New Patent Search Templates will Aid Inventors

One of the hardest parts of applying for a patent or trademark is answering the killer question, “Has somebody already done this?” To answer the question, inventors look for “evidence of prior art” and finding “prior art” in a database of patents and trademarks dating back to 1790 is quite a task. A task made easier now by the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) and their new library of search templates for use by applicants, patent practitioners and patent examiners in finding evidence to help determine if an invention is patentable.

Similar to a library card catalog, the search templates will direct searchers to information on relevant fields of search, databases and scientific journals considered germane to particular technologies and inventions. The search templates will aid in more thorough prior art searches, which should result in better quality patents.

Thirty-eight templates are available now on the USPTO’s Web site at http://www.uspto.gov/web/patents/searchtemplates/class.htm, and approximately 50 templates will be added to the site each week. When the initial project is completed, about 1,300 search templates covering more than 600 classes and subclasses of technology will be available.

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