would be better they make with stronger steel to begin with, that way I save six bucks on a new one. but i guess that’s the idea..lol

Well there you go Shawn design a can opener
with replaceable teeth when they wear out you
can replace that part. :))

i think they are designed that way. i bought the expensive hand operated ones and they last as long as the cheap ones. cheap materials+cheap labor+low price= poor product lifespan. its not that the design is bad, I took mine apart and looks like should last long time but the teeth on the gear that grabs the can all bend like a coat hanger, just cheap materials.

A can opener that really works? wow, that WOULD be good! I just thought I found a good one. Manual and expensive, but after 6 months the teeth are slipping. sighh….are they only to last 6 months? lol.

Thanks for the compliments Roger :-)

Everyone putting in a little time to this site is having amazing results!
I too like all the faces :-))

good, when i get a good kitchen gadget i’ll call you, lord knows one day i am gonna invent an indestructible can opener. I have gone through half dozen or so in the past year, both electric and manual. they look sturdy but then after a few uses they fall apart(perhaps titanium would do) but my project list is so long now never any end(which is what I like cause it keeps me busy)

Shawn, glad you like the site. That is one thing I need to revamp so I can put more info on it. I just haven’t found time to do it and my skills in that area are not the best.
Tania is the busy one. She a international PR Rep, researcher goddess and all around wizard. She is a dynamo.

The Inventors here are all helping to make this forum and others like it the best resources for novice and Pro Inventors. Together we can help all of us succeed.

Very interesting site you have roger, looks like you are busier than I am and I havent got one product out yet. also want to say it is nice to see pics of everyone, better than talking to a cartoon character(this way i see who i’m talking to)

Thanks again Toni,
Hi Roger, I’m gonna check you out ;)LOL

Sally, below is the Mr. Roger Brown I told you
to check out. I gave you the incorrect email
instead of .com it is rogerbrown.net. Or just
click on this red highlighted email to see his
good stuff. :))

Matthew, One question I have not seen asked that is very important is “What is the end result you are looking for with your product? Are wanting to manufacture it ourself or are you looking to license it to a company?”
Also, is it a niche product or fad product that will be off the narket in a couple of years? If yes, you are wasting your money getting a 20 year patent on a product that will be gone long before the patent runs out. Plus, if you wait on the patent to issue will your window of opportunity be gone for your market?
In the last 3 months I have gotten 4 licesnes of kitchen and camping products without patenting any of them. There are plenty of companies that will look at outside ideas using an NDA without it being patented. make sure of where you want to go before dropping a lot of cash on something you may not need.

http://www.rogerbrown.net

Thank you again for the info everyone.
Unfortunately I’m back to the drawing board, but I save myself $25.00 :)

Thanks CD.That was ultra-useful.

thanks CD….More I can use. :-)

I will add, here are some search sites out there:

www.uspto.gov (of course)

www.freepatentsonline.com (some enhanced search features)

www.sumobrain.com (I get the sense that this site is identical to freepatentsonline in respects – its ran by the same people)

www.espacenet.com (for international searching)

www.google.com/patents (only recommended for searching the text of pre-1970 patents)

www.patents.com (this is a new site, I am not familiar with it but I have taken a quick glance and don’t think its anything too special)

www.delphion.com (the best, but it costs money)

Thank you for all of the info :)

" When you search are you searching with specific wording or does it help to change the wording to see if something comes up if it is worded differently? "

Simple keyword searches can be useful when doing your own prelim-type searches and what not, but are largely useless to an extent. Not only are there a ton of patents which will usually include a certain word and many of which aren’t what you are looking for, but coming up with the right words and wording to search for can at times be challenging for anyone not so familiar with the language used in many patents.

I am not saying you can’t do your own search – its a good idea to do your own prelim searching. And, if you do your search right, you are completely capable of conducting a better search than many firms will conduct for you.

A professional searcher should be able to use their experience to search more efficiently (i.e. more effectively in less time) than you. Additionally, a professional should already have paid subscriptions to a pay site or two which can further increase efficiency, and they might have access to the USPTO (but its worth noting that in this day and age thats not really an advantage – the USPTO’s search resources were designed to decrease the USPTO’s dependence on third parties and were designed to make searches more efficient – but not really better. USPTO examiner searches are designed to be extra efficient more so than high quality in order to deal with the backlogs of applicants in a reasonable manner). But if you have an internet connection, generally you have access to all the same databases that any professional searcher (or USPTO examiner) has access to.

There is no set time frame for a good patent search. No patent search can be 100% thorough – there’s too much to search that in the right situation could block patentability. Its up to you to decide what is reasonably thorough. If you are a beginner and lack search expertise, you should ideally be willing to spend more time on a search to compensate.

For the rest of my reply, I’ll copy and paste a little FAQ that I have previously written.

There are three methods of patent searching:

Classification searching: The USPTO classifies patents into different classes and subclasses – an index can be found here:

http://www.uspto.gov/go/classification/

Keyword Searching: You can search patents using keywords.

Reference Searching: Most patents reference similar prior art, and may be referenced by other patents as well.

All three methods of searching can be utilized while conducting a patent search (and boolean searches can allow you to combine all three methods into a single search string) – keyword/boolean searching can be used to help find similar patents which can be used to help locate the most pertinent patent subclasses, for example, and then reference searching can be used to “back check” once you think your search is complete. And all searches should not necessarily be conducted the in the same manner – note that one patent search might be reasonably complete after searching through just one or two patent subclasses, while another invention might not be accurately contained within any single group of fifty patent subclasses.

Note that when searching published patent applications, they tend to be misclassified somewhat, so it is not prudent to rely on classification searching when searching applications. When conducting keyword searches, note that the language used in patents often differs from “common” language. Generally, note that that no patent search is ever complete – it is up to you to determine what is reasonably complete, and that “non patent prior art” affects patentability just as much as a patent does. Lastly, note that boolean search operators and features are your friend when searching patents, and may differ from site to site (and some sites will allow for the formulation of very long and complex boolean search strings).

Does that mean you kneed your wife in the eye Adam?

Shame on you!

Thanks Adams,
you are funny :)

Nice picture,Sally.Nice picture,Patrice.

Thanks Tania.However,I was wearing make-up on my knee-caps that day.I had kneed my wife in the knee-caps.

Hi, matthew

go to www.patentdvd.com for a free do it self provisional patent course,it will teach you how to write your own high quality provisional patent application.

bestregards
joseph

Do you notice we always start chit chatting and go off the subject:) LOL

I would like to see your photos Tania, so please post them.

See? Adam didn’t put makeup on and he looks great!

so do you Sally :-)

the tankee uniform was worn for a photo they wanted to take Adam…

I would have worn a Northorn Ireland one too if I was asked ;-)

Talk to the hand,sort of?

Yes, I like to see everyones face too, thats why I changed mine. The girls here at the office said it would be a nice change from my pets pictures. Although I probably would have put some make up on today if I knew I was going to change:)LOL

You should, who cares :)

It’s all in fun anyway. I hate having the same picture up too long too. It gets boring!

I like changing them. I was thinking of putting a professioanl one up from when I was 31 wearing a British tankee uniform, then nobody would recognize me. Just for fun

I don’t think you look mean, but have fun making a new one :-).

Thanks Tania. Mark was just telling me that I look mean in my picture :(

I guess I need to change it AGAIN!

so many faces in a row!

nice picture too patrice :-)

…ok Mark, you like nice too!

Thanks Patrice, I had my picture up with Santa.

Yes, very nice picture Sally! It’s nice to put a face to the words :)

Not a cat or a dog, well maybe not:)
How long do you search Mark?

Nice picture Sally…..hey you’re not really a cat!

Thanks Tania, I never know if I’ve looked enough, or if I’m looking properly.

I did google search, google patent and then the US patent office

Thanks Tania
Do you search in different areas too, like google patent search?

Hi Sally, nice picture :-)

I only spend 1 day and I know of others that spend much longer.
I put in all different wording and even just part of the item name to see what comes up along with it.

I have a few question for all of you expert patent searchers.
How long do you spend searching patents?
When you search are you searching with specific wording or does it help to change the wording to see if something comes up if it is worded differently?
I’m sure the answer has been asked and it is somewhere, but if someone wouldn’t mind I would rather not scroll through a million posts :)

Thanks,Peter.I’ll get my hands on that.Claim-drafting seems to be where the action is and a skill.
I was always reassured by the UK Patent Office[UK Intellectual Property Office now-lost something I thought]stipulation to use plain and as simple language as possible when drafting an application.

I dont think claims-drafting should work against that.

Adam, the best book on the subject IMHO is “Invention Analysis and Claiming: A Patent Lawyer’s Guide” by Ronald Slusky.

Peter,you wouldn’t know of an accessible book on claim drafting?

Cody,
I read “Patent It Yourself” and found it does have useful information. However, I would consider it a starting point for one engaged in drafting patents. Also the chapter on claim drafting is rather scant as there are library shelves filled with texts on claim drafting.

Ingenium Patents LLC

Richard,

""I wonder if their is a class you can take at a local university on “how to write your own patent.”"

Patent It Yourself by David Pressman is not at a university, but it is the book used to train patent examiners themselves. But if you are not a self-study kind of guy with patience, it probably won’t work.

You know, I think you can go to the USPO and can start by doing your own preliminary search to see if your idea is already out there or patented. Then I paid abut $1200 to have an attorney to do a more thorough search. Obviously if my idea existed, that would have saved a lot of money. I wonder if their is a class you can take at a local university on “how to write your own patent.” If you want to save the bucks, this might be a good way to go. I think between the search and the patent I paid like $7500. Outch!

Matt, that price of $4,000.00 is realistic -
that should include NonPPA, drawings, fee to USPTO.

Thanks guys ..

Thanks Jim,
That gives me a better idea of the time it would take to get things rolling, no matter which way I take my product to the marketing mode.

Matthew like Paul I would also recommend the book Patent IT Yourself. If you want to get a good overview of what is involved in filing a provisional application check out the free course at http://www.patentdvd.com/free.htm you can’t beat the price.

Gladys,

The Patent and Trademark Office has a procedure called accelerated examination in which every application is processed within one year. According to their statistics, the average time it takes is about 6 months. The additional cost in fees to the office is small. However, the PTO asks for more information and quick turn around so the patent agent or patent attorney fees will likely be higher.

Kevin, How long would it take to process a patent application from begin to end, when all the cost and information is supplied and the product is not complicated? ( a rush job)