Product development requires research to determine if the idea already exists or if your product is an improvement on a product that already exists.
The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office is the place to start when looking for patent information. The database is searchable by keyword or patent number.
Discover patents from around the world with the Google Patent Search. Here is information on searching along with organization and information provided in the results.
A trademark is a brand name. It contains a name or symbol that distinguishes a good or service. It is important to know what trademarks are already out there before launching your concept to avoid trademark infringement.
U.S. Patent and Trademark Office
The Trademark Electronic Search System (TESS) can be used to search for wording of trademarks and description of a trademark design.