U.S. Patent Searching
Contents
Introduction
The US Patent Full Text Database includes all patents issued since 1790. The database is structured in two segments, 1976-present and 1790-1975, that must be searched separately.
- Patents from January 1976-present , including all bibliographic data: inventor's name, patent's title, assignee's name, abstract, full description of the invention and the claims
- Because the 1790- December 1975 patents can only be searched on the patent number and/or current U.S. patent classification, you must either know particular patents to search, or identify patent classification numbers to search.
Searching for Patents from 1976 - Present
Go to the Patent Database: http://www.uspto.gov/patft/index.html
At the main screen, you'll see the patent database on the left. You can also search patent applications on the right side of the screen. There are several ways to search the database, Quick Search, Advanced Search, Patent Number searching.
Using Quick Search
Use Quick Search if you want to search only one or two key words. Choose the most specific words you can.
Type your words in the boxes provided, and choose the field you want to search from drop down boxes, or leave the default at "All Fields."
Limit the dates searched to 1976-present.
You can use Quick Search to search for an inventor or assignee by name by typing selecting "assignee name" or "inventor name" in the Fields area. For more information on searching fields, see below.
Using Advanced Search
Use Advanced Search if you have three or more key words, or want to do a more complex search.
- Type your search using the words "and", "or", "not" to connect your key words.
- You can also use Advanced Search to search for an Inventor by name by using the following search syntax: IN/newmar-julie
Searching Using Fields
You don't have to use fields in your patent search. You can just search using key words in the full patent records. However, using fields often helps you get better search results. The most useful fields to consider searching are:
- Title: of the patent, example: "Methods for reducing spoilage in brewery products."
- Abstract: a brief summary of the patent containing many relevant words.
- Claims: the facts that make an invention unique and patentable.
- Description/Specification: containing a brief summary of the invention, a detailed description, and a description of the drawing.
Searching by Patent Number
The Patent Number Search Page allows you to search for patents from 1976-present by their number.
To use the patent number search page:
- Type the patent number or numbers into the box. If you include more than one number, they should be separated by a space. It is not necessary to include commas or to capitalize the prefix. Anything you enter into the patent number search box that is not a patent number (other terms, operators like 'OR' or 'AND') will be ignored. The search will be conducted only on entries you make that are recognized as patent numbers.
- Click the Search button. The database will be searched for all the numbers you provide, and a list of the documents matching your query will be returned, with the most recent ones first.
Searching by Classification Number
A Patent Classification is a code which provides a method for categorizing
the invention. Classification are typically expressed as "426/16".
The first number, 426, represents the class of invention. The number following
the slash is the subclass of invention within the class. There are about
450 Classes of invention and about 150,000 subclasses of invention in
the USPC. For more information on US Patent Classification see
http://www.uspto.gov/go/classification/help.htm
How to identify possible Classification Numbers
Browse the Index to the US Patent Classification
Index to the US Patent Classification (Valley Reference T223
.F4 A56) or on the Internet.
http://www.uspto.gov/go/classification/uspcindex/indextouspc.htm
Search the Manual of Classification
The Manual of Classification is the collection of all Classification Schedules. The Schedules detail the relationship between the class and its subclasses, relationships between the subclasses, and relationships between the class and other classes and subclasses.Manual of Classification, (Valley Reference T223 .F)
http://www.uspto.gov/go/classification/
- Select the scope of the search. In the selection box for "Look in" select "patent Classification" to search all pages in the Classification web site. This includes Schedules, Definitions, and the Index to the USPC. Select Index to Classification to search only the Index to the USPC.
- Enter a search term in the "Search For" text box.
Select Submit Search.
Use browser Find (CTRL+F in Microsoft Windows browsers) to find the term within the page where there was a hit.
How to find Classification Numbers from search results
- Do a search (either Quick Search or Advanced Search) using key words.
- Examine the results and jot down the class numbers from your best results. If several class numbers are given for a patent, the number in bold is its main class number.
Searching for Patents 1790-1975
To search for patents prior to 1975, you must either know the patent number or the classification code, as these are the only searchable fields in the older segment of the database.
By Patent Number in Quick Search
- Go to the Quick Search Page
- Select years 1790-present or 1790-1975
- Type the patent number in the Term 1 text entry box, and select 'Patent Number' from the Field 1 menu. Click Search.
By Patent Number in Advanced Search
- Go to the Advanced Search Page
- Type PN/number(number is the patent number example:
PN/6,316,034)
Non-utility patents must include a prefix: 'D' for design patents, 'PP' for plant patents, 'RE' for reissue patents, 'T' for defensive publications, and 'H' for SIRs. - Select years 1790-present or 1790-1975 and click search
By Classification Number in Quick Search
- Go to the Quick Search page, and enter the class number in the Term 1 text box. Select "Current US Classification" from the Field 1 drop-down box.
- Then select "1790 to present". Click search. You'll get a list of all the patents in the database with this class.
By Classification Number in Advanced Search
- Go to the Advanced Search Page
- Type ccl/class number/subclass number example: ccl/426/16
- Select years 1790 to present
- Click search for a list of all patents with this current class number
Printing and Saving Patents
You can print or save the full-image of a patent (including drawings) or the text only.
- Print only the text of the patent by using your browser's print function.
- To print the full-image of a patent, look at the top of the screen and click on "full-image." When you are in full-image view, you must print each page separately, using your browser's print function.
- Save the .tiff image to a floppy disc. The computer you view the patent on must have a .tiff viewer on it.
- Save the text version to a floppy disc. When downloading, choose the .html format or the.txt format.
Order paper copies of patents from the Patent and Trademark Copy Sales Office for $3 per utility/design patent or $15 per plant patent. See their Order page for more info.
Patents can also be ordered from the Paul L.Boley Law Library at Lewis and Clark at (503) 768-6786, which is our regional patent depository. There is currently a fee of $7.00 per patent (plus postage).
Patent Resources
Books About Patents
Official gazette of the United States Patent and Trademark Office.
Patents
(Valley Microfilm T223.A) Continues Official gazette. Index.
Index of patents issued from the United States Patent and Trademark Office.
(Valley T223 .D and Compact Shelves T223 .D) Incomplete holdings. Check
the Oasis catalog
Successful patents and patenting for engineers and scientists.
(Valley Library) KF3114.8.E54 S83 1995
Patent searching for librarians and inventors
(Valley Reference, COCC Reference) T210 .W44 1995
Guide for the preparation of patent drawings.
(Valley Documents C 21.14/2:D 79/2 )
Also available online: http://www.uspto.gov/web/patents/pubs/pdg0602.zip
A guide to filing a utility patent application
(Valley Documents C 21.14/2:UT 4/2001)
Also available online: http://www.uspto.gov/web/offices/pac/utility/utility.htm
Patent Databases
USPTO's Patent Site. Free searching of US Patents from 1790-present.
Google Patents. covers the entire collection of patents made available by the USPTO—from patents issued in the 1790s through those issued in the middle of 2006. Does not include patent applications, international patents, or U.S. patents issued over the last few months.
Canadian Patents Database Access to over 75 years of patent descriptions and images and 1,500,000 patent documents.
European Patent
Office. Search EP, WO, Japanese (PAJ) and "worldwide" patent
documents.
English, French and German language support.
Lexis/Nexis Academic. (An OSU Libraries database). Choose "Legal Research" to search US patents from 1971-present.
SciFinder Scholar (An OSU Libraries database). Identify chemical and scientific patents
Ag Biotechnology Patents. Search for National Agriculture Library Biotechnology Patent Materials.
Delphion Basic registration is free.
Micropatent Subscription based access to "the world’s largest commercial collection of searchable full-text patent information."
Internet Sites about Patents
InventNET. Internet based inventors' organization site provides information on new developments or sources of interest related to the inventing process, including patenting help, invention advertising, patent law, patent search, classified ads, personal web pages and patent attorney referral.
Patent Law Links. Comprehensive site for all aspects of patent work. Includes links to case law, statutes and regulations, U.S. Patent Office, patent drawing services, patent law firms, patent search firms, document retrieval firms, intellectual property law and technical schools, professional associations and journals, and legal search engines. U.S. Patent Office forms can be read and printed with Adobe Acrobat Reader.
So You Have an Idea. Professor Thomas G. Field, Jr. of the Franklin Pierce Law Center. Bac
Wacky Patent of the Month "devoted to recognizing selected inventors and their remarkable and unconventional patented inventions."
