U.S. Patent Search Tracking Sheet
Using the US Patent Office Web Site patent search page found at http://patft.uspto.gov/netahtml/PTO/search-bool.html search for patented items similar to yours. 
•	Use the quick search tool to enter up to two keywords to use.
•	You could get a couple hundred hits on your search, so try to use more specific keywords
o	i.e. Television vs. "High Definition" & Television 
•	HINT: Search the Title first. It will usually give you the most reliable results
•	Click on the title of various patents to see if they may be similar to your innovation. 
o	HINT: Many patents contain images or schematic drawings.
•	Click the IMAGES link to view images of that patents. 
•	Not all patents have images. Be sure to give enough time for the large images to download. 
•	You don't have to read the entire patent. Read the "abstract," which is a short description of the patent. It will give you a good idea about what is patented and if it is similar to your item.
•	If you find similar innovations or inventions as your object/product, record the patent number(s) in the table below with a brief description and a summary of the claims of the inventor.

Search Term(s)	U.S. Patent #	Brief Description	Claims	

				

				

				

U.S. Patent Application
Congratulations!  You have designed a unique product that you want to have issued a U.S. patent.  In order to have a patent issued, you must fill out the application below.  This is an oversimplified version of what actual patent applicants must do.

Special Instructions:
Abstract: Describe your new invention in a paragraph or two.
Claim:  Write a brief description of what your new invention will do.
Images:  Write a detailed description of what your invention looks like.  If you have the ability to put a picture of your invention on the application do that in this section. A real patent application will have multiple views of the invention to show as much detail of the design as possible.  This is to help prove the uniqueness of the invention and help protect the invention from “copy-cats.”

Name of Item:	
Abstract:
	
Inventor Name:
Date:	
Claim(s):	
Image(s):