How Do You Do a Patent Search,  and Can You Do a Patent Search Without a Patent Attorney? Overpowered by Prior Art

Some patent searching can be done on your own, and should be, and some should be left to the professionals. Here’s the difference.

First, I’ll tell you a secret: it’s not a bad idea to start with a DIY search! You might not hear that from many patent attorneys, because, after all, doing searches for clients is part of how we keep the lights on, but sometimes our expertise, and more importantly, client money, is wasted on a search that a little DIY digging could have handled.

Here are good resources for a DIY search (we use them as professionals, too):

• The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) provides free access to its vast patent database, allowing you to search by keyword, inventor, or specific patent classifications.
• Google Patents is another excellent tool, offering intuitive search features and glo ...