applepatentsbasic

How About These Apples?: 

How About These Apples? Basics of Patent Searching

Why Search Patents?: 

Why Search Patents? Compare your own to existing inventions Competitive market analysis Track innovations Understand product design features & specifications

Slide3: 

U.S. PLANT Patent for Ginger Gold® apple tree Adams County Nursery. “Ginger Gold.” n.d. Retreived 2005 Sept 14 <http://www.acnursery.com> www.uspto.gov

Slide4: 

U.S. UTILITY Patent for Apple/Potato Peeler www.uspto.gov

Slide5: 

U.S. DESIGN Patent for Apple Shaped Dental Floss Dispenser www.uspto.gov

Three Types: 

Three Types Utility for "new and useful process, machine, manufacture, composition of matter or any new and useful improvement thereof" Design for appearance of item is protected, must be an original design for an item of manufacture Plant for invented or discovered and asexually reproduced distinct and new variety of plant; including cultivated sports, mutants, hybrids, newly found seedlings, and living organisms Term ends usually 20 years, or 14 for Design

Three Criteria: 

Three Criteria To be patentable: Novelty: unique & new, must not have been described before Utility: must be useful and function according to intended purpose Nonobviousness: does just build on prior invention as a logical extension

U.S. Patents: 

U.S. Patents USPTO United States Patent & Trademark Office What are Patents, Trademarks, Servicemarks, and Copyrights? Glossary

Searching Basics: 

Searching Basics Search U.S. Issued Patents http://www.uspto.gov/patft (full-text since 1976, full-page images since 1790) Quick Search Advanced Search Patent Number Search Search Applications - March 2001 not all are published

More Free U.S. Patent Searches: 

More Free U.S. Patent Searches Google Patent Search http://google.com/advanced_patent_search FreePatentsOnline.com http://www.freepatentsonline.com/

Simplify you, classify you…: 

Simplify you, classify you… U.S. Patent Manual of Classification http://www.uspto.gov/web/patents/classification A hierarchical list of classes and subclasses by number. Overview of the Classification System (PDF) | Patent Classification FAQs | U.S. Patent Classification Index. Note: Browsing can at times be more effective than searching All I really want to do Is, baby, be friends with you. - Bob Dylan (1964)

Classification Codes are your friend: 

Classification Codes are your friend CLASS 99,FOODS AND BEVERAGES: APPARATUS subclass 539.  Device including means to remove the outer integument of food. 540 Skin 542 and removing cylindrical core Don’t type in apples: search how your invention works, not what it does.

Class for Dog Life Jacket?: 

Class for Dog Life Jacket? Sept. 17, 2005: New York Times article Keeping Your Dog Paddler Afloat In the crowded field of life jackets for dogs, cutesy product names are the norm. The options include the Float Coat, the Fido Float, the Pet Saver and the Aqua Dog Pet Preserver -….. What classification codes are used ?

Searching for Codes: 

Searching for Codes Try your luck searching USPTO classification codes at http://www.uspto.gov/web/patents/classification/ Keyword choice? You may try life jacket or vest but don’t forget personal flotation.

Among Other Things: 

Among Other Things Class Definition for Class 441 - BUOYS, RAFTS, AND AQUATIC DEVICES ... by one person in order to rescue another person, passenger enclosing devices which are not buoys, rafts or boats and garment or other type of buoyant members, commonly known as personal flotation ... www.uspto.gov/go/classification/uspc441/defs441.htm

Global Patents: 

Global Patents Patents provide protection only in their country of issue Paris Convention and the Patent Cooperation Treaty provide reciprocal protection and filing rights in member countries United Nations (UN) - World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) administers the Paris Convention

European Patent Office (EPO): 

European Patent Office (EPO) Search using esp@cenet ep.espacenet.com (allows worldwide search) European Patent Classification (ECLA) Search http://l2.espacenet.com/eclasrch) Search other collections http://www.wipo.int/ipdl/en/resources/links.jsp Try ESP@CENet Tutorial http://www.european-patent-office.org/wbt/espacenet/

What About Copyright?: 

What About Copyright? © protects “original works of authorship,” including literary, dramatic, musical, artistic, and certain other intellectual works. See www.copyright.gov or WPI’s Copyright Compliance Policy www.wpi.edu/+copyright

What Does the ® Mean?: 

What Does the ® Mean? Registered Trademark - a word, name, symbol or device which is used in trade with goods to indicate the source of the goods and to distinguish them from the goods of others Search TESS at www.uspto.gov ™ ®

Patent Activity & Trends: 

Patent Activity & Trends IpFrontline.com Patent Café Patent Trends & Industry Indices http://www.ipfrontline.com/depts/index.asp?deptid=9 Patent Café Sept. 19, 2005

@WPI: 

@WPI WPI’s Intellectual Property Policy http://www.wpi.edu/Pubs/Policies/Judicial/sect14.html WPI Invention Disclosure Form http://www.wpi.edu/Admin/Research/Sponsored/Forms/ Contact: WPI Director of Intellectual Property x5834 A patent attorney is recommended if you are serious about doing a patent search. The basic session is intended for information purposes only.

Questions?: 

Questions? Ask a Question Form wpi.edu/+Library/Help/ chat: wpiref 508.831.6700 or stop by the Library