Patents are government grants that give inventors exclusive rights to their inventions.
Patents are vital resources for businesses, researchers, inventors, academics, and others who need to keep abreast of developments in their fields.
Patents are also an important means of sharing know-how, because each patent document describes a new aspect of a technology in clear and specific terms and is available for anyone to consult.
Searching for patents on specific devices, processes, or inventions can be complex. If you are looking for a specific patent you can search by patent number or inventor’s name. However, if you are exploring what patents exist in certain areas you can search by keyword or browse the classification indexes:
European Classification System (ECLA)
Search espacenet for European, U.S., and worldwide patents.
United States Patent and Trademark Organization (USPTO)
Search PATFT for issued patents and AppFT for patent applications
Canadian Intellectual Property Office (CIPO)
The Canadian Patents Database contains patent documents from 1869 to the present (full-text documents, 1920 to present.)
World Intellectural Property Office (PatentScope)
Search international patent applications (1978 to present) on Patentscope. The WIPO classifies patents according to the International Patent Classification (IPC) key.
Search the Patent Abstracts of Japan (PAJ) database
This searches the USPTO.
Derwent Innovations Index® facilitates rapid, precise patent searching, letting you conduct patent and citation searches of inventions in chemical, electrical, electronic, and mechanical engineering.
To search for patents, click on the link for Web of Knowledge below. Then use the drop down menu to select Derwent.
Free Patents Online – free patent search website
Patent Lens – search and retrieve the full-text of over ten million patent documents from US, Europe, Australia and WIPO, their status and counterparts up to 70 countries
Intellogist – some very useful free, online patent tools
Please contact Li Zhang in the Science Library if you require further assistance.