Patents

Patent & Technology Transfer Databases

U.S. Patent Databases

U.S. Patent and Trademark Office. Official Gazette. (1995–) (http://www.uspto.gov/news/og/index.jsp)

The Official Gazette is published each Tuesday to announce those patents being issued and those trademarks being registered or published for opposition. Search or browse 1964–present. Provider: USPTO.

U.S. Patent and Trademark Office Web Patent Databases (images 1790–present, search full-text 1976–present) (http://www.uspto.gov/patft/index.html)

A freely searchable database of full-text for US patents issued from January 1976–present. 1790–1975 is only searchable by patent numbers and current US Classifications. Full-page images are available for most patents from 1790–present. Images are available as tiff files, one page at a time (tiff viewer is needed; see USPTO’s free viewers page or Brava Reader). Updated weekly, on Tuesdays. Provider: USPTO.

Delphion Intellectual Property Network (1974–) (http://www.delphion.com/)

Allows one to search the bibliographic and claims portions of U.S. patents beginning with 1974 to the present. The bibliographic portion includes titles, abstracts, inventor, and company. This service recently added European Patent Office and World Intellectual Property Office (WIPO) text and images. The patent images, including figures, can be viewed for free, but are not presented in an easily printable or readable form. You can get a copy of the original patent for a fee. This site also contains some patents issued during 1971–1973. Search by keyword, phrase, and patent number; Boolean searches with patent number, title abstract, all claims, assignee, inventors, and attorney/agent.

Scanned images of full-text are available for patents issued from 1974–present and can be displayed for free. All patent references are hyperlinked for citation searching. Classification codes are also hyperlinked to find similar patents granted. Provider: Delphion.

Derwent Innovations Index (1963–) (http://portal.isiknowledge.com/portal.cgi?DestApp=DIIDW&Func=Frame)

The Derwent Innovations Index is a comprehensive database of international patent information. Features and benefits of searching DII:

You can find an “equivalent” patent published in a language you can read
It contains value added indexing added so you can more easily find patents on your topic
Descriptive titles have been added. (Patent titles are ambiguous by design to hide results from others)
Its searchable abstracts contain concise descriptions of the inventions
DII contains citing and cited patents and literature references, allowing users to move both forward and backward in time

Provider: Institute for Scientific Information (ISI).

The U.S. Patent Citation Database (1975–) (http://patents.cos.com/)

Search “front page” information about each patent since 1975: number, dates, assignee, inventor, title, abstract, exemplary claims for recent years, and U.S. and international classifications. In addition, the database tracks the “lineage” of each patent — how each patent cites previous patents or is cited by subsequent ones. Provider: Community of Science.

U.S. Patent Databases – Full Text Access

U.S. Patent & Trademark Office Web Patent Databases (images 1790–present, full-text 1976–present) (http://www.uspto.gov/patft/index.html): A freely searchable database of full-text for US patents issued from January 1976–present. 1790–1975 is only searchable by patent numbers and current US Classifications. Full-page images are available for most patents from 1790–present. Images are available as tiff files, one page at a time (tiff viewer is needed; see USPTO’s free viewers page or Brava Reader). Updated weekly, on Tuesdays. Provider: USPTO.
Delphion Intellectual Property Network (1974–) (http://www.delphion.com/): Allows one to search the bibliographic and claims portions of U.S. patents beginning with 1974 to the present. The bibliographic portion includes titles, abstracts, inventor, and company. This service recently added European Patent Office and World Intellectual Property Office (WIPO) text and images. The patent images, including figures, can be viewed for free, but are not presented in an easily printable or readable form. You can get a copy of the original patent for a fee. This site also contains some patents issued during 1971–1973. Search by keyword, phrase, and patent number; Boolean searches with patent number, title abstract, all claims, assignee, inventors, and attorney/agent.

Scanned images of full-text are available for patents issued from 1974–present and can be displayed for free. All patent references are hyperlinked for citation searching. Classification codes are also hyperlinked to find similar patents granted. Provider: Delphion.

Foreign Country Patent Databases

Canadian Patent Database (http://brevets-patents.ic.gc.ca/opic-cipo/cpd/eng/introduction.html): The Canadian Intellectual Property Office (CIPO) welcomes you and invites you to try this searchable database of Canadian Patent Bibliographic data. This database lets you access over 75 years of patent descriptions and images. You can search, retrieve and study more than 1,300,000 patent documents.
European Patent Office: Online Services (http://www.epoline.org/portal/public/registerplus): Provides information on all European and Euro-PCT patent applications. Records include bibliographic data, legal status information but no description of the invention (claims or abstracts). File is updated daily and information is available to online users 3–5 days after the action date.
The Franklin Pierce Law Center Intellectual Property Mall — Patent Searching Academy (http://ipmall.info/hosted_resources/tools_strategies/bp98/boxell.htm): This internationally acclaimed IP resource Website links to a unique collection of intellectual property resources. It is intended to offer “one stop shopping” for intellectual property professionals in academia, business and science, as well as for inventors and entrepreneurs. It includes sites on: Patent Searching Sites on the Web, Patent Database Producer and Vendor Home Pages, Patent Searching Pages and Tutorials on the Web, Directories of Patent Searchers and Attorneys, Patent Searching Professional Organization Home Pages, Patent Listservs, Newsgroups and E-mail Newsletters, Global Patent Offices, International Offices or Similar Authorities, Sources of Foreign Patents on the Web, Patent Trademark Depository Libraries on the Web, Libraries with Patent Search Materials, and Bibliography of Books on Patent Searching.
Delphion Intellectual Property Network (http://www.delphion.com/): Allows one to search the bibliographic and claims portions of U.S. patents beginning with 1974 to the present. The bibliographic portion includes titles, abstracts, inventor, and company. This service recently added European Patent Office and World Intellectual Property Office (WIPO) text and images. The patent images, including figures, can be viewed for free, but are not presented in an easily printable or readable form. You can get a copy of the original patent for a fee. This site also contains some patents issued during 1971–1973. Search by keyword, phrase, and patent number; Boolean searches with patent number, title abstract, all claims, assignee, inventors, and attorney/agent.

Scanned images of full-text are available for patents issued from 1974–present and can be displayed for free. All patent references are hyperlinked for citation searching. Classification codes are also hyperlinked to find similar patents granted. Provider: Delphion.
Italian Utility Models 1997 published applications (FILDATA Web Site) (http://www.fildata.it/index_en.html): Free searches among Italian patent and utility model applications. You can now search among Italian patent applications filed between January and June 1997.
World Patent Search: US, EP and PCT (1976-) (http://www.micropat.com/): Search the front page data of the three major patent authorities: US, EP and PCT (World Intellectual Property Organization) published from 1976 to the present. The exemplary drawing is also included! Free to search and display front page information. Fees are charged for the full-text. Provider: MicroPatent. This is a free trial.

Subject or Specialty Patent Databases

AIDS Patent Database (http://patents.uspto.gov/): A freely searchable database of the full text and images of AIDS related patents issued by the US, Japanese and European patent offices.
Chemical Abstracts Patents Plus (1975–) (http://www.cas.org/expertise/cascontent/caplus/index.html): Free searching of fulltext U.S. patent documents from 1971, with complete patent page images from 1993, and many JAVA-rotateable 3D chemical structures, from CAS. Includes CAS Registry Numbers and CAS index terms. Free to search and to display titles and abstracts. $4.00/full patent.
Fullerene Patent Database (http://www.godunov.com/Bucky/Patents.html): A comprehensive internet archive of patents related to buckyballs, nanotubes, and other fullerenes. By Dr. M.S. Dresselhaus, MIT.
Wacky Patent of the Month (http://colitz.com/site/wacky_new.html): Devoted to recognizing selected inventors and their remarkable and unconventional patented inventions.

Technology Transfer Databases

Knowledge Express Data Systems (http://www.KnowledgeExpress.com/): Fee-based service that provides access to business development and competitive intelligence resources (e.g., intellectual property, technology transfer, and corporate partnering opportunities) to organizations involved with science/technology research and new inventions.