Skip to Main Content

Patents and Trademarks

Chester Fritz Library resources for the area of Patents and Trademarks

Small Business Development Resources

If you are starting or considering starting your own business, North Dakota offers some great resources. These include:

North Dakota Patents

Inventors from North Dakota have filed nearly 3,000 patents. Their patents range from soybean varieties to special coatings for fishing lures to methods for recharging a mobile robot.

  1. To find patents from North Dakota inventors, start on www.uspto.gov.
  2. Click on "search for patents" at the top right above the "Search our site" option.
    USPTO Home Page
  3. Click on the quick search option for searching the patent database.
    Image of selecting Quick Search from the Searching Full Text Patents options
  4. From the "All Fields" drop-down list, select "Inventor State."
    Image of selecting Inventor State from the drop-down options
  5. Enter the state abbreviation for North Dakota as Term 1. Click on "Search."
    Image of entering ND for Term 1 and selecting Search button

North Dakota Trademarks

North Dakotans have filed for more than 5,000 trademarks.

  1. To find trademarks filed by people from North Dakota. start on www.uspto.gov.
  2. Click on "search for trademarks" at the top right above the "Search our site" option.
    USPTO Home Page
  3. Click on "Word and/or Design Mark Search (Structured)."
    Image of selecting Word and/or Design Mark Search
  4. From the "Field" drop-down list, select "Owner Name and Address."
    Image of selecting Owner Name and Address from Field drop-down list
  5. For your search term, type in "North Dakota," using quotations. Click on "Submit Query."
    Image of entering "North Dakota" for search term and selecting Submit Query

If the trademark lists a "Reg. Number," then the mark is a registered trademark. If not, then someone has applied for the trademark but it has not yet been granted. Also notice whether the mark is "Live" or "Dead" on the right column. If the mark is "Dead," then it may no longer be in use.


Example