The Hunt For Big Fish with Larry Dahlberg

Hello, I was wondering how to find out if an idea for a bait has already been patented or not.I'm in the process of taking my hobby to the next level and don't want to step on any toes.Mostly making bucktails and leaders to start but have recentely bought your kits for soft and hard baits.Got a bunch of ideas but being just a family business out of our home I don't want to start selling or making anything that will get me in trouble.Any info or help will be greatly appreciated.Thanks Russ

hi w
great question!
you do something called a patent search. if you google "how to apply for a patent" I'm sure you will get pretty good info.

For your own idea, my only suggestion is to do what I have done; write a short abstract describing the existing solutions and your new solution, plus of course why yours is an improvement over the current state of the art.
Accompany it with drawings, a sample, date it and take it to a notary. Schedule a visit with a patent attorney.
Check out our lure building contest at makelure.com

Before you begin selling them commercially, be sure to thoroughly understand and comply with the federal excise tax as it applies to fishing products!

wishing you the very best success!


L

Thanks Larry, I will definetley be working on a couple projects checking out the contest closer.Maybe I can get one of them done in time.Looking forward to it and thanks for offering us all a chance at something like this. Russ

Hi wicked,

I have a little experience doing my own patent searches so I thought I'd share a few tips.

The most comprehensive online search database I am aware of is http://patft.uspto.gov/netahtml/PTO/search-adv.htm but it is anything but user friendly.

Google has a patent search which is not as comprehensive but much more user friendly: http://www.google.com/patents

When searching be sure to try all the possible synonyms for the words that describe the seemingly unique aspects of your idea and don't assume it will necessarily have any particular word like fishing or lure, etc... in the text. Finally, to really be confident about whether an idea is unique you probably need to have a professional do a patent search which seems to run somewhere in the neighborhood of $800 and $1200, but you can rule allot out on your own and in some cases you may be able to confirm that something was patented but the patent protection period has expired. You also may be able to save some money by bringing the research you have done to a professional so that they have a head start.

Just to be clear I am not an attorney, this is not legal advice and I am not an expert in these matters; I'm just sharing my experiences.

Thanks Aj, I found that the wording and way you look them up can be tricky. I'll try out the other links you attached.Thanks for the info and don't worry not looking for someone to blame if it goes wrong just getting info and doing research to prevent the problems ahead of time. Russ