U.S. Patent and Trademark Searching on the Web

"A patent for an invention is the grant of a property right to the inventor, issued by the Patent and Trademark Office." ... "A trademark is a word, name, symbol or device which is used in trade with goods to indicate the source of the goods and to distinguish them from the goods of others. A servicemark is the same as a trademark except that it identifies and distinguishes the source of a service rather than a product." (USPTO)

The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (http://www.uspto.gov) provides no-cost searching of Issued Patents, Patent Applications, and Trademarks:

Guides to Patent Searching
General Information Concerning Patents - see especially "What is a Patent?"
The 7-step strategy - the search process described is complex, recommended for professional patent searchers
How do I use the U.S. Patent Classification Site? - explains searching by Classification numbers
Tips on Fielded Searching - probably the most useful guide for the novice patent searcher, since searching within fields (sections) is easy to understand and results in precise, although not comprehensive, searches

Classification tools to help in Patent Searching
Manual of Classification - guide to the classification schedule used to classify patents and patent applications; searchable by class, subclass, and keyword
USPC Index - browsable index to the entire US Patent Classification

For a robust search engine to the USPC Index, see http://cxp.paterra.com.

Accessing and Printing Patent Images
Download a free viewer (Windows: AlternaTIFF or InterneTIFF; Macintosh: QuickTime). Note: QuickTime does not allow printing of patent images. You will have to print page by page in AlternaTIFF and InterneTIFF.

To download a pdf document so that you don't have to print page by page, search for the patent in http://www.freepatentsonline.com.

Guides to Trademark Searching
Basic Facts about Trademarks - see "What is a Trademark or Servicemark?"
Trademark Electronic Search System (TESS) Help - see "New User Form Searching" (To get to TESS, click on "Search" under "Trademarks" on http://www.uspto.gov.

Classification Tools to help in Trademark Searching
Trademark Acceptable Identification of Goods and Services Manual - guide to the classification of trademarks; searchable and browsable
USPTO Design Search Code Manual - guide to classification of figurative elements of trademarks; keyword searching, table of contents, alphabetical index, browsable dictionary

UT Electronic Resources for U.S. Patent and Trademark Searching
Note: text for this section is taken from promotional literature for the products.

Patents and Trademarks ASSIGN
Ask at Hodges Library Government Documents (DVD)
Assignment data for both patents and trademarks. Patent data is derived from assignment deeds recorded after August 1980, including assignments of patent grants and patent application publications (filed after November 29, 2000) recorded before and after publication or issue. Assignments of trademark applications and registrations are integrated in this newly merged database. It is possible to search both patent and trademark assignment information with just one search statement or limit the search to one type of document. Information is accessible by assignee or assignor name or by document number.

Patents ASSIST
Ask at Hodges Library Government Documents (DVD)
Provides searchable text of many patent search tools including: Attorneys and Agents Registered to Practice Before the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, Index to the U.S. Patent Classification, IPC - USPC Concordance, Manual of Classification, and Manual of Patent Examining Procedure. In addition, Classification Definitions, a Patentee/Applicant-Assignee Index, and a Classification Orders Index are included. The Patentee/Applicant-Assignee Index shows ownership at time of issue for utility patents 1969 to present, for other patent types 1977 to present, and inventor names 1975 to present. The Classification Orders Index is a list of classifications abolished and established since 1976 with corresponding Classification Order number and effective date.

Patents BIB
Ask at Hodges Library Government Documents (DVD)
Contains bibliographic information for utility patent grants issued from 1969 to the present and for other types of patent documents issued from 1977 to the present. In addition, bibliographic information for patent application publications is provided starting in March 2001. There are more than 15 searchable fields including title, abstracts from September 1988 to present, current classifications, assignee at time of issue, date of issue, serial number, inventors' names and full addresses (if not assigned at time of issue), and status (i.e., withdrawn, corrected, expired for failure to pay maintenance fees, reinstated, reexamined or term extended). Patents BIB provides image locations on USAPat discs for patents issued 1969 to date and USAApp discs for patent applications published March 15, 2001, to date.

Patents CLASS
Ask at Hodges Library Government Documents (DVD)
Contains current classification information for all utility, design, plant, reissue, X-numbered patents, defensive publications, and statutory invention registrations issued from 1790 to the present (over 6 million documents). Records are searchable by classification or patent number.

Trademarks ASSIST
Ask at Hodges Library Government Documents (DVD)
Includes Design Search Code Manual, 2002 June, Goods and Services Manual, 2002 June, Trademark Examination Guides, Notes, and Announcements, 2002 June, Trademark Manual of Examining Procedure (TMEP), 3rd ed., 2002 June, Trademark Trial and Appeal Board Manual of Procedure (TBMP), 1st ed., 1995 September, Trademarks Telephone Index, 2002 June, U.S. Trademark Law: Rules of Practice and Federal Statutes, 6th ed., 2002 June.

Trademarks BIB
Ask at Hodges Library Government Documents (DVD)
Previously three separate databases, Trademarks ACE - Bibliographic Information from Abandoned Trademark Applications or Cancelled or Expired U.S. Trademark Registrations; Trademarks PENDING - Bibliographic Information from Pending U.S. Trademarks; and Trademarks REGISTERED - Bibliographic Information from Active, Registered U.S. Trademarks. These three trademarks databases have now been consolidated into a single database on a single disc and are no longer available individually. With just one search, the user can locate all three types of trademarks documents. There are 35 searchable fields in the database including Word Mark, Pseudo Mark, Translation, Mark Combined Search, Owner Name, Owner Address, Goods and Services, International Class, and Description of Mark. To search for one particular type of mark, the Live/Dead Indicator field identifies the mark as Dead, Pending, or Registered. The Status field in Trademarks ACE records gives the reason for the "death" of the mark. Image locations on USAMark discs have now been added for all registered marks.

SciFinder Scholar - the electronic version of Chemical Abstracts. Accessible from the Databases/Indexes page. Download software to use it. Contains patent references in the field of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering. Scope

UT Print Resources for U.S. Patent Searching

Manual of Classification (print)
Hodges Library Government Documents DocMic Reference Counter T223.A23
Latest edition only.

Index to U.S. Patent Classification (print)
Hodges Library Government Documents DocMic Reference Counter T223.A25
Latest edition only.

For more help, contact:
Jeanine Williamson
Engineering Librarian
152 Hodges Library
1015 Volunteer Boulevard
Knoxville, TN 37996
(865) 974-9164
jwilliamson@utk.edu