According to Ralph Waldo Emerson, “Build a better mousetrap and the world will beat a path to your door.” I’m not sure that’s true unless, of course, he was referring to The Merchant of Death 2000.*

Patents have been awarded for a plethora of mousetraps, such as…

The Mouse Depot

Smart Mouse Trap

Little Valve® Mouse Trap

According to this reference, “One Internet source indicates that 4,400 mousetrap patents have been issued since John Mast’s patent and over 400 mousetrap patents are filed in the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) annually. However, our own USPTO patent database search yields somewhat less prolific numbers.”

That was in 2002, so we must be at nearly 6,000 mousetrap patent applications filed by now.

How does one keep track of the latest mousetrap patents? A quick search of the USPTO site shows, once unrelated results are eliminated, that roughly mousetrap patents have actually been awarded since 1790. Things are tough in the mousetrap business.

What if you’re really serious about mousetraps? You might want alerts about the latest patent applications—presented each week before the USPTO decides to grant or deny. While the USPTO won’t alert you of such applications, FreshPatents.com will do so for free. It also supports email alerts as well as RSS feeds and keyword monitoring. If you’re in a browsing mood, you can select from a variety of categories such as computers, electronics, industrial, energy, and engines. You can also browse by specific company names.

It’s the kind of site where a Dweeb Like Me can settle in for awhile, with decent indexing, an attractive and functional design and, most importantly, an easy interface into the inventive human mind.

Delphion (The Thompson Corporation) also offers a variety of both U.S. and international patent research tools on a subscription basis, with unique databases of patents that have been applied for and granted. Also available on their site are a couple of freebie areas. Separate galleries of obscure and historic patents are good, clean fun. Who would have thought that the Statue of Liberty and Batmobile were patented?

In case your next, mousetrap-transcending Great Idea is for bird diaper, method of attaching eyewear directly to a person’s temples, or an anti-eating facemask, it’s already been done.

Believe it, or not.

* Atom Films: To Build a Better Mousetrap