LibGuides: Patents: How to Search: Welcome

Finding US Patents

The U.S. Patent & Trademark Office (USPTO) Patent Database includes full text of patents from 1790 - present and also provides TIFF images of most of them.

By Patent Number

Go to USPTO Database.
Select Patent Number Search or Publication Number Search.
By Subject

Go to USPTO Database and select Quick Search. Enter keywords in the search box.
Find a patent that is close to what you're looking for.
Note the Cooperative Patent Classification (CPC) number/Subclass for that patent, e.g. A01D 711/111 .
Do a search of that Class/Subclass in USPTO Database to find more patents on that subject.
OR ...

Go to CPC Classification System Scheme and search for common terms or keywords.
Alternately, you can use the WIPO Catchword list for ideas.
Use the Class/Subclass numbers you found to check the CPC Classification System Scheme to see if they are on target.
Search by Class/Subclass numbers in USPTO Database.
You can use the same method of searching in other patent databases on the web. See the Patent Websites in this guide for more databases.

-Above text by Dave Schmitt, University of California San Diego Library

US Patent and Trademark Office Pages

US Patent Office 7-step Guide to Searching for Patents

US Patent Office Videos on Current Topics
US Patent Office Resources and Guidance
U.S. Patents
US Patent office landing page.
US Patent Office Patent Center
Searches recent patent applications.
US Patent Office Classification Resources
US Patent Office Classification Search
Searching by classification is the approach recommended by experts for subject searching.
US Patent Office Classification Guide
Index to the US Patent Classification

From Sources other than US Patent Office

Lens.org
Lens serves global patent and scholarly knowledge as a public good to inform science and technology enabled problem solving. Emphasis on newer materials.
Google Patents
While Google Patents is a more familiar search interface, results are not necessarily exhaustive. Do not rely on it as your sole source.
Cooperative Patent Classification hierarchy and description
A guide to the CPC from the European Patent Office.
Espacenet Patent Search
The largest public patent database on the internet, Espacenet contains 100 million patent documents from more than 90+ countries including Canada and the U.S., plus 2 million records for non-patent literature cited in EPO search reports. Espacenet is produced by the European Patent Office (EPO).
FreshpatentsOnline
New patents and technology.
Patentscope
World Intellectual Property Organization's patent search engine. Explore 65 million patent documents from more than 51 regional and national patent offices. Major national collections include Canada, China, European Patent Office, Japan, Korea, Russia, the U.K and U.S.
German Patents
Landing page may be in German but the option to translate pops up.
Canadian Patents
Global Patent Index (GPI)
The European Patent Office's (EPO) search tool that is updated weekly and adds 500,000 patent documents each month.
Pat2PDF.org
A free patent search tool. Enter a patent number to download patents in PDF form.

Search Help

Why Search for Patents?
A video introduction from MIT describing what a patent is and why a patent search may be relevant.
Searching for Patents
Powerpoint describing sites for patent search along with step by step instructions. From U. of Minnesotas, CC BY NC SA
University of Michigan Engineering: Anatomy of a Patent
Starts with a video overview of how to read a patent.
Basics of patent searching
This article is for the newcomer to patent searching and includes basic concepts as well as "tips and tricks".
Prior art: To search or not to search
This article covers patentability and the importance of prior art searching.

World Intellectual Property Organization user guide to Patentscope

Cooperative Patent Classification Training page
Collaboration between the US patent office and the European patent office offers training material to support users in learning the CPC classification system.
USPTO Video Library

To find Tesla's Patents:

Go to the US Patent office website and type "tesla motors inc" into the search field. You don't even have to type the whole thing; it will pop up the correct search term once you get "tesla". Instant list of all Tesla patents.

Tesla Patent List with numbers
What Every Chemist Should Know about Patents
Tesla Patent Numbers
Includes abastract, date of filing, date of patent, name of inventor(s).

About Patent Content in Nexis Uni

Now Live: Two Ways to Access Patent Content
Patent content has been added to Nexis Uni covering 107 countries. This content can be accessed in two ways:

► Click the drop-down menu at the top of Nexis Uni and select Patent Filings
(uni 3)
► Go to TotalPatent One content from the Advanced Search Page.

You will need to create an account to use the links pictured here: