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There are a number of Internet sites and online databases that provide patent information. Each service has unique features and searchers will have to experiment with the different services in order to determine which one is best suited for their particular need. Searchers should be aware of the limitations of an Internet site or an online database before they try to perform a search using one. The USPTO website is the only free patent site that offers the complete issue of U.S. patents from 1790 to the present. Most sites only provide information from the mid 1970's onward. Speed can also be a problem with Internet resources, especially for the full-text services that require transferring a lot of data. Online databases will usually provide information for a limited time span, so be sure that the database you are searching covers the time period that you are researching. Searchers are urged to read the description of the database on the service's home page and keep these things in mind when using an Internet resource or a specialized database.

• USPTO Patent Database
  This is the USPTO Patent Full-Text Database, covering U.S. patents issued from 1790 to the present, with images, and published Patent Applications. Patents issued before 1976 are only searchable by patent number and current U.S. classification. You must have a TIFF viewer loaded on your computer in order to view the scanned patent images.
• Free Patents Online
  Free Patents Online offers a wide array of patent information and services. It is free but you must register and create a personal account. Full text keyword searching is available from 1976 onward with earlier patents available through limited fields back to 1836. Patents are in PDF format and offer good quality printing.
• Nineteenth Century Masterfile
  This database contains a computerized version of the Subject-Matter Index of Patents for Inventions Issued by the United States Patent Office from 1790-1873, inclusive. This is a licensed product and only available to members of the Univeristy of Delaware community.
• Google Patents
  The patent site of Google. Searching is available from 1790 to the present through the optically scanned images of the actual patents. Users should be aware that the scans themselves, especially on older patents, are not always of a high quality and this might result in some bad and/or incomplete searches. This is not a recommended site for conducting an actual patent search but is very useful for retrieving older patents by unusual criteris such as application numbers and inventor name. Patents are in PDF format and while printing is allowed the images are often of a poor quality.
• CASSIS
  CASSIS is a DVD system created by the USPTO to assist users with patent and trademark searches. It provides access to brief bibliographic records of U.S. patents issued since 1969, full text patents (1790-1980, 1994 - present), lists of all patent numbers issued to any classification since 1790, and computerized versions of most of the patent searching tools including the Manual of Classification and the Index to the Classification System. This is a stand alone system that can only be used in the Reference Room of the Morris Library.

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• esp@cenet: European patent information
  The most comprehensive site for European patent information. The national offices of the member states act as service providers and offer users access via Internet home pages hosted by them. In this way the pages can be customised to meet national requirements vis--vis language, links to other pages and help functions.
• Canadian Patent Database
  This database lets you access over 75 years of Canadian patent descriptions and images. You can search, retrieve and study more than 1,400,000 patent documents as well as Canadian trademarks and some European patent sites.
• German Patent and Trademark Office (DPMA)
  The German Patent and Trademark Office, English language version.
• Japan Patent Office
  The homepage of the Japan Patent Office, English version, with information on the patenting process in Japan and related issues.
• State Intellectual Property Office of the People's Republic of China
  The English language version of the PRC's Intellectual Property Office.
• Trilateral Web Site
  The Trilateral Offices, the European Patent Office (EPO), the Japanese Patent Office (JPO), and the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) have been cooperating for the administration of their patent functions in order to gain possible mutual benefits since 1983. Their web site provides updated information on the activities of the Office.
• World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO)
  The homepage of WIPO, available in English, French, or Spanish. WIPO is is an intergovernmental organization with headquarters in Geneva, Switzerland, one of the 16 specialized agencies of the United Nations system of organizations. WIPO is responsible for the promotion of the protection of intellectual property throughout the world through cooperation among States, and for the administration of various multilateral treaties dealing with the legal and administrative aspects of intellectual property.

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• Aquatic Sciences Set  
• Biological & Agricultural Index
• Biological Sciences Set  
• Chemical Abstracts (SciFinder)
• Computer Database  
• Dissertation Abstracts
• Ei CompendexWeb
• Engineering Information Village
• Environmental Sciences & Pollution Management  
• Materials Research Database with METADEX  
• SciFinder
• Web of Science  

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• Britannica Online
• Expanded Academic ASAP Plus  
• UnCover Plus

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Home DELCAT Databases Electronic Journals Subjects A-Z Forms Reserves Ask a Librarian

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