I used them several times and Kevin Prince is a great guy who goes all out to help you out.

I have also used them and I agree that Kevin Prince does a great job of finding relevant prior art.

Was looking at their website and price wise they seem pretty cheap. I was quoted between $2500 – $3500 elsewhere for a reply to an office action and Dirtcheap charges $300 – $900.

I was also curious about the listed patents they had done listed on their website and how they fared through the patent process. I looked up three of the latest utility patents on the PTO site using Public Pairs and noticed two interesting items: 1) No problems with submitted drawings. 2) In response to office actions where the PTO objected to some of the claims, the response appeared to indicate that the objected claims were canceled and new claims were added based on the claims that were allowed. I did not see an attempt to save the claims that were initially objected to. Since I am not a patent attorney or patent agent, I’m not certain if this is the norm. My observation was based only on three patents as well. Perhaps other can share.

I did get them to do a patent search for me eventually and Kevin is really a nice guy.
Top fellow.

I dont have much experience on the patent filing front though.

Ok, I’m going to start by saying I’m new to Edison Nation and inventing etc. (but I do work in the law department of a major company), and when I get an idea I go on to the public site (for free) and do my own search (and I think I saw a website posted int he forums that is even easier to use).

This way I can at least see if my idea seems to be innovative or not. You can also print out patent applications for products similair to yours to make sure yours is different.

In addition to the patent search, where I have a clever name associated with my product, I also do a trademark search. All for free. I’m not saying it’s the final word on the subject, but doing these searches doesn’t seem to be hard at al….

BUT maybe (because I am a novice at this) there is something more to it? Have you all already been on the government site before you go hiring someone first? (And please I beg forgiveness if what I just is common sense to everyone already!!!!!).

Yup Lynn.

I usually do a google search first, then a USPTO and google patent search and then dig around here and there a bit more before heading to get a professional search done.

I was wondering about this company as well. This company is featured in the EN magazine that is sent to gold members. $250 a search, my attorney wants to charge $1200. Anyone used this company?http://patentsearchinternational.com

Sound normal to have this company do a search and then my patent attorney actual file on my behalf a Prov. Patent? Or should I suck it up and have the patent attorney do the whole thing from soup to nuts?

PS Odd to actual type the saying ‘soup to nuts’ ;)

"PS Odd to actual type the saying ‘soup to nuts’ " ;)

                           
“Well, actually, not only am I a World-Renowned Urologist, who just so happens to specialize in vasectomies, but, I’m also a World-Renowned Chef…So, ‘Soup to Nuts’ pretty much covers my entire career description, wouldn’t you agree, Karen?!”

Hi Karen, On one patent application I did with a partner we initially did a cheap search, followed by a more in depth and expensive search by the patent attorney. Both searches said that we were in good shape for going ahead with the patent so we submitted. After many months, the PTO came back an said all claim were invalid because of prior art found. The prior art found clearly showed the idea was already covered. We were obviously disappointed and angry that neither search found the prior art. The Ron Brown guy with 40 years experience and a low cost seems like a good deal. If however, Ron does not do the search, but hands it off to a “youngster” then I would be less inclined.

Some people do a $350 search for $350. Others do a $1000 search for $1000. On the other hand some do a $350 search for $1000. I used to do searches for $400, but my minimum is now $600 because too often I had to spend too much time to do a decent search. My last flat rate $400 search took 1 1/2 days to do.

I could do $300 searches and spend 1 1/2 to 3 hrs on every search. This would work to my benefit because if I don’t find relevant prior art, then I get fees for drafting and prosecuting the patent application.

However, unlike a search firm, I took an oath to zealously protect my client’s interests. This means, if I start a flat rate search, and find that 3 hours barely scratches the surface in a particular art, then I go ahead and diligently compete the search no matter how much time it takes.

Would you like a doctor to do only half a procedure if your case became complicated?

All, I am a patent attorney and I use freepatentsonline.net. Unlike the patent office and I believe google, it allows you to search patents, patent applications, pct applications, and a couple of others in a single search. It also sorts the results based on relevance unlike the PTO.

I have had mixed results with search firms. Most limit their search to particular classes, which means they can miss many relevant patents that were not properly classified.

One last thought, do not outsource your searches to India. The Patent Office believes that this is an illegal technology export, which may compromise your patent.

If you need a patent, I would recommend ThePatentOffice.com, here is a link: http://ThePatentOffice.com Their site has a lot of great information as well. I filed two applications with them and the results were excellent. I ended up in a licensing agreement with a company that told me my idea could not be patented!

Customer service is top notch and if you call, you are always talking to a patent attorney. To me that was huge. They have a Better Business Bureau rating of AAA, which is the highest rating and means no complaints. And their fees are very reasonable when you consider the service and the quality of the patent application they provide.

Unfortunately, the BBB rating seems to be as credible as the AAA rating on those CDOs that are now worthless.

I appreciate your skepticism on the BBB but I’ve dealt with ThePatentOffice.com for nearly 5 years now on 2 patents and have recommended a number fellow inventors.

I didn’t have any experience in patenting an invention or bringing a product to market and was terrified of all the “inventor help” scams that were out there. So, I consulted with no less than a dozen IP attorneys in the greater Los Angeles area and in the end chose the attorney at ThePatentOffice.com (who was recommended by several of the attorneys that I had consulted with). Many of the IP attorneys I spoke with were actually involved in law suits against “inventor help” type companies. BEWARE…the BBB may not be much but many people still post with them when they’ve been scammed.

ThePatentOffice.com website answers most questions before you ever speak to an attorney AND gives you an idea of the fees in advance. There are many good patent attorneys out there I’m sure, but my experience has been that these guys are extremely current with IP law and thus far have helped me protect 2 ideas that I’ve licensed and brought successfully to market.

I can’t recommend them enough.

Can someone please tell me how to file for a (CIP)?
Please make it real-world applicable, amateur-friendly and user-friendly, so that I don’t have to stubble around in the professional USPTO websites or that I don’t need to hire any expensive council.

Thank you

Question: When doing your own searches on google patents or USPTO—how can you know that the patent is still active? Anyone know. So say I see an approved patent from 5 years ago, or ten years ago how do I confirm it is still valid or not void because someone didn’t keep up with their filing fees? Inquiring minds want to know…

I grab these 2 steps off this thread below.
http://www.edisonnation.com/forums/patents/topi...

I changed the words to find maintenance fees.

22) You can make this a favorite http://portal.uspto.gov/external/portal/pair type in verification code and your in. Now you have to type in verification code twice then your in, Patent office changed there website, and are making it more difficult to follow patent applications.

You can find the application #’s on the patents.

23) You search under “application #” paste application number into search box. The first page that opens look for the word status: this will tell you where this patent stands, or click on “fees”.
under fees tells you everything you need to know about this patent status.
example application (11/328,304)

Karen,
Are you planning an infringement? Your inquiring mind has a plan, no? If the patent was abandoned you can go ahead and make it or sell it, but you can’t get a patent on it- it’s now public knowledge.

Planning an infringement — sounds like the next Nolo book… ;)

Well I’m not trying to plan an infringement..I’m actually trying to avoid infringement by knowing the rules of engagement..

So even those utility patents from 1939, the idea is now dead to the world to secure again, even if you put a new twist on it?

So do you think EN sponsor’s care if the idea is patentable? Do you think you would ever win with an idea that couldn’t be patented (because a guy from 1929 thought of the function first)? Maybe you give it a new twist? Do I stay away from something that was thought of in 1929 or go for it and hope the sponsors think the idea is good enough to sell despite the fact it is public knowledge and you can’t secure the idea? Just curious on your thoughts, should I move on, or try to dazzle the judges ;))

PS todd thanks for the link you sent, great stuff! Sure lots of my questions are on threads somewhere, thanks for saving me the time…appreciate it.

If your new twist improves the old technology in a non obvious way it should be patentable. If you look at the prior art cited on a lot of patents, many go back a long way. In fact a lot of patents are issued on improvements to existing patents without infringing . After developing the ideas for my last few inventions, and searching previous patents, I discovered several ideas that tried to accomplish the same thing I set out to do. Difference is they didn’t quite get it right and the products never found commercial success. If you can claim something new based on a very old patent that’s no longer valid, there’s no infringement, just make sure you have something unique and non obvious. Even a simple improvement can make a huge difference. The sponsors from ASOTV do require ideas to be unique and protectable.

Hi I’ve tried http://www.patentagentconsult.com and they are reasonable. I’ll check out manufacturersinchina.com in a few minutes.