Patents & Trademarks: More Patent Search Resources

See also Patent Search Tutorial
Jump to Search Foreign Patents

Online Services Covered in the Patent Search Tutorial

U.S. Patent & Trademark Office - Full-Text Patent Database
A searchable database of full text data and images from all U.S. patents issued since 1976.

U.S. Patent & Trademark Office - Subject Matter Classification Search
Use the classic tools to search patents from 1790 to present. Tools include:

• Index to the U.S. Patent Classification System
• Manual of Classification
• Classification Definitions
• Class/subclass listings of patents
• Access to patent images

Other Online Databases for U.S. Patents

The U.S. Patent Database from the Community of Science
Like U.S. Patent Bibliographic Data, this database is a searchable file of bibliographic data for patents issued from 1975 to present. The search interface consists of a template offering all possible search fields. Access to Community of Science databases is limited to member institutions, such as Penn State University.

esp@cenet
Provides 30 million documents from around the world, include images of U.S. patents from 1929 to present. Users must have a patent number to retrieve most U.S. patents.

Search Foreign Patents

NOTE: Foreign patents are often available only in their original language.

European Patent Organization/European Patent Office
Search patents and patent related documents on esp@cenet
Users can search their choice of:

• EP Documents - Most recent 24 months of publications from the European Patent Office. PDF facsimile images are available online.
• WO Documents - Most recent 24 months of PCT-publications from World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) PDF facsimile images are available online.
• Worldwide Data - EPODOC database for "worldwide documents. Coverage varies by country in the bibliographic index and in availability of abstracts, full-text, or PDF facsimiles of patents.
• Japanese Documents - PAJ (Patent Abstracts of Japan) bibliographic database covers the period starting January 10, 1976. PDF facsimile images are available for documents published since 1980.

Intellectual Property Rights (IPR) Helpdesk
Provided by CORDIS, the Community Research and Development Information Service, which is part of the European Commission's INNOVATION Programme. CORDIS provides information on a vast range of research, development and innovation activities undertaken on a European level.

Japanese Patent Office

Other patent offices on the World Wide Web
The PTO's own links to foreign and international patent offices.