How to verify a company's "patent pending" claim?

[bronsin]

I've seen ads for a company that offers a questionable service with the claim that they use "patent pending technology." They've been advertising like this for over 3 years, and have never provided a patent application number.

How can I research their claim to see if it's bogus or real? How long can they keep claiming they have a patent pending?

[lalla3]

I've seen ads for a company that offers a questionable service with the claim that they use "patent pending technology." They've been advertising like this for over 3 years, and have never provided a patent application number.

How can I research their claim to see if it's bogus or real? How long can they keep claiming they have a patent pending?

uspto.gov. You are right to be skeptical; they probably did not get a patent.

[taryn31]

They can claim "patent pending" for as long as there is a patent pending. For 75 bucks I can file my shopping list as a provisional patent pending (mentioning my wonderful product) and it will last a year, then I file another application for the same thing, slightly modified, and get another year

[abisha]

A "real" patent may be pending for many years, then issued or abandoned or continued in part or divided. I have worked on patents that were issued in part, divided and continued for over ten years.

[devon]

If you go the US government's Patent Office website, you can enter either the patent number or description of an item and get the records. Patents and the pending status are applied for as soon as the company or inventor conceives of a notion-often years before they actually bring an idea to fruition. I am including the link to the US Patent and Trademark Office page for patent searches.