F INDING F EDERAL GOVERNMENT I NFORMATION AND N EW I NVENTIONS OR T RADEMARKS (H OW D O Y OU P ROTECT T HEM ?) Suzanne L. Reinman Documents Librarian 501 Edmon Low Library (405) ,

G OVERNMENT I NFORMATION Anything published by a government entity (federal, state, international, etc.) is a government publication This includes laws, regulations, statistics, research, maps, etc. They are primary sources The U.S. Government is the largest publisher in the world

D EPOSITORY L IBRARIES Depository libraries are those libraries specifically designated by the U.S. Government Printing Office (GPO) to receive and make available U.S. government publications through the Federal Depository Library Program. There are close to 1,200 federal depository libraries located throughout the United States, with at least one in every Congressional District. All provide free public access to the great extent of federal government information, in both print and electronic formats. The authority for the Depository Library Program is in Title 44, Chapter 19 of the United States Code.

D EPOSITORY L IBRARIES IN O KLAHOMA There are 2 Regional Depository libraries and 18 Selective Depository libraries in Oklahoma. The Regional libraries, the Oklahoma State University Library and the Oklahoma Department of Libraries receive and make available all materials distributed for public dissemination by the U.S. GPO.Oklahoma State University LibraryOklahoma Department of Libraries The Selective libraries receive and make available a percentage of the available information.

F INDING U.S. G OVERNMENT I NFORMATION 95 percent of current materials are issued online Search the library online catalog See one of the online search options that follow Ask for help for older or paper publications Documents reference desk 5 th floor See Finding Government Information

1. L OCATING F EDERAL I NFORMATION O NLINE Start with one of the 2 search engines for federal information USA.gov Search box and subject guide Google U.S. Government U.S. Government Printing Office Fdsys/GPOAccess U.S. laws, regulations, Budget, Congress, etc.

2. L OCATING F EDERAL I NFORMATION O NLINE U SING AN A GENCY OR S UBJECT SITE Agency website Consumer Product Safety Commission Subject website Recalls.gov

3. S TART WITH YOUR P ROFESSIONAL A SSOCIATION OR A TEXTBOOK American Apparel and Footwear Association  Resources  Industry Links  Government Fibersource Class textbook

E NVIRONMENTAL P ROTECTION A GENCY (EPA) A-Z Index or Laws and Regulations Search Laws, Regs, Guidance and Dockets Search term: dyes textiles

U.S. L AWS (A CTS ) U.S. Code, U.S. Statutes = U.S. Law In paper copy in depository libraries, ask for help USA.gov Type in the act using quotes “fur products labeling act” Truth in Fur Labeling Act Federal agencies such as the CPSC will have pages on their websites giving the full-text of the act and related regulations

U.S. R EGULATIONS Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) Electronic CFR USA.gov mattress regulations Go to the agency Consumer Product Safety Commission

I NDUSTRY S TANDARDS Federal regulations and industry standards often work together, so check both ASTM American Society for Testing and Materials ANSI American National Standards Institute Use the websites as indexes. We have the actual standards at the OSU Library

I MPORT R EGULATIONS Office of U.S. Trade Representative Administers U.S. Trade Agreements See specific agreement or search by Trade Topic (Textiles & Apparel) See also Federal Trade Commission U.S. International Trade Commission Harmonized Tariff Schedule Exports Opportunities by industry

F OREIGN COUNTRY I NFORMATION U.S. Department of State Travel warnings  Travel Warnings  Travel Alerts See also Country Specific Information

Y OU HAVE A NEW PRODUCT, TECHNOLOGY, SERVICE ( OR AN IDEA FOR ONE ) OR NEW RESEARCH What are your first steps?

S TARTING A B USINESS OR R ESEARCH Startup: SEARCH to see if your invention or product already exists and potentially protect your ideas (intellectual property) Planning (business plan) Financing Marketing Employees Taxes Legal aspects

I NTELLECTUAL P ROPERTY Property that can be protected under federal law. Patents Trademarks Copyrights Section 8 of Article 1 of the U.S. Constitution: “Congress shall have Power To promote the Progress of Science and useful Arts, by securing for limited Times to Authors and Inventors exclusive Right to their respective Writings and Discoveries”

IP: P ATENTS Patents reveal solutions to technical problems and they represent an inexhaustible source of information: More than 80 percent of all technical knowledge is described in patent literature Offer protection for 20 years 4 percent of U.S. patents issued make it into commerce

P OTENTIAL PATENTS Automatic shower curtain New design for a toothbrush Keyless opening of doors Light or reflector on a shoe Car with sensors and navigation

IP: T RADEMARKS A Trademark is a name or logo for a company, good, or service that is in use in commerce Can be at the federal or state level Do not expire if fees are paid

Word MarkPOISON IVY Goods and ServicesIC 009. US G & S: musical sound and video recordings Mark Drawing Code(1) TYPED DRAWING

P RELIMINARY P ATENT AND T RADEMARK R ESEARCH Do a preliminary check of U.S. patents and trademarks to see if your invention or name already exists in the U.S. via the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office website

P RELIMINARY V. P ROFESSIONAL A search done on the USPTO Web site for U.S. patents or trademarks is a PRELIMINARY search (does not include other countries, etc.) Before applying for a patent or trademark, contact a patent attorney to have a professional search and application completed

T HE P ATENT AND T RADEMARK L IBRARY AT OSU Part of the USPTO’s Patent and Trademark Depository Library Program : a nationwide network of 84 libraries set up to disseminate patent and trademark information and support the intellectual property needs of the public We are located on the 5 th floor of the OSU Library and we have a website Call to make an appointment for assistance!

W HAT IS A P ATENT ? (U.S.) Provision in Title 35 of the United States Code Must be a new and useful machine, item of manufacture or composition Must be non-obvious, and reproducible by one skilled in the art Patent grants the right to exclude others from making, using, or selling an invention Three types of patents: utility, design, and plant

W HAT CANNOT BE PATENTED ? An idea: inventions must be reducible to practice Laws of nature/naturally occurring articles Scientific principles Methods of doing business Exceptions: software and Internet methods of doing business

U TILITY P ATENTS What we think of as a “patent” Protect how the item WORKS Legal language defines the actual parameters of the protection Length of protection is 20 years from date of file, provided maintenance fees are paid Applications are published 18 months after filing (American Inventors Protection Act AIPA)

Stephen McKeever, OSU Physics Dept.: Method for Determining and Unknown Aborbed Dose of Radiation.. Assigned to the OSU Board of Regents A bimodal method for determining an unknown absorbed dose of radiation. An irradiated material is illuminated with ultraviolet or visible light and the luminescence which is emitted from the material is detected. The illuminating light is pulsed, with pulse widths varying from 1 ns to 500 ms. The luminescence emission from dosimetric traps is monitored after a delay following the end of the illumination pulse. Current U.S. Class: 250/459.1; 250/484.5

D ESIGN & P LANT P ATENTS Design patents protect how the item LOOKS Less expensive to obtain, protect for 14 years Plant patents protect a variety of plant such as roses, begonias, etc.

P ATENTS W ORLDWIDE Most industrialized countries offer inventors protection in the form of a patent. Standards vary from country to country. If an invention has been patented in one country, it cannot be patented in another: it has already been patented in the “world.” There are international treaties that allow U.S. inventors to obtain patent protection in other countries if they take certain required steps (See WIPO,

D O YOU NEED A PATENT ? Patents: Are a bureaucratic, complicated venture Are expensive: average cost $8,000-$15,000 and up Need assistance from a patent attorney to be successfull Take a while to issue: from the date of filing, 1.5 to 2 years Consult with an attorney, OSU New Product Development Center or Small Business Development Center, weigh the pros and cons

T RADEMARKS AND C OPYRIGHT Check trademarks to see if a name or logo for a good or service is in use Copyright will give protection to creative expression in the form of literary works, performing arts, sound recordings, visual arts

W HAT IS A F EDERALLY R EGISTERED T RADEMARK ? Provision in Title 15 of the United States Code Word, name, symbol or device that identifies the good/services of one entity from goods/services of another in interstate commerce (all 50 states) Protection is indefinite, if fees are paid See ® symbol is a registered mark. “Tm” and “Sm” indicate an unregistered Good and Service. State protection available if doing business in one state only

C OPYRIGHT Provision in Title 17 of the United States Code Protection for creative expression, not the facts Automatic protection is given to printed works, software, artwork, photo, video, software and practically everything on the Internet, once “fixed in any tangible medium of expression” but register for more protection ($45 fee) Duration of protection runs the life of the author, plus 70 years See the U.S. Copyright Office at the Library of Congress

T RADE S ECRETS Patents are published, and eventually protection runs out If something is so essential to a company’s business that they don’t want anyone else ever to be able to use it, they keep it as a trade secret and do not disclose it Examples: the formula for Coca-Cola, the recipe for Kentucky Fried Chicken

U.S. AND I NTERNATIONAL C LASSIFICATION S YSTEMS U.S. and an international classification systems classify patents by technology groups Noted on the first page of a patent It is important to determine the appropriate classes/subclasses for your invention and to examine all of the patents in those classes/subclasses

T HERE ARE 470+ U.S. C LASSES F IND CLASSES APPLICABLE TO YOUR PRODUCT / RESEARCH

T O DETERMINE WHERE YOUR INVENTION / RESEARCH FITS IN THE 470 CLASSES Start with a keyword search Locate applicable patents Examine their classifications Search these classifications

S TEPS TO S TARTING A P ATENT S EARCH 1. Start at Google Patents Click on the Advanced Search 3. Think of words that describe your research/invention and type these in the first box: “with all of the words" 4. Look through the list of patents retrieved and locate a patent that is in your area of research 5. Click on it and then click on ‘View Patent at USPTO” 5. Note the classes/subclasses on this patent. 6. Plug these in at USPTO 7. Click on the red ‘P’s’ to examine all patents in those classes. 8. Also search published applications by class. 9. Can also search by Inventor, Location, Date, etc. For international patents search Espacenet

A MOTORIZED OR AUTOMATED SHADE SYSTEM FOR AN AUTOMOBILE Example search automatic sun shade

Google Patents  Advanced Search

Scan down through the list of patents until you find one that looks close to your project.

Note classes and subclasses. If this patent is close to your idea, all of the patents in these classes/subclasses should be examined. Click here to see the full-text and images of the patent at USPTO.

Click here for official U.S. patent with images

This is page one of patent no. 6,666,493: Automatic Sun Visor and Solar Shade System for Vehicles Use Current U.S. Classes noted in a patent and go back and do a thorough class/subclass search: 296/ /97.8

HTTP :// WWW. USPTO. GOV / GO / CLASSIFICATION /

I N CLASS 296 L AND V EHICLES, 97.4 W ITH ACTUATING MEANS FOR MOVING Click on the red P’s and blue A’s to see the patents and pending patents in any of the subclasses. You can view patents back to Click on the subclass numbers for definitions or more information about the subclass.

IP S PECIFIC TO D ESIGN /T EXTILES A Stitch in Time Smart Use of IP by Textile Companies _pub_794.pdf _pub_794.pdf Designs Levi’s pocket, registration no. 1,139,254 Crayola Legislation