Beware the risks of unusually low cost or free patent searches. “No patent search, however thorough, is foolproof. There is always a risk that pertinent patents will not be identified. You must balance budget constraints against the extensiveness of the search. In general, the more extensive the search, the more expensive the search will be to conduct, and the more expensive it will be to analyze all of the patents identified.” (Rose Thiessen, “What are the hidden patent infringement risks associated with a company's launch of products?,” San Diego Business Journal, May 1, 2006)
What are the patent risks of performing your own free patent search online instead of using a patent agent patent search service or a patent attorney patent search service? Where can I find these unusually low cost for free patent searches? You can find free patent searches at Google patent seaches or at the USPTO site cited below.
$1,500 and $2,000. Patent search fees generally charged by law firms. “Law firms generally charge between $1,500 and $2,000 to search for similar patents to ensure a new patent is worth pursuing.” Cost for patent search. (Susan Gvozdas, “Camp Hill, Pa., couple's invention stocks shelves at Lowe's, Home Depot,” Patriot-News - Harrisburg, PA - August 20, 2006)
$1000. Cost of an in-depth patent search using a patent search service. “[An inventor’s] idea or product may have been on the market before but at a prohibitive price, or it may be patented under another use. If nothing shows up [when you use the free U.S. patent office patent search database], it may be time to hire a patent attorney or patent search firm for an initial cost of about $1,000 for a more in-depth search.” Patent search charges. (Joyce Smith, Business Columnist, “Seeing your invention through: Entrepreneur week helps highlight some success stories of those who dream big,” Kansas City Star, February 27, 2007)
$500. Typical fee charged for a professional patent search. “Most companies pay $500 or more to commission a professional search of U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) records, to see if anyone has patented a similar idea.” (Len Strazewski, “Five vital steps in patent process,” Crain's Chicago Business, July 8, 2002)
$300 - $800. Cost of a patent search conducted by a patent attorney. “If you hire a patent attorney, the cost of a search of U.S. patents only is generally between 300 and 800 dollars. If you conduct a patent search yourself, it’s free for the asking.” (Pamela Riddle Bird, PhD, Founder and CEO of Innovative Product Technologies, Inc. and author of Inventing for Dummies, Wiley Publishing, Inc., 2004, p. 32) What are the risks of performing your own free patent search online instead of using patent attorney patent search services?
$200 - $300. “The cost of a utility patent search in the Washington D.C., area runs between $200 and $300.” (Richard C. Levy, The Complete Idiot’s Guide to Cashing in on Your Inventions, The Penguin Group USA Inc., New York, 2002, 7th printing, p. 148)
$25 - $120. Cost of a monthly patent search training class offered by the U.S. patent office. “The USPTO offers monthly training for its EAST, WEST, and X-Search systems. A prepaid fee of $25 reserves you a seat in a class and includes one set of training materials. …Off-schedule, three-hour personal training sessions are available at the USPTO for a fee of $120. Classes take place at the USPTO Public Training Facility, Arlington, Virginia, with hands-on workstation access. For information call 703-308-3040.” ((Richard C. Levy, The Complete Idiot’s Guide to Cashing in on Your Inventions, The Penguin Group USA Inc., New York, 2002, 7th printing, p. 146)
Do you have questions or concerns about conducting patent searches on your own?
If you do, you may wish to contact Inventors Workshop International (IWI). IWI is one of the nation's oldest and most respected nonprofit inventor help organizations. It has been helping inventors patent, license and market inventions for more than 35 years.
The organization provides personal mentoring and one-on-one counseling assistance. It helps inventors find patent lawyers or patent agents.
IWI has a special PatentSaver program for member inventors to help them save money on the costs of patenting inventions. You can contact Inventors Workshop by email, by phone (805-879-1729) or visit Patent-Help-for-Inventors.org.
Free patent searches (by keyword phrase, inventor name or patent name).
“[Before investing a lot of time and money, prospective] inventors should search the free [patent search] database at the United States Patent and Trademark Office's Web site [which you can find at www.uspto.gov/patft].” (Joyce Smith, Business Columnist, “Seeing your invention through: Entrepreneur week helps highlight some success stories of those who dream big,” Kansas City Star, February 27, 2007)
You can also perform free patent searches at Google patent seaches.
Free patent searches (by number). Free number search resources.
Free U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) patent search by patent number.
Free U.S. Google patent search by patent number. U.S. patent number search
