PATENT

SEARCHING

By
Nitin Nair
Brain League IP Services

© 2009 Brain League IP Services Pvt. Ltd .

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

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USPTO
 PN Patent Number  CCL Current US Classification
 IN Inventor Name  ICL International Classification
 ISD Issue Date  APN Application Serial
 TTL Title Number
 ABST Abstract  APD Application Date
 ICN Inventor Country  REF Referenced By
 SPEC  FREF Foreign References
Description/Specification  PCT PCT Information
 AN Assignee Name  GOVT Government Interest

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

and SPEC/(cellular device)

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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
 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
 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
 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
 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  <order>
 Or  <thesaurus>
 Not  ?
 <in>  *
 <, =, >, <=, <=   [weight]
 <near>
 <near/n>

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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
 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
 <>
 *  ADJn
 *n  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

© Brain League IP Services Pvt. Ltd

© Brain League IP Services Pvt. Ltd
 THANK YOU

© 2009 Brain League IP Services Pvt. Ltd .