Easy Patent Guide

What’s It All About? The field of patent law is wide open to Biologists, Chemists, Engineers, Computer Scientists, and many other science and technology professionals. And it’s true; individuals with the proper science or engineering degree need only pass the Patent Bar to become registered Patent Agents.

Upon becoming a Patent Agent, you may gain employment writing and prosecuting patent applications at law firms, technology transfer offices, biotech or engineering corporations, and government institutes.

Search patent is one of the most basic thing an inventor has to do when applying for patent. Search patent enables the inventor to know if his invention is already patented or not. Search patent can determine if the proposed invention merits the patentability as set by the statutory conditions.

Patent office does not grant patents for “mere ideas or suggestions.” The rules also require that the patent be explicit enough such that anyone “ordinarily skilled in the art” can apply what they learn in the patent to make the invention and make it work successfully. One can patent an idea only if the idea is used to invent or discover any new and useful process, machine, manufacture, or composition of matter, or any new and useful improvement to an already patented invention. Practically anything made by humans, subject to the conditions and requirements of the law, is patentable. To patent an idea one must have an invention, not upon merely the idea or suggestion of a new invention.

Patent verdicts are the verdicts or decision hand out on a patent-related case. There are different Patent verdicts released on various patent-related cases filed in court. Some of these patent verdicts are controversial because of the nature of the cases.

In conducting patent search and investigations, there are a number of patent search engine that can help you do the investigation. For simple searches that only requires a known patent number, inventor, assignee, head title, etc. there are some patent search engine internet sources provided by national and international patent authorities. You can use : esp@cenet (EPODOC), DEPATISnet and the USPTO databases http://www.uspto.gov/patft/. These are good patent searches to begin the patent investigations of inventions.

The first Patent number was issued in 1836. It was simply (1). When you want to find when an item was made, and you can find the Patent numbers use the largest number you can find. Most items list many Patent numbers. The only one you need to know is the last and largest one listed. There are exceptions to this rule however.

Most patent lawyers serve as “in-house counsel” to corporations. A patent lawyer in a corporate setting generally has one client, the corporation, while a patent lawyer in a private firm often has several clients.

Obtaining Patents for Inventors