patent scraping technology that the large companies stay up to date on the latest trends in technology.

While some companies choose to hire their own programming team to do their patent scraping scripts for them, it is much more cost effective to contract out the job to a qualified team of programmers dedicated to performing such services.

Learn more about the other uses of scraping technology such as website maintenance and data collection at http://www.scrapegoat.com.

Patents ? How To

So you have an idea or design that you think no one else has ever had. You want to move forward on the idea, but you also don?t want anyone to copy your idea. What do you do? You need a patent.

You have heard of patents. You have an idea of what a patent is. But what protection does a patent really give you? How much does it cost? How long does it last? How do I know if someone already received or applied for a patent like the one I want to apply for? How do I apply for a patent? Should I hire a patent attorney?

In this article I will try to help you answer those questions and offer a little more insight into the whole patent application process, including how to research patents to see if there are ideas already patented that are similar to yours.

The first thing you need to do is define your idea onto paper. Use as much detail as possible. You are more likely to receive a patent when you include a lot of detail and avoid anything that is vague or too broad in concept.

Once you have done this, go to http://www.uspto.gov Click the link, on the left at the writing of this article, which says patents. You are not ready to apply for your patent yet, so scroll down to where it says, ?Online Patent Searches?.

You will have two options there. One reads ?Issued Patents?, and the other reads ?Published Applications?. You will be researching both, but begin with the most important, which is ?Issued Patents?.

Use the link there that reads, ?Advanced Search?. Type in all the terms you can think of that relate to what you want to patent. Use the option that reads, ?1976 to present?, as anything patented before that date will not matter in most cases.

Search the headlined results for anything that looks like it might be similar to your idea for a patent. Click those links that apply to you. Look at the way it is formatted as well as look to see if your idea is exactly like the idea that already has a patent issued for it.

The reason I said to take note of the format in which the issued patent is displayed is for you to look at the way you wrote down the notes of your own idea and compare them. Try to format the description of your idea similar to that of a patent that is already issued. Make sure you include all the same type of information they have formatted into their patent.

If you find someone else has already received a patent that is too similar to your idea, you have just saved yourself a $215, (at the writing of this article), patent application fee.

If you do not find any issued patents that are like the idea you wish to patent, then go back to the page that had the two options, ?Issued Patents? and ?Published Applications?. Now click Published Applications, advanced search and repeat the process of searching for ideas that are similar to yours.

If you find one that is exactly like your idea, keep in mind that the first application for that patent will be granted over the newer one. It does not mean you cannot apply for it. If you can improve on your idea, then go ahead and apply. If their application is turned down for some reason like lack of detail, etc., your patent could still be issued.

If you do not find an applied for patent, then you can proceed to apply for a patent on your idea. The research part of the patent process is over. Go back to http://www.uspto.gov/ebc/index.html where you clicked on ?Online Patent Searches? before and click on ?Basic Initial Filing?.

Fill in the fields for your name and email address, then choose the type of patent you are applying for. If you are not sure of the type of patent to apply for, go back to the home page at http://www.uspto.gov and look for the search feature at the top of the page and type in each type of patent with the word definition after it.

That search feature will produce results pages of documents only. In those documents you will find answers to any questions you may have about different types of patents.

If you are sure of the type of patent you wish to apply for, then proceed through the pages. The instructions are very simple. Good luck! I hope this article has helped you learn how to research and apply for a patent!
Chuck Crawford is an established webmaster interested in various topical research. If you would like more info on Patents, please visit his website at http://patents.thegiftedone.com This article may be reprinted freely as long as all links remain active. Affiliate Website Design Articles.PN Article Science