Key Takeaways

  • The USPTO is the official agency that manages patent applications and maintains searchable patent records.
  • Only inventions that are new, useful, and non-obvious can be patented.
  • Patent searches require use of the USPTO’s advanced search features to filter by specific fields like inventor name, assignee, or classification.
  • You can search by product name, inventor name, company name, or even historical patent numbers.
  • Free databases like USPTO, Google Patents, and others can be used, but professional assistance can improve the accuracy of your search.

How do you find out if something is patented? The answer lies in searching the database of the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO). This search may be done online via the USPTO website or in person at the various USPTO libraries spread across the country.

What Is the USPTO?

USPTO is the federal agency that reviews patent applications and determines whether or not to issue a patent. The agency keeps an extensive record of previously issued patents, and this record is publicly accessible to anyone who may be interested in the information.

Since the agency will not issue another patent to inventions similar to previously patented ones, it is important to thoroughly search for any invention similar to yours in the USPTO database before applying for a patent. This will save you a lot of time, effort, money, and future hassle from patent trolls.

Additional Patent Search Tools

While the USPTO Patent Full-Text and Image Database (PatFT) is the primary source for patent information, other resources can help widen your search:

  • Google Patents: Offers a user-friendly interface for searching U.S. and international patents.
  • European Patent Office (Espacenet): Useful for finding foreign patents that may overlap with U.S. inventions.
  • Patent Assignment Database: Allows you to search for current and prior ownership of patents by assignee name or patent number.
  • Public Patent Application Information Retrieval (PAIR): Gives updates on the status of pending patent applications.
  • Local Patent Libraries: Many libraries designated as Patent and Trademark Resource Centers (PTRCs) offer access to databases and expert help.

Combining multiple databases ensures that you do not overlook any published patents or pending applications.

What Can Be Patented?

In order to know whether your idea qualifies for a patent, it is important to understand what patenting is. A patent is an exclusive ownership right that governments grant to inventors to make or commercially exploit an invention for a set period of time. However, not everything can be patented. For instance, the exclusive ownership of a book or song is a copyright and not a patent. Similarly, you cannot patent your business name — that would be called a trademark.

What can be patented is a useful and original invention. This may include a new kind of device, machinery, manufacturing process, or even an improvement to already patented invention. Generally, there are three types of patents approved by the USPTO.

  1. Design Patents: These are usually enhancements to an already existing object, without any change in its functionality.
  2. Plant Patents: These include new kinds of plants resulting from cuttings, grafts, or other asexual means.
  3. Utility Patents: These cover objects that function in a new way or are capable of producing new results that have not been achieved previously by similar objects.

For your invention to receive a patent, it must possess three basic qualities:

  • It must be completely new and must not have been made publicly available prior to the filing of your patent application.
  • The invention must work exactly as promised.
  • The invention must reveal inventive ingenuity and not simply state what is obvious to someone else who is skilled in the same discipline.

Common Reasons an Idea Cannot Be Patented

Even if your invention is new and useful, some ideas are excluded from patent protection:

  • Abstract Ideas: Basic principles like mathematical algorithms or theories cannot be patented.
  • Natural Phenomena: Naturally occurring substances or laws of nature are not patentable.
  • Obvious Improvements: If the invention would be obvious to someone skilled in the field, it may not qualify for a patent.
  • Prior Public Disclosure: If your invention has been publicly disclosed (in publications, online, etc.) before your application date, it could lose patent eligibility.

Before proceeding, consider consulting a qualified patent attorney, who you can easily find on UpCounsel, to ensure your invention meets patent eligibility criteria.

How to Perform a Patent Search

Preforming a patent search isn't as simple as entering keywords into a regular search engine. The USPTO database is huge and a regular unfiltered search will produce overwhelming results. Here are some specific steps you should take when performing your online patent search:

  1. Open the USPTO website. Once open, click on the search icon to begin.
  2. Select the Advanced Search Option. Searching for keywords using the basic quick search can produce overwhelming results. Instead, use the advanced search function, which gives room for using different parameters to filter search results.
  3. Choose the search parameters. There are 31 search parameters to choose from in the USPTO website. These include patent titles, patent abstracts, application dates etc. Further information on how to use each parameter is available by clicking on its corresponding link.
  4. Enter your keywords into the search box. Keywords and other search parameters need to be entered in a very specific order into the query box in order to produce relevant results. Examples of the required search format for each specific code are available under the field code instructions and at the top of the website.
  5. Select a time frame. Typical search results on the USPTO database contain complete information only for patents issued from 1976 to the present. However, to access patents issued before 1976 (all the way back to 1790), you'll need to enter the patent number, issue date, and current U.S. classification.
  6. Open relevant search results to discover the existence of a patent. The database search results come in the form of a list, so you'll need to click on each individual result to access the patent information. Each search result provides information about the background and functionality of the invention. It also comes with a descriptive drawing of the invention, which lets you know whether it's the same invention you had in mind.

Tips for Searching Historical Patents

If you're researching older inventions, searching historical patents can be critical:

  • Patents Issued Before 1976: These are not fully text-searchable on USPTO. You'll need to search by patent number, inventor name, or classification.
  • USPTO Historical Database: Offers access to scanned images of patents dating back to 1790.
  • National Archives: Houses original patent files prior to 1930 for deeper research.
  • State Libraries and PTRCs: Many have collections of older patent information and offer staff assistance.

Searching for historical patents requires persistence, as older documents are often scanned images without keyword indexing.

How to Search by Inventor, Company, or Product

When considering how to check if something is patented, sometimes it helps to search by more than just invention keywords:

  • Inventor Name Search: Useful if you know who developed the idea. Use the “IN/Inventor Name” field code in USPTO advanced search.
  • Assignee Name Search: Companies often file patents under their business name. Use “AN/Assignee Name” to search by company.
  • Product Name Search: While products themselves aren't always listed by commercial name, try variations of the name in title and abstract searches.
  • Classification Search: Look up the U.S. Patent Classification (USPC) or Cooperative Patent Classification (CPC) codes related to your invention to find similar patents.
  • Patent Number Search: If you have a specific patent number, use it to directly access the full patent record.

Always review the “claims” section of a patent to understand the scope of protection.

Frequently Asked Questions

1. What is the fastest way to check if something is patented?

The quickest method is to use the USPTO’s Patent Public Search tool or Google Patents. Enter specific keywords, inventor names, or product-related terms to narrow down results.

2. Can I search for a patent by product name?

Yes, but product names are not always listed explicitly in patents. It's better to use variations of the product name along with keywords describing its functionality.

3. How do I find if a company owns a patent?

You can perform an assignee search on the USPTO database by entering the company's name in the “Assignee Name” field.

4. Is it possible to check if an idea is patented worldwide?

While no single database covers every country, Espacenet and WIPO’s PATENTSCOPE offer access to a broad collection of international patents.

5. Can a patent search guarantee that an idea is free to use?

No. Even a thorough search cannot guarantee that an idea is free of patent infringement. Consulting a patent attorney for a formal Freedom-to-Operate opinion is recommended.

If you need help with finding out if something is patented, you can post your legal need on UpCounsel's marketplace. UpCounsel accepts only the top 5 percent of lawyers to its site. Lawyers on UpCounsel come from law schools such as Harvard Law and Yale Law and average 14 years of legal experience, including work with or on behalf of companies like Google, Menlo Ventures, and Airbnb.