Anyone who has chased an idea or two know the chances are of it not being patented previously or presently are fairly siim.

Why wouldn't it be? If something sparked the idea for any of us, the same electricity may have been in the air five, ten, or even twenty years ago.

When we start throwing money at any idea that isn't, and never will be ours, we have no one to blame but ourselves.

If you plan on investing more than "expendable income" on any new product idea, make sure it is new and can be yours. 

Introduce yourself to a patent attorney you would like in your life for obvious reasons. We are amateurs at best compared to Patent Officials. 

However, get a head start if you're up for it. Your Patent Attorney will appreciate your homework.  Also, you may actually find someone else beat you to it. 

It is very possible for any old or new innovator to find "their new idea" in the pile of 10,000,000 patents in the file cabinets of the U.S.P.T.O.

They may be "kids stuff" in the eyes of patent law professionals,  however, the following are examples of what I have done relative to patent searches in the past:

*(Disclaimer: These are my, a layman, examples of several preliminary patent searches I conducted for my own benefit.)

*I found what I was looking for. Using classification codes and prior art lists allowed me to do so.  

All patents are grouped among 250,000 or so codes. You might have an idea for a bird feeder that locks out squirrels. There may be a classification code for varmint free feeders.

Once I find my code relative to my idea, many applicable patents will be filed under it, along with many patents (prior art) that preceded all of them.

I feel classification codes and prior art lists are the best sources for us (non-legal professionals) (innovators) to use before getting carried away with our product ideas. Naturally, they shouldn’t be final without the advice of your future patent attorney.

Example #1

A few years back I had a safety concern relative to toddlers and unseated wall plugs and started thinking about an easy solution. I touched the idea by picturing a spring- loaded skirt around the plug contacts that could retract around the plug as the plug was pushed into the outlet, with the skirt remaining in contact with the cover plate of the outlet and blocking little fingers from touching the contacts.

Going on to Google’s advanced patent search, I typed in electrical plug contacts safety shield.

A list of twenty-two thousand appeared. (Without a classification code, I expected the large number.)

Scanning the images, I stopped at US7094080B2. Safety device for electrical plugs.

Classification code H01R13/44 was presented. Means for preventing access to live contact.

Thirty-three results were presented. There are four patents relative to add-on devices versus built-in.

US54223689A was patented in 1993.

I wanted a prior art date for that type of idea. US2458153A was granted in 1946

I’m sure from the search, what followed were ideas of doing the job a different way, but not until the patent expired. (Sixteen or twenty years later?)

The charge here, for a new patent, is to find a way that hasn’t been patented yet for the technique. Maybe the invention does something else as well? Maybe the invention fits all size plugs?

Example #2

I spent some time a few winters ago working on a combo-idea. Painting rooms can be fun if you’re not in a rush and can take a lot of breaks. I don’t like paint rollers that much, but I love those little pad-painters used for trimming around doors, moldings, and the ceiling. Sometimes they leave tell-tale signs but feathering the edges during application eliminates that. Something in my mind clicked telling be the roller and the edger should be one tool. The roller could be free of the edger and flipping the tool over would make the edger free of the roller. Common sense told me I needed two codes, one for a roller and frame, and one for the pad edger.

I entered paint roller trim pad combination.

I found among many, edge trimming devices for paint roller. US3346899A

B05C17/0235 was picked off as the classification code. Rollers with non-roller applicator

Two of the six patents were like what I was thinking about. One was granted in 1965 and the second in 1987. I think 65’ had protection for 16 years or so. I feel this concept is wide open for some better ways of doing it. The best way is to crudely model it and use it. After a few rooms and a dozen modifications, the invention will become definitive.

Note:: Before investing major dollars in your new product idea, always have a profession conduct your patent search.  Acting anything less than that may simply be a signal that your idea may be original for you to take ownership of.