Patents are documents that grant protection and rights to an inventor by a national government for a particular invention in exchange for a full public description of the invention and how it works.
Patents are a form of intellectual property.
Patent applications must be filed in every country in which protection is desired.
Some vocabulary defined:
Patent: legal protection for new inventions or improvements to existing inventions.
Trademark: designs (i.e. words, sounds) used to differentiate one person or organization’s product or service from another.
Copyright: the exclusive legal right to a reproduce an artistic, literary, dramatic, or musical work.
Trade secret: secret information on a product to be sold (i.e. Coca-Cola recipe).
How do I find patents?
Each patent has a unique code that identifies it (i.e. US2015338020). Patent numbers are often listed on the product, its packaging, and/or a company website.
Patents can also be browsed or searched for by keyword
To find patents by keyword, it is important to be specific in your search string. For example, you might use "water desalination," as opposed to simply “water.”
If this example yields no results, consider using synonyms (i.e. "renewable energy", "sustainable energy").
Don't restrict the search to titles. Sometimes patents have remarkably unhelpful titles (i.e. "An Apparatus").
Create a list of words that describe your idea: what material or method is used, what does the invention do, and what is special about the invention? Use these words in your search.
Why use patents?
Find information on what has been invented before.
Identify key inventors from a competitor's company.
Identify companies in your research area that are potential buyers, competitors, or employers.
Identify collaborators in your research area for joint research.
