Patent Search Engines
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USPTO Web Patent DatabasesContains links to the various databases of the Patent and Trademark Office. Provides full-text of patents from 1976 to the present and full-page images for patents starting in 1790. Recent U.S. patents are available from this site long before they become available on other patent sites. [A TIFF plug-in is NO longer required to view images.]
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EspacenetProduced by the European Patent Office - free access to more than 80 million patent documents worldwide, containing information about inventions and technical developments from 1836 to today.
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The Lens: Patent SearchThe Lens covers over 100 million patent documents from around the world. Includes classification searching and quick access to patent family information. Patents identified using the Lens can then be tracked down elsewhere if full text is not available in the Lens.
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Google Patent SearchThis is exactly what it sounds like – the Google search version of the USPTO patent database; however, it does not contain the most recent U.S. patents. It offers the ability to search through U.S. patents by patent number, inventor, keywords, date, classification number, or patent type. It includes patent applications and international patents. Clicking on parts of the record allows researchers to easily move around to view similar patents. Printing images can be done by right clicking on the drawing and selecting print. Use Advanced Search form for specialized searches: http://www.google.com/advanced_patent_search
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pat2pdfThis is a free website that will allow you to enter a U.S. patent number and retrieve a PDF version of the patent. The documents are drawn from the USPTO file server and it does not require any special software to view the images.
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PATENTSCOPEFree tool. One of the few sources that will allow researchers to simultaneously search across multiple countries' patent collections. Some results will link out to full-text, depending on availability.
Please note: many other patent websites will provide some free information and will provide additional search types or features for a fee. If a free search does not produce results, do not assume a patent does not exist. Free-access databases have use search engines of varying quality, and patent search terms can vary tremendously from country to country. If you are seriously considering applying for a patent, a free search can help you find out whether or not a similar patent already exists; however, first time patent applicants are strongly encouraged to consult some of the books for beginners listed on the Books tab of this guide.
Erin Thomas
Contact:
150 Parks Library
Iowa State University
Iowa State University
515 294-9886