Subject Guides: Patent and Trademark Resource Center: U.S. Patents

Patent Resources and Assistance

Free Databases

Databases freely available on the open web.

Espacenet (European Patent Office)
Espacenet offers free access to more than 80 million patent documents worldwide, including U.S. and many other non-EPO countries, from 1836 to present.
Global Dossier
Provides secure online access to the file histories of related applications from participating IP offices. Users can see the patent family for a specific application.
Google Patent Search
All documents originate from the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO), the European Patent Office (EPO), and the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO). Includes OCR full-text of U.S. patents 1790-1976, and native full-text of U.S. patents since 1976 and EPO and WIPO patents from 1978. With Google's Prior Art Finder, you can find documents related to a particular patent application or grant.
Pat-INFORMED
Search Pat-INFORMED database using a medicine’s INN (International Nonproprietary Name) to obtain relevant information about its patent status in a particular country.
Patentscope (World Intellectual Property Office)
Search 37 million patent documents including 2.5 million published international patent applications from all Patent Cooperation Treaty (PCT) member countries.
USPTO Patent Full-Text Databases
Includes PatFT (granted U.S. patents), AppFT (pending U.S. patent applications), Public PAIR (Patent Application Information Retrieval) and Assignment Database, as well as links to other helpful tools.

In-House Databases

Pub-EAST and Pub-WEST are available to the public, but only for in-library use. They are provided free-of-charge courtesy of the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office as part of the Patent and Trademark Resource Center Program. Contact us to make an appointment or to reserve the workstation. To schedule an appointment, call 207.581.1697 or email melvin.johnson@maine.edu

Licensed Databases

You must be a University of Maine student, faculty or staff member to access these databases.

Derwent Innovations Index
Derwent enhances searchability and discoverability of patent data by adding valuable metadata to the patent record including descriptive titles, plain language abstracts and more. For details and search assistance see: https://clarivate.libguides.com/webofscienceplatform/dii

SciFinder
The expanded electronic version of Chemical Abstracts, covering literature (including patents) from the mid-1800s to present, plus additional databases listing chemical substances and reactions. Covers literature on all branches of chemistry, as well as related fields.

Database Directories

The above are but a few of the patent search systems available on the internet today. The following sites provide exhaustive lists of patent search systems, both free and fee-based, along with descriptions and reviews.

Intellogist
Maintained by patent information professionals at LandonIP, this site lists many patent search systems, best practices, and reviews written by LandonIP review staff and the broader intellectual property community.
Patent Information Users Group
Exhaustive list of patent search databases compiled by members of the Patent Information Users Group, the international society for patent information. This is a good place to identify industry/discipline-specific databases.

Official Gazette for Patents

The Official Gazette for Patents is available online from the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office for the most recent 52 issues. It may be browsed by patentee, geographic location, classification or type of patent (i.e. utility, design, or plant). For each patent displayed, you may click the "Full Text" button in the upper left corner to retrieve the full text of the patent from the USPTO Full Text database. Prior issues of the Gazette, back to 2002, are available online from Reed Tech. Issue prior to 2002 are available on microfiche and/or CD-ROM at the Orono PTRC.

USPTO Resources

Guides and Workbooks

7- Step U.S. Patent Search Strategy Guide
This USPTO guide outlines a suggested procedure for patent searching.
7-Step U.S. Patent Search Strategy Workbook
This workbook is intended for use in conjunction with and as an aid to the USPTO's 7-Step U.S. Patent Search Strategy Guide.

Additional Online Resources

Intellectual Property Awareness Assessment Tool.
If you are truly new to the concept of "intellectual property" (patents, trademarks, copyright, and trade secrets), you should complete this half-hour assessment. It will help you identify unprotected assets that you may not even know you have.
[Video] Searching Espacenet using Cooperative Patent Classification
This excellent video, provided by the University of Central Florida Libraries' Patent and Trademark Resource Center, describes how to use Espacenet for the entire search process.
Espacenet Online Tutorial and Help
Includes glossary, FAQs, and more.
WIPO Guide to Using Patent Information
This Guide aims to assist users in searching for technology information using patent documents, a rich source of technical, legal and business information presented in a generally standardized format and often not reproduced anywhere else. Though the Guide focuses on patent information, many of the search techniques described here can also be applied in searching other non-patent sources of technology information.
USPTO Cooperative Patent Classification System
The Cooperative Patent Classification (CPC) effort is a joint partnership between the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) and the European Patent Office (EPO) where the Offices have agreed to harmonize their existing classification systems (European Classification (ECLA) and United States Patent Classification (USPC) respectively) and migrate towards a common classification scheme.) This interactive web page is easy to navigate and includes all the classification group definitions.
GreySource Index
Index and profiles of organizations that produce, process and/or archive grey literature (tech reports, unpublished conference papers, etc.). Resources appear within categories derived from the COSATI (American) and SIGLE (European) Classification Systems.

Quick Start Guides

Patent Application File Online
Applications are filed though EFS-Web (Electronic Filing System-Web). This collection of web page links includes forms and information needed to file patent applications.
Application Status Information
Application status can be checked using PAIR (Patent Application Information Retrieval) This page includes a collection of web page links related to accessing application status information.
Quick Start Guide for EFS-Web
Guide to using the USPTO Electronic Filing System for Patent Applications (PDF, 17 pages)
PCT Quick Start Guide
Guide to USPTO Electronic Filing System for International Patent Applications (PDF, 2 pages)
Quick Start Guide for Fee Payment (Financial Manager)
Guide to using the Electronic Filing System Fee Payment System (PDF, 7 pages)
Quick Start Guide for Text Intake in EFS-Web
Guide to understanding how to file .docx documents and includes a brief overview of the process. (PDF. 17 pages)

Patent Electronic Business Center

Patent EBC
The Patent Electronic Business Center (EBC) assists customers with filing their electronic patent application submissions via the Electronic Filing System (EFS-Web) and with the review of patent applications in Public and Private PAIR, as well as supporting customers while Searching the Patent and Application Full-Text Image Databases.

Hours: 6:00 a.m. to 12:00 midnight, Eastern Time, Monday through Friday
Telephone: 1-866-217-9197 (toll-free)
Fax: 571-273-0177
E-mail: ebc@uspto.gov

Inventor Assistance Center

IAC
The Inventors Assistance Center (IAC) provides patent information and services to the public. The IAC is staffed by former supervisory patent examiners, experienced primary patent examiners, various intellectual property specialists, and attorneys who can answer general questions concerning patent examining policy and procedure.

Hours: Monday – Friday, 8:30 AM – 8:00 PM (ET), except federal holidays
Phone: 800-PTO-9199 (800-786-9199)
TDD/TTY: 800-877-8339

Application Assistance Unit

AAU
The staff in the Application Assistance Unit (AAU) is trained to assist with a broad range of questions and issues pertaining to pre-examination processing of patent applications by the Office of Patent Application Processing (OPAP) and the post-examination processing of patent applications by the Office of Data Management (ODM).

Telephone: 888-786-0101
Email: HelpAAU@uspto.gov

American Invents Act Contact Center

AIA
In 2011, President Obama signed the Leahy-Smith America Invents Act (AIA) to modernize the U.S. patent system and strengthen America’s competitiveness in the global economy.

The AIA Contact Center is available to answer questions regarding the new legal provisions and rules.

Hours: Monday - Friday 8:30 AM - 5:00 PM (ET), Except federal holidays.

Fogler Library Collection

Plant Patents at the University of Maine Orono
The Fogler Library full color plant patent collection includes 1940-1991 (Incomplete) and 1994-Present (Complete).

USPTO Resources

General Information about Plant Patents
USPTO publication providing a basic overview of plant patents, and is intended to help prospective plant patent applicants identify what type of plants are patentable.
Plant Patent Classification Definitions
Provides a full description of the class for plants which are patentable under Title 35 U.S. Code, Section 161, which provides for the granting of a patent to whoever invents or discovers and asexually reproduces any distinct and new variety of plant, including cultivated sports, mutants, hybrids, and newly found seedlings other than a tuber propagated plant or a plant found in an uncultivated state.
Manual of Patent Examining Procedures (MPEP) Plant Patents
This is the manual used by patent examiners to determine patentability.

Patent Database

USPTO Patent Database
Using the Quick Search feature of the USPTO database: Enter Search Term 1: "PP" and Field 1: "Patent Number". This will return only plant patent results.

Digital Images of Plant Patents

Plant Patents Images Database - University of Maryland
The University of Maryland has created a database of color images for US Plant patents, with links to the US Patent and Trademark Office full text. Contains images from approximately 1994 to 2004 with updates planned.
Index to Plant Patent Color Images - New York Public Library
Contains a chart with the list of postings of Color Images of Plant Patents received at the Science, Industry and Business Library branch of the NYPL from April 17, 2012 through the present.

Miscellaneous Additional Resources

Toy Inventor & Designer Guide 5th ed
Published by the Toy Association. 2018.
What Every Chemist Should Know About Patents 4th ed.
This publication is produced by the American Chemical Society’s Joint Board-Council
Committee on Patents and Related Matters. 2019.
IPC to CPC statistical mapping