Patents
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While the library staff will gladly assist you with your search, we cannot perform searches or dispense legal information!
US Patents
ISSUED PATENTS
The specification and accompanying drawings of all patents issued by the US Patent & Trademark Office (USPTO) are available online. New patents are issued and published online every Tuesday.
PatFT - Patent Full-Text and Full-Page Image Databases
1790 through 1975 |
Full-page TIFF image (searching only available by patent number, issue date and class/subclass) |
1976 through Present |
Full-text searching of html version of patent (full-page TIFF image with any accompanying images also available) |
USPTO Patent Full-Text Database records containing only the patent number and the word "withdrawn" have been added for all withdrawn patent numbers. No further information is available from the USPTO Web site for these patents. Changes to patent documents contained in Certificates of Correction and Re-examinations Certificates are not included in the searchable full-text of the patent databases, but are available as additional full-page images at the end of each patent's linked full-page images.
PUBLISHED APPLICATIONS (DISCLOSURE DOCUMENT)
Patent applications are generally published 18 months after the earliest priority date of the application. Patent Applications are published online every Thursday.
A Disclosure Document is not a patent application, and the date of its receipt in the USPTO will not become the effective filing date of any patent application subsequently filed. A Disclosure Document will be retained for two years, and then be destroyed unless it is referred to in a separate letter in a related patent application filed within those two years.
AppFT - Patent Application Full-Text And Image Database
15 March 2001 to present |
Full-text searching of published patent applications with any accompanying images or diagrams |
VIEWING PATENT FULL-PAGE IMAGES (TIFF Files)
A TIFF image Viewers for Patent Images is required to view the scanned, full-page images for each patent in the database. All computers in the UA Main and Science Libraries have this software installed. For information on PDF conversion services for patents, check under the Further Research section.
USPTO WEB SITES
US Patent And Trademark Office (USPTO)
- Index to the United States Patent Classification (USPC) System
Alphabetical listing of words or terms that refer to specific classes and subclasses used to categorize patents
- Classification Main Menu
Numerical listing of the patent classification schema. It gives the classification definitions and shows interrelationships between classes.
- Patent Official Gazette (USPTO)
The Electronic Official Gazette allows you to browse through the issued patents for the week. The eOG:P can be browsed by classification or type of patent, for example, utility, design, and plant. Specific patents can be accessed by class/subclass or patentee name.
Micro- film 4444 Science Microforms v.1-v.1254 no.1262 (1872-Jan.-Sept. 2002)
PATENT SEARCH WEB RESOURCES
Guides and Tutorials on Patent Searching by Brown University Library
Patent Searching Tutorial by the University of Texas at Austin
Patents by University of Central Florida Libraries
Google Patent Search covers the entire collection of patents made available by the USPTO from patents issued in the 1790s through present. Search patent number works better than full-text searach. Note that Google Patents Search does not include patent applications or international patents. Advanced patent searching is still going to require using the USPTO database and other resources for more precise patent search.