LINKS TO USEFUL SITES

Inventing and patenting is all about researching what has been done before us (prior art) and defining the  direction to proceed with advancements.  Below are some sites to help you do both.

United States Patent and Trademark Office:
As you might know, the USPTO is where we will need to file your patent application.  Their website is full of useful information about the patenting process including provisional applications, utility applications, design patent applications, or PCT (international) information.

Google Patents:
Google, as you know, is an excellent research tool.  Google Patents is a great free site to research the prior art for the US, accessing both issued patents and published patents.  At this point, however, they do not have access to international patents and applications.

Delphion:
This is a pay patent research resource (from roughly $125 to $250 a month).  There are excellent tools to help you in your search, which can include international patents and applications. 

World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO):
This is an agency of the United Nations concerned with international intellectual property, mainly, for our concern, the PCT system.

Esp@cenet:
A good resource for researching European patent offices.