Subject Guides: Electrical and Computer Engineering: Patents

Searching for Patents

Espacenet
This European Patent Office (EPO) database has international coverage and includes an excellent Cooperative Patent Classifcation (CPC) search tool. Translations available to multiple languages.
Lens
This free and open database of international patents has a modern, easy to use search interface and offers some unique patent searching tools, including gene sequence searching and patent citation analysis so that you can easily find related patents and other scholarly works.
Google Patent Search
Covers patents made available by the USPTO from the 1790s to the middle of 2006. Search the full text of U.S. patents; use Advanced Patent Search to search by various criteria including patent number, inventor, and filing date. Does not include patent applications, international patents, or U.S. patents issued over the last few months. Patents can be downloaded as PDF.
US Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO)
USPTO provides General Information Concerning Patents and Basic Facts about Trademarks for researchers, inventors, and business people. Printable Patent and Trademark application forms are also available. Search the Patent Databases, and the Trademark Electronic Search System (TESS).
Free Patents Online
Patents available in PDF format. Offers chemical search. Use the SureChem gateway to do a chemical patent search on full text collections for United States, European and world patents.
PATENTSCOPE®
PATENTSCOPE® Search Service enables you to do full-text search in over 1.6 million published international patent applications from the first publication in 1978. Includes 'how to use' videos.
WIPO's (World International Property Organization's) Gateway to Patent Services and Activities.

Intellectual Property (IP) Basics

What is Intellectual Property (IP)?
Brief overview of the different types of IP from the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO), including patents, trademarks, and industrial designs.

Patent Search Tutorials

To get started, this two-minute video demonstrating Google Patent Search is a good first step. For more targeted searches of the most current patents in the U.S., check out the five-minute video tutorial on searching USPTO.

European Patent Office

European Patent Office (EPO) provides esp@cenet a network of Europe’s patent databases. This site includes access to machine translation of European patents for some languages.

Introduction to Espacenet

Before starting your search...

European Patent Office Patent Tour

Protecting Intellectual Property Rights

Stopfakes.Gov -- Toolkits about the Intellectual Property Rights (IPR) environment in various countries.

For additional resources, contact your local Patent and Trademark Depository Library;

visit the USPTO Public Search Facility or the USPTO Main STIC Library.