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KnowThis Tutorial: Marketing Method Patents
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Page 3 of 15
Patents vs. Applications
The USPTO search area allows for search of Issued Patents and Patent Applications. Issued patents are just that, they are inventions that have been patented. Patent Applications are filed applications under review but have not yet been awarded a patent. The important point regarding Patent Applications is that not all filed patent applications are available for search. Patent law requires that most patent applications must be published (i.e., made publicly available) within 18 months of the filing date. And some patent applications do not have to be published at all before being awarded a patent. Consequently, marketers searching for potentially competitive MMP need to be aware that patent applications may be on file but not accessible to the searcher. So searchers should be wary. Just because it can’t be seen does not mean that someone has not claimed an invention of a marketing process. Quick Search vs. Advanced Search
The USPTO offers both a Quick Search and Advanced Search options. Quick Search offers straight forward searching of up to two terms at a time. It also allows the user to select fields (default is All Fields) to be searched. Results are provided showing patent number and title with the most recent patents listed first. Unfortunately, the searcher must spend time shifting through patent titles, which as previously discussed, may not be significantly descriptive to offer a good indication of the actual purpose of the patent. Search refinement is possible with Quick Search but to work well the searcher must first understand Advanced Search. Advanced Search allows for more complex queries using Boolean terms including AND, OR and ANDNOT, and also allows for searching within patent sections using field code abbreviations. These options can help narrow search results but the learning curve for using Advanced Search is longer than with Quick Search. However, understanding Boolean and abbreviate field codes will also help with Quick Search since refining Quick Search generally requires both.
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Marketing Method Patents 