20 Patents - Searching Specific Formats (Information Research)
Description
This article is from the Information Research FAQ, by David Novak david@spireproject.com with numerous contributions by others.
20 Patents - Searching Specific Formats (Information Research)
links and more at http://spireproject.com/discuss.htm
A patent discloses certain facts about a commercially important
invention in exchange for certain rights to exploit the invention. This
is a little simplistic, but explains why patents are factual, unique
from other research resources, and a little vague in certain specifics.
If you have never seen a patent before, see a sample US patent ,
Australian patent, and this brief description
(http://www.ipaustralia.gov.au/patents/P_home.htm).
There are three primary resources involved in patent research. Firstly,
we have the free internet resources. Secondly, we have the national
patent agency resources. Thirdly, we have the commercial patent
databases.
Free Patent Databases
The concept of free patent databases has surely come, and while many
countries are only slowly moving this direction, the movement is
inevitable.
* The US Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) provides a US Patent
Bibliographic database at patents.uspto.gov with full use of fields,
date and abstract text searching. Choose between their Boolean search,
advanced (field) search or by US patent number. They also maintain a
fulltext [US] Aids Patent Database and other resources.
* The IBM's Patent Server is a public service providing a different
patent database of US Patent abstracts. The IBM service is similar but
different from the USPTO service - certainly not less powerful.
* The Canadian Intellectual Property Office (CIPO) maintains the
Canadian Patent Fulltext Database from '89. This database is on par
with the US Patent Database, with perhaps even better searching
technology.
* The Japanese Patent Office (www.jpo-miti.go.jp) has a searchable
database of Japanese patent abstracts, including patent number, title,
inventor, company, and abstract of the patent.
Patent Authority Services
Patent libraries are an important and cost-effective patent resource.
* IP Australia (www.ipaustralia.gov.au) (formerly the Australian
Industrial Property Organisation (AIPO)) has a patent library in each
Australian state capital. Each library provides free access to the APAS
database (Australian Patent Abstract Search) and includes a complete
microfiche copy of all Australian patents and the Australian Official
Journal of Patents, Trademarks & Designs (the official Australian
patent gazette).
Most offices also hold US Patents on microfiche! Staff will help you
use the APAS database, arranged for free text searching by
International Patent Classification. A particularly useful service by
IP Australia is the delivery of copies of many foreign patents for
AU$15. You will need the patent number, country and title for this.
* The US Patent and Trade Mark Organization (USPTO) has the Patent and
Trademark Depository Library Program (PTDL's) placing the CASSIS
database (The USPTO patent abstract database on CD-ROM) and US patents
around the US.
The US patent libraries also hold the Official Gazette of the U.S.
Patent and Trademark Office, The official US patent gazette.
Importantly, the gazette is fully online and searchable from 1995.
* The [UK] Patent Office (www.patent.gov.uk) provides for the Patents
Information Network (PIN) which hosts patent information in the UK. The
British Library is just one listed source of UK patents (further
information online) and delivers some patent services.
* The Canadian Intellectual Property Office (CIPO) (cipo.gc.ca)
produces the Canadian Patent Index (CPI). They also publish The Patent
Office Record, Canada's official patent gazette.
* There are many more national & international patent organizations
like Intitut National de la Propriete Industrielle [France], World
Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) and European Patent Office.
Thankfully there are fine lists of patent libraries and patent
websites.
Commercial Patent Services
One of the most invaluable resources in serious patent research is
access to several of the very large commercial patent databases.
* Lexis-Nexis (www.lexis-nexis.com) retails several patent databases.
Thanks to Patscan (University of British Columbia), we also a guide to
searching patents on Lexis-Nexis.
* The Dialog Corporation (www.dialog.com) retails a collection of
patent databases including: Derwent World Patents Index, Inpadoc,
Claims/U.S. Patents and European Patents FullText.
* CASSIS is the USPTO database. For a little more information on this,
consider the Patent Guide to Using CASSIS, at the University of
Michigan.
* Derwent Scientific and Patent Information (www.derwent.co.uk) is a
prominent publisher of Patent and scientific information including
commercial databases.
* Questel-Orbit (www.questel.orbit.com) also retails patent databases.
* CAS/STN (www.cas.org) retails a collection of patent databases
including Chemical Patents Plus for U.S. Chemical patents.
In addition to the database retailers and producers, there is a lively
industry of patent services.
* The Patent Libraries will assist you with some services. IP
Australia, for example, will retrieve most full patents from other
countries for AU$15.
Conclusion
Until recently, the legal profession has had a complete monopoly on
patent work. As you can see, this need no longer be the case. Casual
researchers will find the free patent databases easy to use, and more
experienced researchers should not be dissuaded from searching the
commercial databases or patent libraries themselves. The very large
commercial databases, like Inpadoc, are particularly easy to use.
Of course, there are occasions when patent searches are critical, and
experts should be sought. Certainly legal assistance is required if you
are preparing to lodge your own patent, but patent data as a source of
information is another matter.
As an industry, patent research is still deeply entrenched in the
high-price commercial database and database-centered services. I am
mildly surprised the emergence of free databases like the USPTO's
patent database has not led to a fall in the costs of the high-end
databases (which remain some of the most expensive databases in
publicly accessible). It appears this industry, as indeed several
others, has no intent to drop the price of retail database access to a
more supportable level. I can only predict this rests on economic
grounds. Patent information purchases are price insensitive.
Continue to:
My Books
