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how to find if an idea already exits/ or has been patented?

R

rookie1010

Senior member
Hello

If one has an idea about a novel (?) product, how does one find out if it has been patented or copyrighted
Would it be patented or copyrighted, i think most of it is going to be software, however it borrows (or integrates) existing systems.
 
i think in the us, if you can prove that you had the concept in written form (and prove that you ahd it at so and so date), you can challenge any person who has filed a ptent after you.
 
Originally posted by: rookie1010
i think in the us, if you can prove that you had the concept in written form (and prove that you ahd it at so and so date), you can challenge any person who has filed a ptent after you.
Click to expand...

Really? Are you sure? So, if I draw up some designs for whatever it is I want to file a patent for, BEFORE I post about it here, I'm safe? 😛
 
How the US patent system works.

(1) Trade secret. You don't tell anyone how to make your item (the 11 herbs and spices in a fried chicken batter for example), and thus no one can easilly copy it. If someone does copy it (without illegal activities stealing the design) then they can legally make/sell it.

(2) Direct Disclosure ($10 + stamp), optional. You mail a description of your patentable invention to the USPTO. They store it in a sealed envelope. After 2 years, they destroy it. If an issue arises as to who invented it, the direct disclosure is your undeniable proof. You can do a ghetto version of this by mailing it to yourself and don't open it. Heck for $10 + two stamps, do both. However, this does nothing but identify the date and give you a priority date for further filings (below), you have no other rights.

(3) Provisional patent (~$1000, more if you hire an attorney), optional. This gives you nothing but (a) a date, (b) the legal right to say "patent pending".

(4) Patent ($15,000+ if you hire an attorney). This doesn't even give you the right to sell/make your invention. It allows you the right to DENY others to sell/make the invention in the US.

You can do a patent search (yourself, or pay someone to do it). But a patent search won't find anything in groups #1 or #2. So it isn't foolproof. You might not ever find something and yet it may not be novel.

And you have to do similar things in all other countries (often lumped together in a PCT patent).
 
duh, i am not sure, the patent lawyer said something like that, but then again i dont really remember what he said?

hey, i was wondering if you guys know how did google manage to avoid the core patents present in yahoo, microsoft? since these guys were in the search business before yahoo, microsoft, and search must have some core patents?
 
Originally posted by: rookie1010
duh, i am not sure, the patent lawyer said something like that, but then again i dont really remember what he said?

hey, i was wondering if you guys know how did google manage to avoid the core patents present in yahoo, microsoft? since these guys were in the search business before yahoo, microsoft, and search must have some core patents?
Click to expand...

i don't understand what you are trying to say. afaik i've never heard of a "core" patent. there are utility/method patents, plant patents, and design patents.

what i meant earlier is that if someone filed a patent before you did, they face two 35 USC 102 statutory bars from obtaining a patent. in addition, in the us, you have 1 year from the date of a first public disclosure to file the patent. this isn't true anywhere else, however you still have 1 year within the filing of the US patent to file a pct to retain your rights for 30 months from the filing date of the US patent application in PCT member nations. within that 30 months, you must file national stage applications in the member nations you want to get patents in.

i am not a patent agent.
 
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