Inventor? Find out if you're the first to file a patent, online and in the library.In the past, if you wanted to assess the novelty of an idea, you had to wade through the patent database at the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (PTO) in Virginia -- or hire a lawyer to do a patent search for $500 and up. The cost and inconvenience of these searches often meant that good ideas were left to rot on the vine.In Patent Searching Made Easy, find the plain-English information you need to:verify the patent status of an ideasearch Patent and Trademark Depository Librariesuse online patent search servicesA physicist, engineer, and patent searching expert, author David Hitchcock gives you the vocabulary, instructions and strategies you need to search for a patent quickly and easily. He explains how the PTO classifies different types of inventions, so that you can assign your idea to the right class, compare it to related ideas and then determine if it's novel enough to qualify for a patent.Patent Searching Made Easy shows you how do patent searches yourself, on the Internet, at little or no cost. Read Less