Q: How can I find out if someone patented a car motor in California.
My ex husband designed a car motor while we were married. He passed away in February and he was in dealings with a car company to sell his design. When he passed his roommates didn’t allow me or his mom to get his things. So I don’t have anything to prove it was his design unless I can find the patent. Is there a way to look for this patent with his name?
A:
I am sorry that someone you once loved intensely has died.
One place to look for an indication that your ex-husband assigned rights in an invention over to another entity is the assignment database -- https://assignment.uspto.gov/patent/index.html#/patent/search
A limitation of this is that many patent applications are hidden until 18 months into the process (or the patent issues whichever is first). Thus, recent work may be hidden in the pipeline. If the application was first filed in the PCT system, it may not show up in the US for 34 months after filing.
Even if your ex-husband never completed the deal, it is possible that that patent application was filed in his name and you can see that by searching for his name in Google Patents. https://patents.google.com/
It is possible that the status of this invention and his intent for how this should be handled after his death is in his will.
I hope that this helps.
Kevin E Flynn
1 user found this answer helpful
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