Patents and Patent Searching

Select a week, then either Browse by Class-Subclass, or by Patent Classification Range, or by Granted Patent (by number), or by Index of Patentees, or by Geographical Index of Inventors.

Free (and advertising-free) email current awareness service for information including such areas as artificial intelligence, chemicals, microbiology, new drugs, and more — see the Full List of available Patent Alert subscriptions.

All about patents and patent research as a public good: learn about search tools and techniques, free and commercial databases, patent statistics, U.S.P.T.O. information dissemination policy, and more. Produced by the librarian for research services in the Engineering and Science Library at Queen's University in Kingston, Ontario.

"Where patent information users meet." The Patent Information Users Group, Inc. (PIUG) is part of the International Society for Patent Information, a nonprofit organization for individuals having a professional, scientific, or technical interest in patent information. "The mission of PIUG is to support, assist, improve and enhance the success of patent information professionals through leadership, education, communication, advocacy and networking. Through this international forum and discussion, we also promote and improve the retrieval, analysis and dissemination of patent information."

Additional guidance in using the databases, provided by the USPTO.

The first and last word(s) about patents, by the USPTO (most recent revision: October 2015)

An alphabetical directory of all patent classification codes used by the USPTO.

A “quick-start” guide

Provided by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office.

A free, open-access patent and scholarly information resource. More than 117 million patent records from over 95 jurisdictions. Over 200 million scholarly records across all disciplines.

Use Google to search the USPTO database, from its beginning to “recently,” Do not depend on Google Patents to find all the most current patents.

Use to search by a specific date range, or other identifiable data.

A useful FAQ, along with excellent, concise tips for “Advanced Google Patent Searching”

Searchable database of more than 35 million international and national patent documents, including US patents. "Provides access to international Patent Cooperation Treaty (PCT) applications in full text format on the day of publication. The information may be searched by enterting keywords, names of applicants, international patent classification and many other search criteria in multiple languages."

Authoritative resource for all FDA-approved drug products--links pharmaceuticals still under patent back to the actual patent. Product exclusivity and patent expirations are provided. Searchable by active ingredient, applicant holder, proprietary name, application, and patent number.

Use the Company Dossier search to find complete public and private company profile "packages" that include articles, corporate structure, financials and stock data, Intellectual Property and other legal information, and investment analyst reports (private company profiles will typically not include financial data or investment analyst reports). Patents include Recent U.S. Patents, recent European Paterns, and recent Japanese patents. Similar coverage is provides for a company's Trademarks.

"Many types of firms, from large IP boutiques to full-service international law firms, populate the top end of the intellectual property market. Indeed, full-service firms are increasingly specialising in IP to capitalize on the growing workload in global brand protection, particularly in the emerging technology sector. General practice firms also dominate IP litigation work, as they often offer stronger trial capabilities to handle leading, higher-value cases in court proceedings. Smaller IP boutiques continue to struggle in an increasingly competitive market."