BME 417: Capstone Design I

Bioengineering

Business and Economic Databases

Business Basics

Patents

Standards

Slides from the class lecture 

Magic of Patent Information
An introduction to patents from WIPO.  

US Patent and Trademark Office

• Patents Granted and Applications Databases
• Manual of Classification

 Google 

• Google Patents (US)
  Use this primarily to get PDF copies of U.S. patents

European Patent Office

• Worldwide Database

To search for patents by "topic":

1. Search USPTO Granted and Application Databases by keyword
   
   
2. Note the classes/subsclasses for these patents
   Classes/subclasses for the patent are found on it's front page next to "U.S. Cl." (Example: 273/428)
   
   
3. Look up the classes/subclasses in the Manual of Classification
   
   
4. Read the definitions and explore around that classification area
   Remember:
• Look for the specific component that you are improving/creating, not the whole product.
  Example:
• "Seat" not a "bicycle"  
  
  
• Consider what the component is, not what it's used for.
  Example:
• "Straddle seat" rather than a "bicycle seat"
  
  
• Don't forget your engineering basics! Consider how the component works. 
  Example:
• "Refrigeration unit employing gas-liquid contact" rather than an "air-conditioner"
  
  
5. View the patents and applications for the appropriate classes/subclasses
   Click on the red P icon to see patents in that category; click on the blue A icon to see applications in that category.
   
   
6. Do these patents give you other possibilities for the class/subclass?  If so, repeat steps 3-5.