By Mary Bellis
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Visiting the PTO:
The Patent and Trademark office
is located in Crystal City (I heard the PTO may
be moving), a section of Arlington, Virginia, along the Jefferson Davis
Highway (U.S. 1) between the Pentagon and the Ronald Reagan Washington
National Airport. I was surprised to discover that over 60,000 people live
in Crystal City, because the place feels like a drive-thru zone. The huge
ten-block area has parking lots, shopping malls, tunnels and walkways.
Everything was created in the same brown brick and white stucco, the ultimate
in late 1980s architecture. I'm glad to say the people are all human, even
if the environment is not. Crystal City is full of warm and helpful people
who don't mind telling you the difference between Crystal Plaza 3, Crystal
Gateway 3 and Crystal Square 3. They are used to people looking for the
U.S. Patent and Trademark Museum. The museum itself is a disappointment
(could they have found a smaller room?), but what is on display is well
worth the visit. If you have business elsewhere with the PTO, try to make
it over there.
U.S. Patent & Trademark Museum
2121 Crystal Dr, Suite 0100
Arlington, VA 22202
(703) 305-8341
Patent
Searches:
The real fun started when I finally
found the "Patent Search Room" which contains copies of all U.S. patents
issued from 1790 to the present. The patent back file collection in paper
form is arranged in accordance with the U.S.
Patent Classification System. The collection is also available in numerical
order on 16mm microfilm and in bound paper volumes. Automated searching
is available by use of CD-ROM products and APS-Text
Search. You can receive training to use the APS-Text Search, which
I suggest you do since the per-hour rate is nothing to sniff about. Paper,
microfilm and CD-ROM searches are free. Staff members can assist customers
in locating appropriate files and reference materials, within reason (outside
reason, they will charge you).
Patent
Search Room
2021 South Clark Place
Crystal Plaza 3, Room 1A01
Arlington, VA 22202
Open weekdays (except holidays)
from 8:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m. For information, call 703-308-0595.
The first place I visited was the collection of the early "Patent Office Reports" and "Official Gazettes," a historical treasure trove of innovation kept in dusty, almost-ready-to-fall-apart hardcover volumes with pages and pages of every mousetrap made in America. After perusing a few horse-and-carriage patents, I headed across the room to examine the paper stacks. This is where I struck up a few conversations with the patent rats, a group of hardcore inventors who can't stop doing patent searches. Actually, a few inventors have turned their sharp search skills into an interesting line of work by doing professional searches for others. I was informed (tongue in cheek, of course) that you had to be crazy to want to do a job like that.
Getting a Patent: All
about patents, the patent application process and guides to filing.
In summary: The Patent and Trademark
office is the place to apply for a patent. This is when you are going to
have to tell everything about that invention you have been keeping a secret
for so long. I suggest that you first read General
Information Concerning Patents and Patent
FAQ. About one in five patents issued were issued to pro se
applications
where the inventor filed without the help of a patent
attorney or agent. Conversely, that means 4 out of 5 patents issued
were to those inventors who used the help of a lawyer or agent. Applying
for a patent is not an easy process, but whatever you decide to do, educate
yourself first about the patent process. Our subject page on patents
is an excellent resource of information.
Continue with >> What is the United States Patent and Trademark Office? What is a patent and what is the history of patents?
all artwork ©MaryBellis
