Research Guide - Performing the Patent Search

A major requirement of participating successfully in the SBIR Program is for the applicant to demonstrate the innovativeness of his/her idea. Federal agencies that offer SBIR grants expect applicants to verify that the proposed idea is unique, new, and innovative.

One of the first steps to verify the authenticity of your idea is to conduct a patent search. A patent is a actually a right, granted by a government or quasi-governmental authority, to exclude others from making, using or selling an invention within a certain jurisdiction for a limited period of time. A patent does not give its owner the right to make, use or sell a claimed invention, because practicing one's own invention may infringe on the claims of a prior-issued patent that has not expired. One of the first steps in determining the uniqueness of an idea is to search the United States Patent & Trademark Office web site.

Caution: In the U.S., it is not necessary for an inventor or organization to be represented by a patent professional. However, a patent agent or a patent attorney registered to practice before a patent office can provide invaluable assistance to an inventor or organization seeking to evaluate and protect new technologies. Selecting an appropriate professional with which to work can be an important step in maximizing the value of an innovation. Links to lists of registered patent agents and patent attorneys by geographical region can be found at: http://www.uspto.gov/web/offices/dcom/olia/oed/roster/region/index.html

Finding a Topic That Matches Your Idea

There are ten federal agencies that offer SBIR grants. For a company to compete at the federal level it must have an idea that matches one or more of the topics defined in the agency's solicitation. To begin this assessment, go to: http://sbir.mt.gov/Fedagency.asp

Look at each agency's web site and investigate the following areas:

  • Review the general program description that agency
  • Investigate the solicitation topics
  • Look at the awards or abstracts to determine what type of projects were funded in the past

You are conducting this evaluation to determine if your idea can even be considered for the competition.

Conducting a Review of the Literature

Another way to prove that you have a new idea is look at industry periodicals, which often report on the latest research occurring in your field. To identify trade/scientific journals that may contain useful information try searching the Publish database, which contains more than 150,000 magazines, journals, newsletters, & other periodicals. Find FREE in-depth information on familiar and hard-to-find publications from around the world, representing thousands of topics.
http://www.publist.com

To find the latest information and research relating to your idea go to Infotrieve. This site contains a database of 10 million abstracts and 30,000 scientific, technical, medical and scholarly journals.
http://www4.infotrieve.com

Identifying the Competition and the Products They Make

When conducting market research, you are looking for trends in the industry, similar technologies already being sold, data on how these technologies are being received by consumers, and problems still unsolved. With a basic Internet search you will also discover your competitors. The following web sites are just a few that can help you obtain this information:

Using a keyword search, you can use one of the search engines on the web, like Google www.google.com, to conduct basic market research.

Forbes, at http://www.forbes.com/2002/05/09/bestplaces.html, is a good site to find articles and other useful business information.

Thomas Regional at http://www.trendonline.com/, is a site to identify products/services from more than 500,000 distributors, manufacturers, and service companies.