Finding Patents

Patents provide a wealth of potentially useful information. In the course of our practice,
we have used them to determine where individuals have worked and to track down hidden
assets in money disputes.

The Constitution authorizes Congress to enact patent laws, which are codified in Title 35
of the United States Code. The United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) is
designated for managing the patenting process, patent records and advises other govern-
ment branches regarding intellectual property matters.

As defined by the USPTO there are three kinds of patents:

1) Utility patents for a new process, machine, article of manufacture,

or composition of matter, or any new and useful improvement thereof;
2) Design patents for a new, original, and ornamental design for an
article of manufacture; and
3) Plant patents may be granted to anyone who invents or discovers
and asexually reproduces any distinct and new variety of plant.

Patent Application Information Retrieval (PAIR)

Patent applications become public 18 months after the first filing date. The USPTO
maintains the Patent Application Information Retrieval (PAIR) system which can be used
to search patent files on a number of different criteria including the name of the inventor,
their attorney’s name and the name of the patent examiner.

USPTO Patent Search Room

The USPTO has a Patent Search Room located at Madison East, First Floor, 600 Dulany
Street, Alexandria, VA. This room contains:

• Complete patents available in numeric order since 1790 on microfilm

and optical disc format
• Patent application publications and related records (decisions,

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VR Research 1624 Franklin Street, Suite 901 Oakland, California 94612 vrresearch.com
 assignments, etc.)
• Official Gazettes, Annual Indices of inventors, Manual of Classification
and Subject Matter Index, and other search aids
• Patent assignment records of transactions affecting ownership of
patents and microfilmed deeds

Patent and Trademark Depository Libraries (PTDLs)

Each state has at least one Patent and Trademark Depository Library. These libraries
receive currently issued patents and maintain archives that may date back to the first
patent in 1790.

Written Requests to the USPTO

Any individual patent can be requested online or through the USPTO (for a small fee). If
you cannot make it to the Patent Search Room or a PTDL for a preliminary patent search,
you may order copies of lists of patents or cross referenced patent in a specified subclass.

Letters should be mailed to the appropriate office of the USPTO. For each inquiry, a differ-
ent letter is required. If requesting a patent application, the inquiry should include the pat-
ent application number (series code and serial number). For issued patents, information
about the patentee name, invention title, patent number, and date of issue is required.

Google Patents
Google has compiled a database of over seven million patents, with summary information
and downloadable PDFs of complete patents.

The Patent Explained In Call Outs

1. Patent Number
A unique reference number assigned to each patent that is issued by the USPTO.
Utility patents are purely numerical; design patents begin with a “D.”

2. Date of Patent
Date on which the patent was issued. On average, it takes approximately 30 months
from the date of filing for a legitimate patent to be granted. About two-thirds of the
350,000 patent applications submitted each year become patents.
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VR Research 1624 Franklin Street, Suite 901 Oakland, California 94612 vrresearch.com
 3. Title
A short and specific title that cannot exceed 500 characters.

4. Inventor(s)
All parties involved in creating the invention. If the inventor worked for a company, the
employer is recognized as an “assignee.” This is a good way to discern more information
about an individual’s former employers and professional relationships.

5. Application Number
Assigned to each patent application when it is submitted to the USPTO. If a patent is
not eventually granted, it is unavailable to the public without the consent of the applicant,
assignee or attorney.

6. Date Filed
First date that invention was filed with the USPTO. To achieve an earlier filing date, an
inventor may first submit a provisional patent application before the more involved
non-provisional application. Patent applications are published 18 months after the
earliest filing date – from this point on, all text and file history becomes available to the
general public.

7. References
Related applications must be listed. When applicable, information about federally
sponsored funding should be disclosed, as well.

8. Foreign Patent Information

A U.S. patent is valid only in the United States. For protection in other countries, the
inventor must apply for a patent to individual countries. This is often an expensive and
time consuming process, as patent laws vary.

9. Examiner
After a complete non-provisional patent application has been submitted with the appropri-
ate fees, it is sent to a technology center (TC) based upon the classification of its subject
matter. An examiner at the TC is assigned to review the application, a process that verifies
the uniqueness of an invention and the validity of its claims, as well as its compliance with
patent laws.

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VR Research 1624 Franklin Street, Suite 901 Oakland, California 94612 vrresearch.com
 10. Attorney, Agent, or Firm
Although an inventor may write his own patent application, the assistance of a patent at-
torney or agent who is more familiar with the patenting process and resources is often en-
listed. This is a good, indirect way to determine that an attorney client relationship exists.

11. Abstract
A single paragraph of 150 words or less, the abstract describes the invention.

12. Field/Background/Summary of the Invention

A short classification/description of the invention and the purpose for its creation.

13. Drawings/Figures
Drawings depicting the invention should be submitted according to specifications set
for by the USPTO. In the specification, the drawings should be referred to and briefly
explained.

14. Detailed Description of the Invention

The extended description should elaborate on the method of making the invention, how to
use it such that any person with the appropriate technological knowledge would be able to
reproduce the object and understand it’s purpose. Utility patents grant exclusive rights to
the inventor(s) for 20 years past the date of filing, and design patents for 14 years.

15. Claims
Statements addressing what makes the object a new invention. More than one claim may
be given if they are substantially different, but they may refer to each other. This is a vital
part of the specification, as it is looked to when defining the rights afforded to the inventor.

VR Research 1624 Franklin Street, Suite 901 Oakland, California 94612 vrresearch.com
 1. PATENT
NUMBER

2. DATE OF
PATENT

3. TITLE

8. FOREIGN
PATENTS

4. INVENTORS 5. APPLICATION
NUMBERS
11. ABSTRACT

6. DATE FILED

7. REFERENCES

9. EXAMINER
10 ATTORNEY/
AGENT/FIRM
12. FIELD
BACKGROUND
SUMMARY

13. DRAWINGS

15. CLAIMS

14. DETAILED
DESCRIPTION