Therefore, despite the fact that the results of a patent search may indicate that your invention is patentable, the invention will nonetheless be unpatentable if anyone offered the same invention for sale, published an article about the invention, or disclosed it publicly more than one year prior to the filing of your patent application. Unfortunately, just because someone else didn't try to patent a certain invention, this does not guarantee you the right to patent the same invention. Unfortunately, you cannot significantly reduce the likelihood that someone else has patented your invention merely by checking the Sears catalog, researching the market, and browsing through shops at a mall. The primary advantage of your performing your own patent search is saving money so that you can afford to pursue this hobby even if your first effort fails. Inventors rarely ever just come up with one invention, and that one invention succeeds.
Patent attorneys are some of the highest paid professionals.
As I already mentioned, of the inventions for which a patent practitioner performs a patent search and writes a patentability opinion, about half are not patentable. You can increase the probability significantly by pre-screening your inventions through the performance of your own patent survey search. Someone will take your call and put you on a waiting list for a short, but worthwhile class on patent searching. During this class, you will watch an instructional video which covers the basics of performing your own patent search. The library staff requires you to watch the video before you perform your search.