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Patents

The United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) promotes the progress of science and the useful arts by securing for limited times to inventors the exclusive right to their respective discoveries per Article 1, Section 8 of the United States Constitution.

Finding Full Patents

LexisNexis Academic (formerly Academic Universe) (UTSA subscription)
Searchable full-text database of all U.S. patents from 1971, including Design Patents, Plant Patents, and Utility Patents, with selected archival full text back to 1790. No drawing are provided. Click on "Legal" tab then choose patents through "Find Sources". Searchable by keywords. Drawings not included. Also contains the electronic versions of the Manual of Classification and Patent Number by Classification.

FreePatentsOnline.com
Free Website: http://www.freepatentsonline.com/
Full text searching and downloading of images in PDF format beginning with patent number 4,000,000. Must create account.

Google Patent
Free Website: http://www.google.com/patents
Google Patent Search covers the entire collection of 7,000,000 patents made available by the USPTO—from patents issued in the 1790s through those issued in mid-2006. Full image is in PDF. They don’t currently include patent applications, international patents, or U.S. patents issued over the last few months. You can search the full text by criteria including patent number, inventor, and filing date.

Patent and Trademark Depository Library Program List
Free via web: http://www.uspto.gov/web/offices/ac/ido/ptdl/ptdlib_1.html
Consult this list for locations of Patent and Trademark Depository Libraries.

San Antonio Public Library - Government Documents Department
Free via web: http://www.sat.lib.tx.us/central/govdocs.htm
The San Antonio Public Library is a Patent and Trademark Depository Library. The Government Documents Department located at the Central Library can assist you with finding patents. Visit their website or call (210) 207-2694 to schedule an appointment for assistance.

The University of Texas at Austin Richard W. McKinney Engineering Library
Free via web: http://www.lib.utexas.edu/engin/index.html
The UT Austin Engineering Library is a U.S. Patent and Trademark Depository Library and holds copies of full patents. Their website includes a useful online tutorial.

U.S. Patent Office & Patent Database
Free Website: http://www.uspto.gov/
The USPTO, a federal agency in the Department of Commerce, includes extensive information on Patents and Trademarks as well as a Patent Tutorial. The Patent Full-Text Database is searchable back to 1976, and in one additional block covering the years 1790-1975. The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office also sells copies of patents for a small fee. Obtain copies of forms, information on fee structure and extensive general information on U.S. patents and trademarks at this site. Note: for viewing patent images, you will need to install a plug-in. Information can be found here: http://www.uspto.gov/patft/help/images.htm

Background Information

Basic Facts About Patents
Location: JPL US Government Documents C 21.2: P 27/18
Small brochure answers frequently-asked questions in non-technical language.

General Information Concerning Patents
Location: JPL US Government Documents C21.26/2
Free Website: http://www.uspto.gov/go/pac/doc/general/
Basic government guide to patent information. More thorough guide to the operations of the PTO than the above but not a comprehensive source of patent law.

General Information on Patents
Free Website: http://library.stanford.edu/depts/swain/collections/patents/index.html
Internet links from the Stanford University Libraries.

Introduction to United States Government Information Sources
Location: JPL Reference Stacks J83 .M665 1999
Location: Downtown Library, Reference J83 .M665 1996
Patents and Trademarks are covered in Chapter 10, a chapter on Intellectual Property.

Patent Searching for Librarians and Inventors
Location: JPL Reference Stacks T210 .W44 1995

Patent Searching Tutorial
Free Website: http://www.lib.utexas.edu/engin/patent-tutorial/index.htm
This tutorial from the McKinney Engineering Library at the University of Texas at Austin explains the basics of patent searching.

Tapping the Government Grapevine:
The User-Friendly Guide to U.S. Government Information Sources
Location: JPL Reference Desk J38 .R63 1998
Patents, Trademarks and Copyright are discussed in Chapter 7.

Using Government Information Sources
Location: JPL Reference Stacks J83 .S43 2001
3rd edition. Patents and Trademarks are covered in Chapter 50.

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Books

Books and Materials about patents at the UTSA Library

UCAT, UTSA Library Online Catalog
Search UCAT to locate books, journal titles (not articles), government documents, maps and multimedia materials available at the UTSA Library. Read the Search Tips to learn how to conduct a better search.

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Patent Indexes

Index to the U.S. Patent Classification
Location: JPL US Government Documents C21.12/2:
Published annually, the Index is an initial means of entry into the patent classification system. The Index is an alphabetical list of subject headings referring to specific classes and subclasses of the patent classification system. The Index functions as a subject index to the Manual of Classification (described below). As a first step in locating a field of search, the searcher should look in the Index for the term or terms that best represent the subject matter of interest.

Manual of Classification
Location: JPL US Government Documents C 21.12: (Loose Leaf)
Once you have identified the pertinent patent classes and subclasses in the Index, (described above), you can refer to the Manual of Classification to see the structure of the entire class (subject). Use the Manual of Classification to verify if the class and subclass numbers identified through the Index were accurate. If needed, consult the U.S. Patent Classification Definitions (see below) for more detailed information. Also available through Academic Universe (UTSA subscription).

U.S. Patent Classification Definitions
United States. Patent and Trademark Office
Location: JPL U.S. Docs C21.3/2 (Microfiche)
Free Website: http://www.uspto.gov/go/classification/
Classification Definitions contains definitions and illustrations of the kind of subject found in each class and subclass, the lines of distinction among classes and subclasses, and references to other classes and subclasses with related subject matter. Also available through Academic Universe (UTSA subscription).

Patent Table

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Patent & Trademark Law

Code of Federal Regulations
Location: JPL U.S. Doc AE2.106/3
LexisNexis Congressional (formerly Congressional Universe)(UTSA subscription)
(Choose "Regulations" then "Code of Federal Regulations") Current regulations of the Patent and Trademark Office are in Chapter I of Title 37, Code of Federal Regulations.

United States Code Annotated (UTSA Subscription)
Location: JPL Reference Stacks KF62 1927.W45
LexisNexis Congressional (formerly Congressional Universe) Choose "Legislative Histories, Bills & Laws " then "US Code"

United States Code (USC)
Location: JPL Reference Stacks KF62 (2000 ed.) (Titles 1-50, Tables, General Index, Supplements)
Official version of all general and permanent federal laws in force. Public Laws are arranged under fifty “titles” or subject categories.Patent and trademark law is codified in Title 35. Does not summarize legislative history but cites Statutes at Large. Older editions available.

U.S. Code Collection
Free Website: http://www4.law.cornell.edu/uscode/
From Cornell University, this version is generated from the most recent official version made available by the US House of Representatives. Patent and trademark law is codified in Title 35 of the United States Code.

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International Patents and Trademarks

Canadian Patents Database
Free Website: http://patents.ic.gc.ca/cipo/cpd/en/introduction.html
The free Canadian Patent Database provides access to over 75 years of Canadian patent descriptions and images from more than 1,400,000 patent documents. Maintained by Canadian Intellectural Property Office (CIPO).

Engineering Village 2 (UTSA subscription)
Contains Esp@cenet for patent information from the European Patent Office, the World Intellectual Property Organization, patent abstracts of Japan, and published patents from over 71 countries; USPTO for patents from the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office. Coverage and update frequency varies.

European Patent Office
Free Website: http://ep.espacenet.com/
This site provides indexing to over 30 million patent documents from European and other patent offices worldwide, including Japanese, German, and U.S. patents. The records provide basic patent information and in many cases an English abstract and image of the first page. Some records provide full-text descriptions, claims, and drawings. German and U.S. patents are indexed from 1920 (providing very basic patent information and drawings) but are available with full-text and images from 1972 to present. Also see Intellectual Property Network for European and Japanese patents.

U.S. Patent and Trademark Office
Free Website: http://www.uspto.gov
The USPTO has a page of International Intellectual Property Topics. Check out Other Intellectual Property Offices for links to sites worldwide.

World Intellectual Property Organization
Free Website: http://www.wipo.int/
WIPO governs the Paris Convention. An inventor who files for patent protection in any of the participating countries has 12 months to apply for protection in any of the other participating countries. This website includes the full-text of the Patent Cooperation Treaty and provides links to national patent offices.