Why Do a Patent Search?

Patent searching can be an important step in your design process.

• If you intend to make, use, or sell a design of yours, you should first find out whether someone holds intellectual property rights to the design.
• If you have an invention and want intellectual property protection, you should learn if an equivalent invention has previously been described in a patent or in another publication. This search is also called a "prior art" search.
• If you simply want to understand how an item works, when you can find a patent for the item, you will be able to read a detailed description of the invention and its use.
• If you are looking for examples of solutions to design challenges, you may be able to find patents that describe how others have approached design problems that are similar to yours.

In all of these circumstances, a patent search can help you to retrieve documents that are relevant to your work.