Everything I Need to Know About
Intellectual Property…
Suzanne L. Holcombe
Documents Librarian
501 Edmon Low Library
(405) 744-7086, lib-ped@okstate.edu
www.library.okstate.edu/patents/
Why are we talking about IP?
(patents, trademarks, copyrights, trade secrets)
Patents reveal solutions to technical
problems, and they represent an
inexhaustible source of information: More
than 80 percent of all technical knowledge is
described in patent literature.
Check patent literature to see if a product
has been developed
Check trademarks to see if a name or logo
for a good or service is in use
The Patent and Trademark
Library at OSU
Part of the USPTO’s Patent and Trademark
Depository Library Program: a nationwide
network of libraries set up to disseminate
patent and trademark information and
support the intellectual property needs of the
public.
We are located on the 5th floor of the OSU
Library and we have a Web site.
Call to make an appointment to do a
preliminary patent or trademark search.
Intellectual Property (IP)
In Section 8 of Article 1 of the U.S.
Constitution:
“Congress shall have Power To promote the
Progress of Science and useful Arts, by
securing for limited Times to Authors and
Inventors exclusive Right to their respective
Writings and Discoveries”
Four main forms of IP: Patents, Trademarks,
Copyrights, Trade Secrets (the formula for
Coca-Cola)
Actual forms of property which can be bought,
sold, etc.
What is a Patent?
(U.S..)
Provision in Title 35 of the United States Code
Must be a new and useful machine, item
of manufacture or composition
Must be non-obvious, and reproducible by
one skilled in the art
Patent grants the right to exclude others from
making, using or selling an invention
Three types of patents: utility, design, and
plant
Utility Patents
What we think of as a “patent”
Protect how the item WORKS
Legal language defines the actual
parameters of the protection
Length of protection is 20 years from
date of file, provided maintenance fees
are paid
Applications are published 18 months after
filing (American Inventors Protection Act
AIPA)
Stephen McKeever, OSU Physics Dept.
Assigned to the OSU Board of Regents
Current U.S. Class: 250/459.1; 250/484.5
A bimodal method for determining an unknown
absorbed dose of radiation. An irradiated material is
illuminated with ultraviolet or visible light and the
luminescence which is emitted from the material is
detected. The illuminating light is pulsed, with pulse
widths varying from 1 ns to 500 ms. The
luminescence emission from dosimetric traps is
monitored after a delay following the end of the
illumination pulse.
Design & Plant Patents
Design patents protect how the item
LOOKS
Less expensive to obtain, protect for 14
years
Plant patents protect a variety of
plant such as roses, begonias, etc.
Patents Worldwide
Patents reveal solutions to technical
problems, and they represent an
inexhaustible source of information: More
than 80 percent of all technical knowledge is
described in patent literature.
Most industrialized countries offer inventors
protection in the form of a patent. Standards
vary from country to country.
There are international treaties that allow
U.S. inventors to obtain patent protection in
other countries if they take certain required
steps (World Intellectual Property Organization).
Do you need a patent?
Patents:
– Are a bureaucratic, complicated venture
– Are expensive: average cost $6,000-$15,000 and
up
– Take a while to issue: from the date of filing, 1.5
to 2 years
Depending on the nature of the invention, it maybe
be more desirable to start producing and selling the
product without a patent. Consult with an attorney,
weigh the pros and cons.
What is a Federally Registered
Trademark?
Provision in Title 15 of the United States Code
Word, name, symbol or device that
identifies the good/services of one entity
from goods/services of another in
interstate commerce
Owners of marks may seek federal registration
because of procedural and legal advantages
over state and common law trademark
protection
Protection is indefinite, if fees are paid
See http://www.uspto.gov/
® symbol is a registered mark. “Tm” and “Sm”
indicate an unregistered Good and Service.
Copyright
Provision in Title 17 of the United States Code
The creative expression, not the facts
are protected
Duration of protection runs the life of the
author, plus 70 years
Automatic protection is given to printed
works, software, artwork, photo, video, and
practically everything on the Internet, once
“fixed in any tangible medium of expression”
See the U.S. Copyright Office at the Library of
Congress http://www.loc.gov/copyright/
The Patent Process
See the USPTO website http://www.uspto.gov/ for
basic information about patents and the patent
process:
– How to apply for a patent
– Fees and payments (see Patent Assistance Center). (The
basic filing fee for a utility patent is $770, $385 if a small
entity.
– Help (Patent Assistance Center)
– Search patents (also patent applications – those that have
been accepted)
– See also Nolo Press’s title: Patent It Yourself, available at the
Library or via http://www.nolo.com/.
Why Do a Preliminary
Patent Search?
Patent searchers often find that something
similar to theirs has been patented, and they
don’t need to proceed through the long,
expensive patent process
There are 6,000,000+ U.S. Patents
Just because it’s not on the shelves at
______ doesn’t mean an item hasn’t been
patented or doesn’t exist
The more information available, the better for
the decision making process
The patent process is costly
Searching Patents on the Internet
If you’re looking for a single representative patent
(something that is close to your idea), then
keyword searching available on the USPTO Web
site may suffice
BUT
If you want to be able to say “nothing else like mine
exists,” then you must perform a classification
based search -- translation, you will need
assistance from a trained searcher
The USPTO uses a class/subclass system to organize
patents into like groups (as to how they work)
NOTE: It is only very recently that all of this can be
done online. For years we used paper and
microfilm.
Searching Patents on the
Internet cont’d
The complete images of all patents (back to
1790) are available online ONLY if searching
by class/subclass. Searching by keyword
will ONLY retrieve patents back to 1976.
The full-text of a patent will include
“drawings” or “pictures.”
USPTO requires that the AlternaTiff plug-in be
installed to see drawings (TIFF format)
http://www.alternatiff.com/
Steps to Starting Patent Search
Start at http://www.uspto.gov/go/classification/
Use the US Patent Classification A-Z Index in
paper or online and locate your subject and initial
class/subclass.
Examine Class Numbers and Titles (Manual of
Classification in paper..) and Definitions in paper or
online to further define the class/subclasses to
search.
Look at patents online assigned to selected
class/subclasses.
Or do a Keyword search.
Study relevant patents to determine appropriate
class/subclasses.
To Do a Good Preliminary
Search
It is important to determine the appropriate
class(es)/subclass(es) for your invention and
to examine all of the patents in that
class(es)/subclass(es).
It is very helpful to locate an already existing
patent that is similar to your idea using either
the Index or a Keyword Search.
On the first page of every patent is the
class(es)/subclass(es) that that patent fits it
to according to how it WORKS. You can use
these to guide you in your search.
USPTO Class/Subclass System
An example follows on the next screen
For more help see HELP at
http://www.uspto.gov/go/classification/
USPTO class/subclass system, example
http://www.uspto.gov/go/classification/
(where 043 is replaced by the class you’re investigating)
Every one of these (subclasses) is a LIST
of patents.
Each list may have as few as 40 or as
many as 400 patents in it.
All the patents on 43/9.4 meet the
criteria of Fishing, Nets, Trawl, Bottom
running sled.
Search Example Using the Index
A food processing patent related to pet or
animals foods
Process:
1. Use the US Patent Classification A-Z Index to
locate your subject
http://www.uspto.gov/go/classification/
2. Examine Class Numbers and Definitions to further
determine the class/subclasses to search
http://www.uspto.gov/go/classification/
3. Look at patents online assigned to selected
class/subclasses
Think of key terms to describe the item
and look them up in the Index.
Click on “F” in the A-Z list and scroll down to
‘Food.’ Scan to see if there are entries that relate
to food processing and animals.
http://www.uspto.gov/go/classification/
You can also
type in the
class/subclass
you found in the
Index here.
Go back to http://www.uspto.gov/go/classification and type in the
class/subclass you found under Food to look at it in more detail. This
will take you to the Manual.
In class 426 FOOD OR EDIBLE MATERIAL: PROCESSES, COMPOSITIONS, AND
PRODUCTS
Scan below to see if a more specific subclass can be identified.
Click on the subclass numbers for definitions or
more information about the subclass.
Click on the red P’s to see the patents in any of the
subclasses. You can view patents back to 1790.
This is the definition for subclass 635, Animal Food in
class 426 Food or Edible Materials.
Note the suggestions for other subclasses to search.
This is the list of patents in class 426 subclass 635.
Search Example Using a
Keyword Search
Or start with a Keyword search
Use USPTO full-text Advanced Search
http://patft.uspto.gov/netahtml/searchadv.htm
Use “$” to find other forms of a word
Study relevant patents to determine
appropriate class/subclass
At: http://patft.uspto.gov/netahtml/search-adv.htm
Search “food process$” and (pet or animal)
Scan down through the list of patents until you find
one that looks close to your idea. Remember that this
search will only retrieve patents back to 1976.
Pet food product containing
probiotics. 37 patents into the list of 118
patents.
Click here to see the full-text
and images of the patent.
Requires Alternatiff plug-in.
Read the claims to see what
this patent protects.
Note classes and subclasses. If
this patent is close to your idea,
all of the patents in these
classes/subclasses should be
examined.
Conclusion
In general ... Patents protect the “thing”
and how it works; Trademarks protect
the name as used in commerce;
Copyrights protect the artistic
representations.
Patents are available on the Internet, but
are not as easy to search as it appears.
Thorough patent searching requires that
an appropriate class/subclass be found
and patents in that class/subclass be
examined.