Do your own patent searching ($0)

    Good patent searching can be expensive ($600-2500+) 

          I can do patent searches (very specific)($500-1500+)

          I can outsource patent searches

               US searchers (some topics I prefer to outsource) ($600-2000+)

               Low-cost foreign searchers (cheapest, but hit and miss) ($300-1250+)

               Searchers for Asian databases ($1000-$2500+)

 

   Tips for doing your own patent searching

      Try a variety of websites: Google, Goggle patents, European/worldwide patent search, US Patent Office search page, Japanese patent searching in English, Korean patent searching in English, Chinese patent searching in English, World Intellectual Property Organization    

      Try different combinations of keywords: 

         Several broad terms

         Several broad terms and a narrow term

         One broad term and several narrow terms

         Combinations of broad and narrow terms

      Read enough of the references to determine relevance

         Keep a list of the most relevant references you find

         Look through list of “cited by” references 

       Spend at least 4 hours and, preferably, 6 to 20 hours doing searches

   If you find an exact match, work on a new idea

       If you find close (but not exact) references, call me or another registered patent agent or patent attorney

         You still may have an invention:

              If the difference is nontrivial

              If the difference makes it work much better

              If the difference required substantial experimentation

              If you had to overcome significant hurdles to implement the difference