Guides: Patent Resources & Intellectual Property Guide: Patent Resources

Types of Patents

There are 3 main types of patents:

Utility: for the new and useful process, machine, manufacture, the composition of matter or any new and useful improvement thereof.
Design: appearance of an item is protected. Patent must be an original design for a manufactured item.
Plant: for invented or discovered and asexually reproduced distinct and new variety of plant, including cultivated sports, mutants, hybrids, newly found seedlings, and living organisms.

Searching for Patents - Getting Started

Quick Start Patent Search

You can start your patent search here using the box below. You can put in one or more keywords, or paste whole blocks of text that describe your project.

Google Patents

Like the Quick Start Patent Search above, Google Patents aggregates material from many different patent databases. Most patents also include lists of related patents, to help expand your search.

Basics of Patent Searching

Basics of Patent Searching - PowerPoint Slides

Subscription Databases and Electronic Resources at WPI

SciFinder Web - Chemical Abstracts Service
1907 - Present: for searching chemical and chemical engineering literature including patents.

LexisNexis Academic -- Now called Nexis Uni
Provides a wide range of full text news, legal, and business information. Also includes full text patents (Choose Legal, then on right Patents) to search a combined file (back to 1790) of the utility, plant and design patents, including reissue patents, reexamination certificates, statutory invention registrations and defensive publications.

Coverage: Varies
Full Text: Yes
Titles Included | Search Tips

Free Patent Databases

Some patent sites require a tiff image viewer, such as the free AlternaTIFF plug-in. Another option is to convert patents to PDF using pat2pdf.org.

Espacenet Patent Search (European Patent Office)
Search International patent search with full images in PDF format.

Coverage: 1970-
Full Text: Yes
Tutorial

FPO (Free Patents Online)
Provides free patent searching of U.S. and European registrations. Benefits include patents in PDF format as well as hyperlinked classification searching.

Coverage: 1976-
Full Text: Yes
Google Patents
Search and display U.S. patents 1790 to the present using the technology that powers Google Book Search, with the ability to scroll and zoom in on text and illustrations.

Coverage: 1790-
Full Text: Yes
Advanced Search | Help

Directory of Intellectual Property Offices

Patent Lens
A worldwide, open-access, free patent informatics resource. Search and retrieve the full-text of millions of patent documents from US, Europe, Australia and WIPO, their status and counterparts up to 70 countries. Free PDF downloads for US, Australian, PCT and European patent documents.

Coverage: 1976-
Full Text: Yes

Patent Search Engines
WPI's database list of suggested patent search tools

PatentScope
World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) PATENTSCOPE Search Service enables users search fulltext of over 1.6 million published international patent applications.

Coverage: 1978-
Full Text: No

patsnap
Offers some free analysis of patents and useful filtering options.

U.S. Patent Full Text and Images Database
Includes full text and full image U.S. patents and patent applications.

Coverage: 1790 tp Present
Full Text: Yes
Search Tips

USPTO Classification Searches
more... less...

Learn to use classification searches for more precision.

U.S. Patent & Trademark Office

Search U.S Issued Patents
Full text since 1976. Full page images since 1790.
USPTO Advanced Search
USPTO Patent Number Search
USPTO Patent Classification System
USPTO Class Numbers and Titles
USPTO Glossary of Terms

WPI Research - Patents & Patent Applications

WPI's Intellectual Property & Innovation Office has an Intellectual Property Inventory Catalog, which lists the patent applications and granted patents from WPI researchers.