Patent Searching: Academic Database Resources- Part II
Part II of this Patent Research Series focuses on resources available at academic libraries, as well as free internet resources. Many print resources are accessible via the shared statewide lending system, MelCat. Several of our Lawrence Technological University alumni have underscored the importance of intellectual property education for students, whether they are in biomedical, engineering, business, technical communication or architecture fields. Often, our alumni are employed in the field of intellectual property at private companies such as Landon IP (see entry below), the United States Patent and Trademark Office, or as Patent Agents working for a variety of endeavors.
Database Products and Descriptions (These are the most comprehensive databases. Due to space limitations, other products were not listed.)
Engineering Village- EI Patent section has US Patent and Trademark Office and European Patent Office patent collection. Patents and scientific literature can be searched at the same time by cross searching other Engineering Village databases, such as Compendex.
Lexis has a section on Patent Law that searches cases, journal articles, patent classifications, and international patent information.
Medline (National Library of Health)- citations and/or full-text coverage of medical journals. Excellent content on patents including analysis of medical/biomedical patents.
Science Direct(Elsevier)- This database has full-text content, including journal articles on patent related topics. One example of a full-text journal is World Patent Information.
SciFinder (CAS- a division of the American Chemical Society) – References from more than 10,000 currently published journals and patents from more than 61 patent authorities Go to “How to explore by Journal or Patent” to narrow your search to Patents.
Scopus (Elsevier)- This abstract and citation database held by many academic libraries has content representing five patent offices- (UK Intellectual Property Office, Japan Patent Office, European Patent Office, World Intellectual Property Office, and U.S. Patent and Trademark Office.
Web of Science (ISI)- A good source to locate journal articles that have cited a certain patent. This resource also includes patents, and a wide range of journals and conference proceedings.
Websites that Specialize in Patent Data
AusPat- http://www.ipaustralia.gov.au/auspat/ Site to search Australian Patents.
USPTO- United States Patent and Trademark Office (“PatFT”) offers full-text (including images) access to U.S. Patents from 1976 to present. TIFF images are available for patent from 1790 to the present. http://www.uspto.gov/ Patent Applications that have been published are also accessible from this site back to 2001. Patent searchers can start with an inventor’s name, the brand name of a product, by patent number, or by INID Codes. INID (Internationally agreed Numbers for the Identification of (bibliographic) Data. The USPTO site has a wide range of information for inventors at all stages of their patent application process. The scam prevention page is particularly useful, as official complaints about unscrupulous companies are listed.
European Patent Office: http://ep.espacenet.com
This includes a network of 60 million patents in most European languages. This is user-friendly for the novice patent researcher.
Patent Scope: World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO)
http://www.wipo.int/patentscope/search
Search from 1.7 million international patent applications, and an additional collection of over 3 million other patent documents.
Google Patents: http://www.google.com/patents Searches in this Beta collection for the full-text.
Scirus: http://www.scirus.com Find additional data that is difficult to locate in other search engines that covers reports, journal articles, patents, and pre-published data.
Selected examples of Books and E-books in the Lawrence Tech Library:
Print Resources:
Patent fundamentals for scientists and engineers, 2nd edition by Thomas T. Gordon, Arthur S. Cookfair, Lewis Publishers, Boca Raton, 2000. This book is designed for people without a law background and covers a wide range of topics from basic patent information to steps in applying for a patent. In addition, the book helps readers determine whether their invention is likely to be patented and also provides guidance on how to avoid legal pitfalls of patenting when similar patents already exist.
Patent it yourself , 13th edition by David Pressman, Nolo, Berkeley, CA, 2008.
This basic patent book is recommended by Patent Librarians and USPTO experts as a great basic book to start with for all inventors.
How to make patent drawings: a patent it yourself companion, 5th edition by Jack Lo and David Pressman., Nolo, Berkeley, CA, 2007
Electronic book examples:
Policy options for genetic resources: people, plants and patents revisited/ the Crucible II Group. Ottawa, Rome, and Sweden, Dag Hammarskjold Foundation, 2000. (ebrary electronic book)
Tangible strategies for intangible assets [electronic resource] : how to manage and measure your company’s brand, patents, intellectual property, and other sources of value by John Berry. New York, McGraw-Hill, 2005. (NetLibrary electronic book.)
Patent Blogs
Intellogist.com- A blog sponsored by Landon IP, a company which provides professional Intellectual Property services. The Intellogist blog currently has submissions on popular on topics such as the “Walkman Fiasco Patent”, as well as an article on the move among the USPTO and European Patent Office to develop a unified patent classification system.
Catherine Phillips- Lawrence Technological University Library
