Patent Searching

PATENT SEARCHING Nitin Nair Intellecture India (A division of Brain League IP Services)

Sample patent document

Search at various stages of Patent    

Conception Stage Research and Development Stage Patent Application Stage Litigation Stage

Why Search for Patents? To determine novelty of the invention  To determine if it is useful and non-obvious  To be abreast with the field of invention  To track competing products  To avoid infringement  Invalidation search 

Patent databases 

Public Databases     

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www.uspto.gov www.espacenet.com www.freepatentsonline.com www.wipo.int www.google.com/patents

Private Databases  

www.delphion.com www.micropatent.com

Searching for patents Patent number  Keyword Other ways to search 

Classification

International (IPC), U.S. Classification, European Classification, etc.

Dates

Application, Issue, Publication, etc.

Names

Applicant, Inventor, Assignee, Examiner, Attorney/Agent, etc.

Numbers

Patent, Publication, Application, Priority, etc.

Classification Classification is based on subject matter.  Each patent office has its own classification system.  e.g.: a) 91/465 ; 5/600; 74/110; 74/520; 91/471 

b) A61G 13/00; A61G13/10; F15B 011/08

USPTO

United States Patent http://www.uspto.gov  U.S. Patent database is the largest technical database in the world! If you’re looking for the “state-of-the-art,” you must search the U.S. Patent database!”

Seven step Strategy 1.

2. 3.

4. 5. 6. 7.

Determine initial classification (use Classification Index or do a patent keyword search). Scan the class schedule in the Manual of Classification. Read Subclass definitions to establish the scope of the subclasses. Browse patent titles and abstracts. Repeat as necessary. Retrieve the subclass listing. Review full text patent documents. Check References Cited, Referenced by and previously published applications in relevant patents.

USPTO

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USPTO        

PN Patent Number IN Inventor Name ISD Issue Date TTL Title ABST Abstract ICN Inventor Country SPEC Description/Specification AN Assignee Name

E.g.: ICN /(India) and AN/ (SISO) and SPEC/(cellular device)

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CCL Current US Classification ICL International Classification APN Application Serial Number APD Application Date REF Referenced By FREF Foreign References PCT PCT Information GOVT Government Interest

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USPTO

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USPTO

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USPTO Other ways to define classes  Conduct an advanced search to retrieve the most relevant patents  Check their classes  Read the definition and continue…

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EPO 

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http://ep.espacenet.com/ Provided by the European Patent Office Searchable in original language of patent application Includes patent publications from around the world including UK, EP, WO, European, Japanese, worldwide patents Full-text PDF documents including drawings, descriptions, claims are available for free for most of the retrieved patents

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EPO Databases Covered  EPO  WIPO  World wide

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EPO  

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EPO Covers patents filed and published through the EPO route within 24 months It is not possible to perform searches either in the abstract field or using a European Classification symbol.

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EPO  

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WIPO Covers patent applications published by WIPO in the last 24 months Not possible to perform a search in the abstract field or using a European Classification symbol.

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EPO  

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Worldwide Information about published patent applications from over 80 different countries and regions. EPO patent application older than 24 months WIPO Patent application older than 24 months All JP Patents since 1976 irrespective of their filing route

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EPO - Positives       

Classification standards almost same but more comprehensive than international classification Can search for WIPO, worldwide and EPO patents under one umbrella. Good source for legal status and equivalents data Link to EPO register Can save searches Last search is automatically saved Family equivalents including US patents

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EPO - Negatives Result limit: 500  Often classification search needs to be clubbed with keywords to reduce the results.  Field restrictions are few as compared to USPTO  No of classes are less. Thus no. of patents per class is more. 

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WIPO  

http://www.wipo.int/pctdb/en/ Only documents through the PCT route can be searched

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WIPO     

Types of Searches Simple Advanced Structured Classification search

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WIPO - Positives      

No display limit Structure search enables 11 restriction fields at once Can search in claims Details of national phase entry wherever available Can search by week All documents and notices related to the application is available (file history)

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WIPO - Negatives  

Fewer no. of classes IPC classification covers fewer groups compared to ECLA

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Big Patents   

Can search only bibliographic data Alphabetical list of assignee So far the best online source for Indian patent search

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Delphion 

http://www.delphion.com

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Delphion

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Delphion - Advanced Search       

And Or Not <, =, >, <=, <=

    

? * [weight]

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Delphion - Positives         

Allows search in US, EP, WO, DE, JP Derwent titles Extensive list of restriction fields Can search in claims INPADOC search Clustering and mapping based on Keywords Export results to excel File history available for a cost Alerts

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Delphion - Positives 

Snapshots: Statistical data   

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Top Assignee Top Inventors How many patents being filed in a particular are per year

Non Patent Prior art Search Relevancy Score Classification search possible once classes are identified

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Delphion - Negatives 

Limit of 500 results

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Micropatent 

http://www.micropat.com

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Micropatent

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Micropatent       

AND OR NOT XOR * *n ?

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<= >= <> ADJn NEARn

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Micropatent - Positives        

Allows search in US, EP, WO, DE, FR, JP, GB Sort result by family Worksheets Save queries: Allows to rerun the search anytime Can export results to EXCEL Patent graph: top 10 assignee, top ten classes Alerts file history

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Micropatent - Positives   

1 member per family Duplicates from the saved search Can conduct classification search

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Micropatent - Negatives 

Limit: 20000

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