One of the major functions of the patent system is invention identification, protection, and dissemination of technical information. “Patent information is a valuable and comprehensive source of technical, commercial, and legal information that can be used for invention identification and directly for scientific and experimental purposes.” Patents are primary source documents and can be used to discover new areas of research, for ideas to improve existing research, or to see if a product has already been developed.

Learn about:

1. General Prior Art Search Methods for Cursory Prior Art Reporting – Overview of intellectual property and how to provide the OSU Office of Technology Commercialization or IP attorney with helpful results and how (Identify innovation, Google Patents search methods, what to record)
2. Using the Patent Public Search at the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office to identify classifications for more comprehensive patent search results
3. Literature and prior art review using Library databases