It often can be helpful for an innovator to self-perform a very brief and basic search to see if their innovation is already known to the public. This step can help avoid wasting time preparing a detailed description of an innovation that is not patentable.
Yet before embarking on an innovation search, it often can be beneficial for the innovator to prepare a rough Problem/Solution Statement to guide that search. Properly drafted, a Problem/Solution Statement succinctly describes an innovative concept that (hopefully) uniquely solves a given problem.
Here is an example of a problem/solution statement:
For many of those who suffer from arthritis that substantially inhibits their use of both of their hands, the problem of adequately gripping a can opener is uniquely solved by sizing each handle of the can opener to have a minimum cross-sectional dimension of between roughly 1.0 and 1.5 inches.
Well-written Problem/Solution Statements serve to clarify the problem that the innovator has addressed, specify the structures and/or activities that uniquely solve the problem, and limit the scope of the search, thereby constraining search costs and time. Most innovators find that with a well-written Problem/Solution Statement in hand, a strong innovation search can be performed much more easily.
Many innovation searches rely on searchable databases of published United States Patent Applications and granted United States Patents, which are available from: The USPTO at patft.uspto.gov and FreePatentsOnline at www.freepatentsonline.com.
Both of these search engines allow you to enter relevant keywords (such as those used in the problem/solution statement) and find patent publications that utilize those keywords.
FreePatentsOnline also allows you to specify proximity searches, such as when one keyword must appear within a specified number of words of another.
If the innovator isn’t able or willing to perform an innovation search, or they don’t find patentability-defeating prior art, consider hiring a competent patent professional to perform a more extensive patentability search. But no matter what, be sure to search for relevant prior art before investing heavily in patenting.