First Time Inventor: Should I Have a Patent Attorney Conduct a Patent Search?

YES.  Prior to committing the time and financial resources to a patent application, it is a good idea to allow an experienced patent lawyer the time to search for and examine prior inventions that could affect your ability to obtain a patent.  While the most obvious benefit of a patent search is to determine whether your invention is available for patent protection, it is far from the only benefit.  I have consistently found that unearthing existing patents helps spark design improvements and increases the strength of any resulting patents.

In addition, elements of existing inventions can be incorporated into your invention, thereby improving upon both your invention and the existing state of the technology.  This allows you to file a patent application that claims patent rights for your original invention, as well as the additional improvements sparked by the patent search. 

In most cases, a patent search is an extremely valuable resource for the patent lawyer to review in order to draft a strong patent application.  For example, after reviewing the results of a patent search, a patent lawyer may determine that certain words need additional definition to distinguish them over the existing references.  Also, without a patent search, the patent lawyer may not be aware of common vocabulary that has developed in a particular field of art, which could confuse the patent examiner and unnecessarily result in a rejection of your patent.  

A patent search paints a picture of what aspects of your invention are likely patentable and also helps you develop upon your invention.  Let Tucker IP perform a patent search for your invention.  Contact us today.