KnowThis Tutorial: Marketing Method Patents

Tutorial Contents

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Locating Information at the USPTO
The majority of time spent searching for MMP will be via the website at the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO www.uspto.gov), though other search options, most for a fee, are available. The search functionality of the USPTO is robust. The patent database contains fully indexed patents going back over 30 years. This information includes written sections as well as images.

When researching patents the searcher should be familiar with patent terms that relate to information found within patent documents. Familiarity with these concepts allows the searcher to take a more targeted approach in their search effort.

Field	Explanation
Title	The name the inventor has given to the invention. Names often have a technical leaning and may NOT be significantly descriptive to offer a good indication of the actual purpose of the patent.
Abstract	One paragraph summary of invention that holds more clues to the nature of the patent than can be found in the Title.
Application Date	Actual date the application is received (i.e., filed) with the USPTO and the earliest date the applicant can claim the invention. If a patent is awarded this would be the beginning date of the 20 year patent window. Also, this is the date on which the inventor can indicate “patent pending” status in marketing materials.
Issue Date	The date the USPTO issues the patent.
Patent Number	Number assigned to the patent.
Current U.S. Classification	The USPTO categorizes patents into one or more patent classifications. Classifications consist of classes (over 400) and subclasses within a class (average over 300 for each class). Thus, there may be well over 100,000 subclasses. Unfortunately, patents may not always reside in an obvious subclass.
Inventor Name	In the U.S. , patents are awarded to people and not to companies. The Inventor Name indicates the names of all patent holders. The holders may or may not share equally in patent ownership depending on legal arrangements made between inventors or between inventors and a company.
Assignee Name	While people are awarded patents, companies often own the patent particularly if the person awarded the patent works for a company where the person’s work resulted in the development of something that is patentable.
Description/ Specifications	The narrative portion of the application lays out the invention in great detail. This section contains a Background section (see below) as well a Specifications section detailing how the invention works. Specifications are tied to drawings and this section generally includes many numerical references that relate to specific parts of a drawing.
Background	(Searched within Description/Specifications) Contains explanations for why an invention is needed by identifying problems with how a current situation is handled and how this invention will improve the situation. Essentially acts to persuade the patent examiner that the invention is needed.
Claims	The heart of the patent. Claims spell out exactly what the patent covers. If something about a marketing process is not listed here then most likely it is not covered by the patent.
References Cited	This is information gathered by the applicant and/or by the patent examiner to show that research was undertaken to locate previous evidence of the invention. Since one of the key criteria for being awarded a patent is that the invention must be novel and not previously available, this section amounts to offering supporting evidence that a certain marketing method did not exist at the time an invention was filed.
Drawing	Nearly all patents require the inventor to provide images of the invention that may consist of pictures, sketch drawings or, of particular interest for business method patents, flow diagrams showing the steps for carrying out a marketing process.

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