You can do your own basic patent search at a Patent Depository Library, but by far the easiest way to do a search today is to do it on the Internet through Google(tm) Patents (U.S Patents Only) . To search for the patents filed in USA simply go to the web site of the United States Patent and Trademark Office. To search for the patents filed in INDIA simply go to the web site of the Indian Patent Office, www.patentoffice.nic.in and click on the button patent search. There are also several paid databases to obtain the patent information.

The Internet patent search has one problem in that inventions similar to yours may not use the key words that you insert. For example, the key words shampoo holder might miss many patents that don’t use that term. A shampoo bottle might be referred to as one to x inch cylindrical bottle and the holder might be referred to a vertical support plate with a hook. One way to overcome this is to check the prior art patents that are listed on the patents you do find. In the top right hand corner of a patent is the prior art that the inventor or patent examiner used. Look up those patents by number, which can be done on any of the patent search site. See what key words are used on those patents, and if some are different be sure to use a key word search under that name too.