

Ask HN: How do you know if you have something patentable? - tixocloud

Hi,<p>Just curious but how would you know if you&#x27;ve stumbled upon something that is patentable? Is there a database where you can do a search?<p>Disclaimer: Been working on technology that looks like a step up on what was patented years before.<p>Cheers
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Nomentatus
You can search the USPTO, [http://www.uspto.gov/](http://www.uspto.gov/)
(you'd think there'd be another s in that URL, right?) Note what years may not
be there, though and there are submarine patents that are in process but
haven't surfaced yet.

Improvements to another's invention can be patented.

Must be "non-obvious"; but what that means is always disputed. If a great many
of people have seen the problem, but not had your idea, that's good evidence
it's not obvious. Must not have been published more than two years ago by you,
or anywhere by someone else (unless you can show that's your work they just
published.) Can't be prior art (already being used), anywhere.

Meet the above conditions, and the first to the patent office with the
invention, a roll of cash, and someone - anyone - willing to say that, yup,
um, yeah they totally thought that up, wins! Didn't used to be that way but it
is now.

~~~
tixocloud
Thanks for the link. How can anyone prove that it's not prior art? I guess
another challenge would be to prove that it is non-obvious. It seems like it's
fairly obvious to me.

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bosdev
I don't know if what you're talking about is software, or a physical
invention. Based on the word 'technology' though, I'll assume it's software
for a moment. I think the attitude of much of the tech community is that
patents shouldn't generally be applied to software in general. Many
established companies have agreed to only use patents defensively, and most of
the traffic that patents get these days are rebukes against 'patent trolls'
who spend time acquiring patents rather than actually delivering value to
anyone.

I would encourage you to think about starting a business around your tech,
rather than worrying too much about legally defending it. Starting a
successful company requires so many good decisions that it's much more
defensible than most people think. If you were the first one to think of this
idea, you'll also be the first to think of many of the ways it can be used to
deliver value.

~~~
tixocloud
Thanks for the response. Your assumption is correct in that I'm talking about
software.

I agree with your comments and it definitely makes sense. My only worry is
that investors will want to see that the technology is protectable before
investing with their main fear being that the technology can be duplicated
once people get insight into the methodology. It seems like we have a slightly
more conservative investor environment here in Canada.

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mtmail
Google has a not-well-known patent search
[https://www.google.com/?tbm=pts](https://www.google.com/?tbm=pts)

As soon as you file for a patent you can put a "patent pending" note in your
documentation, page footer etc. If it's declined then of course take it out
again. Until then you might have had enough "patent pending" press coverage
though.

~~~
tixocloud
Thanks for the link. I will check it out!

