Locate A Patent Opportunity

Sometimes a business opportunity can be found by locating a patent for a product or service that has commercial value but has never been produced, or has been produced but inadequately marketed. This could include patents which have expired and can be duplicated without a licence.

Some Examples

1. A farmer recognized a need for mechanical rock-pickers and wanted to manufacture and market such a product. He performed a patent search, contacted the patent owners and purchased the patent rights from a patent owner who wasn't producing his rock-picker and started producing the rock-picker himself.

2. In 1944, the president of an existing company read an article about a dry copier which had been invented in 1938 but never produced. He purchased the patent rights from the inventor and his company developed a line of dry office copiers based on this patent. In 1960, the company changed its name to Xerox Inc.

3. A patents searcher looks for old patents for products that were ahead of their time and could still be marketable today.

How To Do It

1. Select an area of patents you wish to search (e.g. such categories as electrical, mechanical, chemical, seeds and plants, and style design).

2. To start your search:
   • read the Patent Office Record at the local library and ask the librarian to help you conduct a patents search using library materials--professional searchers can save you time and effort with their knowledge, skills and modern tools;
   • contact university industry liaison offices which specialize in university patents and technology transfer;
   • contact the federal patents office in Hull, Quebec, indicating the type of patents you are looking for.
   • contact a patents attorney or agent for professional assistance (look in the Yellow Pages phone book under Patents Attorneys and Agents - Registered);
   • locate a company or organization which deals with the design and marketing of
   • patents, (e.g., Yellow Pages under Patent Development and Marketing) and ask for information about rights to patented products or services they are currently developing for clients; advertise for inventors to contact you in reference to their patented products and services or contact major companies which may own patents for products they are not currently producing;

Key Questions

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