Once you have searched the stores in your area as thoroughly as you possibly can and have convinced yourself that your idea is not currently being offered in the local stores, it is time to get online and begin an Internet market search. There are a couple of steps to be completed in this search in order to be thorough here and it will be a bit time-consuming, but it is not difficult. You will do a key word search and a catalog search. You will start your Internet search by making a list of key words that might be used to describe your invention. You will be searching through the links to see what products similar to your invention are being offered for sale on the Internet. Even if you feel strongly that no similar products exist, you will be surprised by what a key word search will turn up. Use the most descriptive words you can think of and get as specific as possible in the description. By this, we mean get right down to the most common descriptive words for your invention. For example, if your product is a kitchen gadget, it is far too broad to simply type in, “Kitchen Gadget.” This would bring up many more links than you would want, or need, to search. If the invention is designed for peeling grapes, say so. Type in, “Grape Peeler.” Then, as you begin to click on and follow the links that this brings up, you will find more words on those pages that will help you to reach even more links and get even more specific. For example, you may find words that are specific to that type of product – i.e. rind removal – that would lead you to entirely new links to explore.

Here, you will find a cornucopia of places where products in the category you are searching are being sold. The same stores that you have just visited will likely have links on the Internet. So, why bother to go out to the stores in the first place? Because you want to actually see the similar products that are on store shelves. And, you want to gather the information that you can get from the product labels. If you should find a product that is offered for the same purpose as your idea, you can inspect it closely to see if your idea is an improvement on that product. Also, retailers do not usually have every product that is in their stores on their websites, so it is important to make sure that you do not overlook something by failing to make that trip to the store.

Individuals often make and sell products on the Internet that are offered nowhere else. If you neglect to do a good Internet search, you will miss this prior art. What is prior art?

If an active patent covers a product, you cannot legally make and sell it.

If that patent has expired, that product is said to be in the public domain and is now available to anyone to make and sell.

A product that has never been patented but has been offered for sale to the public is also said to be in the public domain and can never be patented.

All of the above examples are prior art; products that have already been presented to the public and cannot now be patent protected. One of the first things the examiners at the patent office will do when they begin with your application is to initiate a thorough search for prior art. If you failed to find these products but they were found in subsequent searches related to your patenting efforts, your patent would be rejected and you would have spent your money and your time in vain. It pays to be meticulous in your Internet  searching.

Considering the importance of dynamic credit risk modeling, the analysis of the relationship between the two major indicators for credit risk, that is default rates and credit spreads, and the business cycle is central for the understanding of the risks associated with investing in corporate bonds. Especially investors that tend to hold securities to maturity, investing in high yield, or running structured portfolios are concerned about avoiding defaults. While default rates generally are a function of the credit cycle outlined above, their current level is not necessarily reflected in credit spreads. In order to judge the attractiveness of the current spreads, one need to not only forecast the future direction of default rates, but also to see whether they are sufficient to cover potential future losses. The sensitivity of the corporate bond market to economic downturns depends particularly on the distribution of the credit quality of the issuers and on the ratio of cyclical companies to noncyclical companies.