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How can I find out whether my invention is new and patentable?

Home » Entrepreneurship » New Inventions » How can I find out whether my invention is new and patentable?

To be patented, your invention must fall within one of the three statutory classes, but it also must fulfill three other requirements:

Novelty - The invention must be new. If it has been publicly known, used or sold anywhere in the United States, or described in printed material available anywhere in the world more than one year before the date of your patent application, your invention cannot be patented. It�s important to remember that even if you yourself use the invention publicly or describe it on e-mail, at a conference or in published form more than a year before your patent application, it is probable that you have disqualified your invention from receiving a patent. Secret efforts toward commercialization by an inventor can also constitute a public use that can disqualify a patent.
Utility - Being new or different isn't enough. For an invention to be patentable, it must also be useful. The invention must perform the function you say it does and benefit society in some way. A machine that doesn't perform its intended purpose is not useful, and therefore cannot be patented.
Non-obvious - To be patentable, your invention must give new and non-obvious results compared to known methods. Ordinary differences in size, materials or other noticeable modifications are usually not patentable.

Determining patentability is a complicated enterprise. A reputable patent attorney or agent can be consulted to sort out the legal and technical complexities.

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