Patent Searching

Tutorials

Patents are often written in way that makes them deliberately hard to find. These tutorials may help you find what you need. As always, the Chemistry and IUB Libraries staff are happy to provide assistance.

• MIT Video Tutorials:

  • An introduction: Why search for patents? What is a patent? (5:30)
  • What does a patent look like? (2:25) 
  • How to search for patents (7:50)
  • Which search tool should I use? Why shouldn't I just use Google?(5:36)
• Patent Searching Tutorial from PennState
• United States Patent & Trademark Office How to Conduct a Preliminary U.S. Patent Search” video guide
• Patent Searching Workshop from the University of Minnesota Libraries>
• Guide to Patent Searching from the University of Texas at Austin
• Patent Searching video from the University of Utah

Where to Search 

Patent Offices:

• United States Patent & Trademark Offices
  
  • USPTO Patent Classification
• British Patent Office
  
• European Patent Office
  
• Canadian Intellectual Property Office Patent Database
  
• German Patent & Trade Office
  
• Japan Patent Office choose PAJ

Other Places to Search for Patents:

• Free Patents Online
• Inpadoc
• Patent Lens
• Research Disclosure 
• SciFinder 
• SPRESI Chemical Structure & Reaction Database
• SureChemOpen - Sign up for free to view patents from PubChem structures
• World Intellectual Property Organization

Search by patent number:

• http://free.patentfetcher.com/Patent-Fetcher-Form.php
• http://www.pat2pdf.org

Recommend Readings

• The Chemist's Companion Guide to Patent Law. (2011). Fetzer, JC, Miller, CP, & Evans, MJ. Analytical & Bioanalytical Chemistry, 399(3), 1009-1010. doi:10.1007/s00216-010-4307-2 
  
• What Every Chemist Should Know about Patents. (2002). McLelund, N. 3rd ed.
  

Suggested Resources from Other Universities

• University of Texas at Austin
• Washington University