Learn the basics of patent searching and classification
Reno has a great resource for inventors who want to save money by doing their own patent searches.
That resource is the Government Reference Library on the top floor of the Getchell Library at Universiry of Nevada,
Reno. More specifically the resource is Pat Ragains, business and government librarian in the section that focuses
on all 212 years of U.S. patent records.
Ragains, our July 27 speaker, will explain the basics of patent searching and patent classification as well as
answering specific questions. He points out that it is up to each inventor
to determine whether any portion of his or her latest Invention is listed under someone else's patent. And he's
there to help.
According to Ragains, an effective search can begin at the Patent and Trademark Office website on your own computer,
but you can make a more precise search by going into the library. There, you can find reference books such as the
Index to U.S. Patent Classiy&cation which will provide an exhaustive list of category and subcategory codes.
From there, one might go to the PTO's (Cassis Workstation to look through that database for brief descriptions
of each existing patent.
By process of elimination, you can find which patents have covered what items and "determine what's relevant
anti what's not," Ragains says. This database does not include images, but you can go the web with the applicable
patent number, or the library has an extensive collection of CD-ROMs and DVDs to provide that information.
"You can't claim as original anything previously claimed as such," Ragains says. "The examiner won't
allow your claim if part of it appears elsewhere." 
This department also has self-help guides available for checkout, although many of these books are available through
Washoe County Library, at bookstores, or for purchase online. If you want to check out books from 1JNR, a Community
Library Card is available for $25.
How do you protect a marketable idea that is not ready to be patented? NIA founder Don Costar has some advice
on his website.
"Under current patent law the inventor who is 'First to Invent,' with a solid paper trail is awarded the patent,"
Costar states in the link titled "Help Letter." He offers some ways for inventors to create that paper
trail.
You can create a onepage description with a sketch, sign and date it, and have a witness sign and date it as soon
as possible. Your witness should be
• someone who will not benefit by the success of your idea
• not a relative
• willing to verify his or her signature in court.
Costar specifically cautions against relying on the postmark of a letter you mail to yourself since "the
chances of getting someone from the Postal Service to testify and corroborate what was inside the envelope are
zero."
Another way to verify the date of your idea is to get a Provisional Patent Application. This step costs $75 and
offers no protection beyond date verification. It is good for one year and offers a legal "Patent Pending"
to your invention.
Another tool Costar recommends is a logbook. While you can start one any time in the invention process, he recommends
that you begin it as soon as possible. Inventor's Logbooks are available through Nolo Press, or you can use something
like a bookkeeper's ledger or one of the old-style theme books that used to be popular in schools. Just be sure
to date every entry.
The insert in this month's newsletter includes two separate forms inventors can use to protect their intellectual property.
* One is the Confidential Disclosure Form to provide the first step in a paper trail to protect an idea.
* The other is a Non Disclosure Form to hold draftsmen, prototype builders and other service providers and sub-contractors to confidentiality.
Both are available in pdfformat on Don Costar's website. (If you are having a problem with downloading them, click
on the Adobe AcrobaX icon Don has provided to download that software or upgrade what you already have.)
is a community resource published monthly by thc Nevada lnventor's Association. This association is a 501 (c)(6) nonprofit organization. This newsletter's mission is: To further the mission of NIA by educating and informing members, to promote the organization throughout the broader community of northwestern Nevada, and to recruit new members.
The following is an excerpt from a letter forwarded to me by Vince Chemist from someone who found the NIA website:
My name is Tim Bailey and I represent Oak Forest Financial Corporation. Like many of the members of the group you head, we are a niche business with a great product seeking to target our marketing efforts. We offer Unsecured personal and business loans/lines of credit to $100,000, with little to no documentation. Unlike conventional lending sources we do nor require business plans, No collateral pledged as security, No financial statements No equity in anything, and most of time no income documentation. There are no restrictions of the use of the proceeds. The loans that we offer are carry interests rates that start at 7.75% and go up to about 13.75% depending on the applicant's credit rating. Repayment terms are from 24 to 72 months and are chosen by the applicant. These loans require a clean and established credit history, though not much more than would be required to purchase a home at conventional rates.
For more information NIA members are invited to call Tim Bailey at Oak Forest Financial Corp., 866-513-3366.
U.S. Patent and Trade mark Office www.uspto.gov
Don Costar www.doncostar.com
Nolo Press www.nolo.com
UNR Library www.unr.edu/ Click on Research, Libraries
Page done by Vince Chemist.
Created on Nov 02 2002
Updated onAugust 12, 2006