Patents

When you think you have a patented idea, before you begin the patent process, you should answer these few questions:

1. Understand what a patent does 
2. Keep a record of your invention 
3. Make sure your invention qualifies 
4. Assess the commercial potential 
5. Do a thorough patent search 

Once you think you have a unique idea, you can begin the process of seaching products that have been patented to make sure your idea has not already been designed, developed or submitted and not yet approved. 

The Patent and Trademark Resource Center Program created this CBT (computer based training) tutorial that gives detailed, illustrated instructions on how to use the Patent Public Search database, as well as how to continue your prior art search using other resources.

There are a variety of tutorials that will help in your ultimate goal of obtaining a patent.

• This UCF produced video explains patent classification systems and demonstrates how to conduct a patent search using the classic version of Espacenet, the free global patent database of the European Patent Office.
• How to conduct a preliminary U.S. patent search: A step-by-step strategy is the Computer-Based Training video developed by the USPTO for searching Patent Public Search using CPC classification.
• University of Wisconsin's Introduction to Patents microcourse teaches about the patent process, anatomy of a patent, patent searching, and additional resources.
• Harvard University's How to Read a Patent shows the parts of a patent and includes code descriptions and definitions.
• University of Minnesota has two online interactive tutorials, Patents and Patentability and Patent Searching.
• Penn State's PTRC video: Classification Searching on the USPTO Website demonstrates how to locate patent classification information using "Searching by class" on the USPTO website.  The latest revision of the Classification search page eliminated the toolbar at the top, so to follow the "CPC Sections" walkthrough, click on Additional Resources--> CPC --> Scheme on the current page.

• Cooperative Patent Classification System/CPC - The new system, CPC, was developed jointly by the European Patent Office and the United States Patent and Trademark Office to harmonize the exchange of works between the two organizations and patent searching in general.  The system is based on the IPC (International Patent Classification) and the ECLC (European Classification).  The video gives you the history of the CPC and shows the different options when searching for a patent.