Inventor’s Literature Review: Guide and Note-taking Sheet

Use the resources on the Technology Engineering resource listto conduct a review of patent and non-patent literature relevant to your proposed invention. Answer the outline questions and take noteson the attached charts.

Background Information on Patents

Use the Background Information and Tutorials to answer these questions:

  1. What is a patent?
  1. What U.S. government agency grants patents?
  1. According to federal patent law, what are the three criteria for patentability?
  1. What are the three types of patents for which an inventor may apply?
  1. What are some purposes for conducting a patent search?
  1. What are your own purposes for conducting a patent search?
  1. What is “priorart?”

Review of Non-Patent Literature and Information Sources

  1. First, prepare a brief working description of your proposed invention for your own reference while conducting this literature review.
  1. Purpose: What does your invention do?
  1. Application: What is it used for?
  1. Structure: What is the invention made of and what are its elements or component parts?
  1. Function: How does it work?
  1. Consumers: Who might benefit from using it?
  1. Search Non-patent Literature and Information sourcesto identify examples of prior art andtheir patent numbers (if available), and to become aware of the key words and phrases or industry jargonused to describe existing inventions and their elements or component parts. These may be useful for additional or alternative keyword searches.Use the attached Review of Non-Patent Literature chart to record your findings.
  1. Use the Non-patent Literature and Information Sources to search the marketplace(online or in person)for existing products, devices or technology related to your invention; the more familiar you are with what’s out there, the more prepared you will be to conduct your patent search.Answer these questions to prepare for your marketplace research:
  1. Where might your proposed device or technology be used?
  1. What consumers would buy your invention? Name the consumer groups, professions, industries, etc. that might want or need your invention.
  1. What existing item(s) will your invention replace?
  1. Where do consumers generally purchase equipment or supplies like what you plan to invent?
  1. Where can I search for similar products or technology in the marketplace? (online vendors/distributors; retail stores or other locations where items may be sold)

As you locateexamples of prior art in placeswhere these items are typically used or sold, take notes on the Review of Non-Patent Literature chart.

Gather patent numbers for related products, which may be useful when you conduct your patent search. Look for patent numbers onmanufactured items or their packaging or in online vendors’product descriptions/manuals when you do your marketplace research.Record patent numbers on the Review of Non-Patent Literature chart.

Review of Patent Literature

  1. To prepare for examining patent applications during your patent search, list and briefly describe the different parts of a patent application:
Conduct a Patent Search
  1. Generate a list of keywords and phrases to use for searching the patent databases. Use descriptive words from your Working Description in #8 above and KeyWords and Phrases from your Non-Patent Literature Review chart. Then, useVisual Thesaurus to generate additional synonyms, and add any other related terms you can think of.
  1. Use the Patent Search Enginesto conduct a search for patented prior art.
  1. Search on the keywords you generated in #12 and any patent numbers you gathered on your Review of Non-Patent Literature chart.
  2. Use any available advanced search features to refine your search (Boolean operators, truncation, wild cards, etc.)
  3. Refer to the Tutorials in the Technologiesresource listfor patent search instructions and guidance.
  4. Add new keywords/phrases to your list above as you encounter them in the patents you examine, and search on those.
  5. As you add classification numbers to your chart, use these to search by classificationfor additional examples of prior art related to your invention.
  6. Any patent(s) to which you make reference in your Literature Review must be included in your list of Works Cited, just like any other source; there is a special format for citing patents.Use the Citation Resourcesfor help with formatting apatent citation.
  7. Use the Review of Patent Literature chart to summarize your findings.
  1. Analyze your literature review findings (data on the Review of Non-patent Literature and Review of Patent Literature charts) to determine if your original invention idea is new, non-obvious, and improves upon previous technology.
  1. Reflect on the literature review process to describe problems you encountered, insights that emerged, or changes to your original research idea.

Review of Non-Patent Literature Chart

Examples of Prior Art: Existing Similar Products/Technologies / Key Words and Phrases to Describe
Prior Art / Patent Numbers / How My Invention is Novel, Unobvious, and Improves Upon Prior Art

Review of Patent Literature Chart

Invention Title / Patent Number / Date of Patent / Inventor(s) / Main Int./U.S. Classification Numbers / How My Invention is Novel, Unobvious, and Improves Upon Prior Art