As a single, working mother with three young children, Sharon Zumm of Rochelle, Va. needed an extra hand to manage her two toddler sons while feeding her baby daughter.

Zumm believed if she could find a baby-bottle holder that an infant could grasp, she could free up one arm during mealtime. In 1991, after a futile search for what she needed, Zumm invented the “Bottle Bunny,” a plush, stuffed toy that holds a bottle in several positions that very young children can grasp. Six months ago, Zumm’s company, Smile Time Inc., began marketing the Bottle Bunny on the Internet and in local gift stores. (Her site is www.bottlebunny.com, and her phone number is 800-775-0621.)

Like all inventors, Zumm’s greatest challenge in bringing her new product to market was not creating a prototype or finding a manufacturer, but obtaining a patent. Before you start the process, which can be lengthy and expensive, you have to determine whether or not your idea belongs to someone else.

“Because the Bottle Bunny had a function, I had to get a utility patent, which is the most difficult to get,” said Zumm, who hired an attorney to assist her with the patent search and application process. The search revealed several baby bottle holders, and Zumm and her attorney had to explain to an examiner why her design deserved its own patent.

“Ninety-five percent of patent applications to the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) are appealed (questioned by examiners),” said Zumm.

The USPTO receives about 3,300 applications every week and registers 200,000 patents and trademarks every year.

For new inventors and small-business owners, the risk of unwittingly infringing on an existing trademark or patent is considerable, and the consequences can be dire. Having to cease production or change the name of your company can be financially disastrous.

Architect Keith Burns and his associate, Michael Graeff, faced a potential disaster two years ago when they created the name Studio BiG, a clever combination of their last-name initials, for the new design firm they were founding in Surf City, N.J.

Burns wanted to make sure there were no conflicts. After a search on the Internet revealed only similarities with very large corporations, Burns turned to Mark Search Plus, a new online patent and trademark search service found at www.marksearch.com. The service is offered by MicroPatent, an East Haven, Conn., company that publishes patent and trademark information on CD-ROM. The subscription-based service costs just $35 for unlimited searches during a 24-hour period, and prompts users through an extensive search that helps them think like a patent attorney.

“Small-business owners know that they have to look for these conflicts, but they don’t know what they’re looking for,” said Lynn Tellefsen, director of marketing for Mark Search Plus. While searching the USPTO database is free, few people can conduct an exhaustive search without hiring an attorney.

“Trademarks that are confusingly similar, look or sound the same, or are used on similar goods and services can be a problem,” said Tellefsen. “Small businesses don’t have departments or time to figure this out, or budgets for lawyers that charge $350 to $500 for one search,” she said.

Mark Search Plus was designed by Alan Davidson, a former USPTO examiner and patent attorney who is now executive vice president of MicroPatent. The service prompts users through the “logic” of evaluating conflicts and provides tech support from trademark experts.

For his $35 fee, architect Burns found several conflicts without amassing hefty legal fees. He changed his firm’s name to BiG Design before it was too late. Mark Search Plus files are updated weekly, giving users access to about 1 million more files than are available on the USPTO database. It also provides obsolete records that the USPTO does not.

“Even if a trademark is no longer in use, a discontinued product still sits on shelves,” Tellefsen explained. Mark Search Plus also has functions that allow searches and comparisons of designs and graphics, which the USPTO database does not. “You will find McDonald’s on the USPTO (database), but you won’t find Golden Arches,” she said.

Entrepreneurs should keep in mind that while Mark Search Plus is an alternative way to search for registered patents and trademarks, it is not a substitute for the USPTO application process. And, while the service may be cheaper than paying a lawyer to do multiple searches, you will probably need an attorney as the process continues.

For example, Zumm’s attorney knew to include in her application all bottle-holding stuffed animals, not just bunnies, and variations like musical animal holders. “If you find something that looks suspect, or if you really like the name, consult a trademark attorney,” Tellefsen said.

Small businesses also need to protect their logos and printed materials by copyrighting and/or trademarking them. (I trademarked Succeeding in Small Business, the name of this column, years ago to protect it from infringement.)

Though the law loosely allows that the rights to a name go to whoever first used it commercially, small businesses rarely win disputes with large companies. Often, large companies will purchase these rights from small businesses. This practice is becoming common in cyberspace, where large corporations often find that the domain names of their company and products have already been registered. Then they try to buy the rights back.

Tellefsen said Network Solutions Inc., the primary company that registers Web addresses, recognizes federally registered trademarks. If you provide a copy of your federal trademark registration, NSI generally upholds your right to register the domain name.

Finally, the biggest mistake entrepreneurs make in this area is the common misconception that the USPTO is a policing organization. It is not. It is up to you to monitor the marketplace for illegal uses of your name or product and take the necessary legal action. For more easy-to-understand information on patents, Nolo Press, based in Berkeley, publishes a variety of excellent self-help legal books. Its Web address is www.nolo.com.

Jane Applegate is a syndicated columnist and author of “201 Great Ideas for Your Small Business.” For more resources, visit [email protected]. Reporting assistance by Robin Wallace.