Eureka is your favorite word, and when you sleep, your brain still works? That is a classic, innovator’s life story. You may have even fantasized about owning or designing a machine that – in just one click – will give you a detailed estimate of how innovative your idea is. You must often wonder if anyone already did something similar.
You’re often thinking about whether there are people who are interested in investing in your idea. Until one of you invents a machine that will give you all these answers – you have to use the good old search of patent documents and learn how to get a patent in 2024.
How To Turn An Idea Into An Invention?
You probably at least once wondered why you didn’t come up with something as simple but interesting and useful as Facebook. Or a weather app. Or a car wiper. Although there are other people behind these inventions – this does not mean that the world as we know it is perfect and without the need for innovation.
You may already have some clever idea that could at least change society or the market – while ensuring your livelihood or making you rich. But, believe it or not, inventing something innovative is the easier part of the job. It takes a lot to make an idea and market it. Besides, there is a constant problem of competition. That is why some ideas never came to life – although they may have been ingenious.
You Have An Idea – Now What?
Some inventions are the result of pure luck and some are the product of years of dedicated work. The truth is, they are rare inventors who came to their inventions by working in their shed or garage. For creative individuals who have ideas and know-how to turn them into a product – many companies struggle because they live off the invention.
So, you woke up at 3 AM with a fantastic idea that came to your mind. Or maybe you were in the shower when you figured out the solution for a problem that bothers many. Whatever. You’ve got a great idea and now you want to put it into action. But where to start?
How To Get A Patent In A Few Steps?
Before embarking on the development of your genius idea, a thorough search for the state of innovation must be done. The reasons for this are many: Maybe someone has already protected or filed a patent for something similar – or you can find out more about your competition, etc.
Now the question is: What is the state of innovation? How is it searchable, and can I do that search during my lunch break over the phone? Here are the 5 most important conclusions we have come to.
1. You Need A Detective Skill to Search the State of Innovation
Unfortunately, it’s not enough just to google it out. The state of innovation is any evidence that the invention is already known or available to the public. An invention is considered to be covered by the state of the innovation if it became public before the filing date of the invention.
The state of innovation is determined by searching for products, patents, written documents – and anything available to the public. Search this area well before you spend time and money compiling a patent application for your invention or embarking on a new research. You should search the library, professional books, the Internet – and of course, patent databases. Then you can look for the best ways on how to file a patent application without any setbacks.
2. If You Are Not A Detective – Leave Things To The Professionals
The question often arises when the search should be completed. Each innovator has to judge for himself how thoroughly he searched the base and whether there is enough evidence to justify the further development of his idea. Many are not able to realistically view the situation.
Therefore, professional help is advisable. An essential service that professionals like companies such as InventHelp can provide to innovators – is the report on the subject matter of the invention. It is a search report of national and international databases that is provided to the patent applicant.
Surely, this provides the innovator with an opportunity to obtain a patent. Also, this report will depend on the decision on patenting abroad, as well as the decision on possible improvements of the invention to increase the chance of obtaining a patent.
3. If You Find Something Similar To Your Idea – It’s Not A Necessarily Bad Thing
Innovation based on research into new competing products and services plays a significant role in the technological and economic progress of a society. Many scientific discoveries, which cannot otherwise be protected by the Patent Law – would not have been discovered and proven that the already protected inventions were not used.
Therefore, a patent search should be a thorough search of various databases of patent documents, some of which are free and publicly available. Although many products on the market do not have a patent – they are certainly much smaller than inventions that have been successfully patented but have never made it to the market.
If you find something similar to your idea – it is not necessarily a bad thing! If you find something similar to your invention that may prevent you from losing your money on a patent application. Also, you may get the idea to upgrade your innovation.
4. Learn From Previous Mistakes
It happens that the description of the invention provided by the innovators is not supported by the claims. It is also often the case that, when responding to a test result, innovators try to incorporate an additional element that was not in the original patent – which is not possible.
Also, failure to respond within the prescribed period to the test result – may result in interruption of the procedure. The innovator is then considered to have given up. So study these things well in advance and do not allow yourself to learn from your mistakes. As we said, by far the most common mistake is not to search at all. The researcher applies to an invention that already exists, simply because he or she did not properly conduct the research.
Conclusion
A patent search is beneficial for both your innovation and your valuable time. Whether you are researching the market for your innovation, or looking for a collaboration partner – or having a problem during the research yourself – first check the state of the patent and then everything else.
Nina Smith 
Nicola Holder