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Patent Searching Using

Free Search Tools

2017

Ellen Krabbe, Steve Sampson, Ian Wetherbee

1
Introduction
Purpose of this document….
This article is a tutorial on several free patent search tools to
Table of Contents
help anyone who needs to locate patent information. Introduction P2
Espacenet P3-7
This document will act as a rapid introduction to each tool Google Patents P8-12
emphasizing its key features and where those features can PATENTSCOPE P13-17
be found. Since individual needs vary, it is our hope that you
will be able to rapidly choose a tool with the functions that
The Lens P18-22
fit your needs. Comparison of Tools P23
Other Resources P24
The best patent searches are iterative using different search
tools since each tool works slightly differently. The same Primer on Information Security:
search was performed in each tool using the same key words Protecting confidentiality is a common source of
and you will notice that the number of results is quite misinformation regarding free search tools. Users should
different. This is most commonly due to the countries be aware that no tool (paid or free) is without risk.
covered and the way family members are grouped. However, by following a few tips and understanding the
“threat model”, you can confidently search for patents
Ideally, you would want to perform a search using at least while taking reasonable, best-practice security steps to
two search tools. Each tool has different strengths, protect the confidentiality of the invention.
therefore, by searching with different tools you can take
advantage of their unique search features, such as WIPO's Security and privacy are both important to protecting
translation query builder, or Google's synonyms. confidentiality.

Featured tools: There are multiple areas to secure while searching. First,
Many existing open source databases have been integrated consider local security (software updates, hard drive
into freely available search tools. We have chosen to present encryption, physical security) and the security of the
four tools based on their ease of use, reliability of results and provider (company reputation, security engineers).
useful key features.
• Espacenet Second, you need to know the ways in which your search
• Google Patents strings can be seen as you type them and what are the
• PATENTSCOPE associated “threats”.
• The Lens - Your keyboard (hardware keyloggers)
- Your browser (extensions that can access your
Presentation of each tool: pages)
The section for each tool will include the following topics and - Your computer (software keyloggers, viruses)
the same search will be used for demonstration. - The internet (eavesdroppers on non-HTTPS sites)
1. Overview and Coverage - The search tool (weaknesses of security systems)
2. Searching Capabilities / Key Features
3. Results Manipulation Capabilities Last, you need to know what can save your search strings.
4. Privacy and Security - Your browser history
5. Additional Information - Help - The search tool

Best Practices For Protecting Privacy covers the last piece: what does the search tool
Your Patent Search Information do with my search strings? Each company has a privacy
policy that details how your search strings are processed,
When using free search tools on the Internet, consider
who has access to them and under what circumstances,
the following tips:
for how long they are stored, and what identifying
1. Only search on encrypted (HTTPS) sites (protects
information they are stored with.
against eavesdroppers on WiFi networks)
2. Delete your browser history after you have finished,
or search in an “incognito window” (prevents Today’s patent search tools are a powerful
information access in the event of computer theft) means of obtaining key information
3. Store your search notes on your computer’s when used with a knowledge of security,
encrypted hard drive, or in the Cloud (prevents privacy, and best practices for protecting your
information access in the event of computer theft) search information.

Free Patent Search Tools (Rev. Feb 2007) 2


https://worldwide.espacenet.com/

Free Patent Search Tools (Rev. Feb 2007) 3


Espacenet https://worldwide.espacenet.com

Overview and Coverage there are English abstracts already available for patent family
members. Otherwise, the abstract is requested and
Espacenet is a patent database that allows you to do full-text subsequently loaded into the database.
searches in English, French, or German. You can select the
database in your preferred language and in addition to Espacenet gives you access to:
viewing your results online, you can export them to a • more than 95 million patent documents – most of them
CSV/XLS formatted file. patent applications – from around the world, journal
articles, and before new products reach the market.
The worldwide database allows you to search for published Patent applications normally represent the first publication
patent applications from over 95 patent-granting authorities. of a new idea, appearing ahead of journal articles
Like all search tools, the EPO relies on the patent-granting • patent family information, telling you if similar patents
authorities for its data, it cannot be guaranteed that the data have been filed in other countries
in Espacenet is completely up-to-date. For example when • legal status information, helping you find out whether, and
seeking information on patent status, the user should go to in what countries, a patent is in force
the national register to obtain the most up-to-date • deep links to some national registers
information. • references to other kinds of technical literature (non-
patent literature)
Espacenet includes data on more than 95 million patent • citations – other documents cited by or citing the
documents world-wide. document you are looking at
• links to the European Patent Register for European and
Latest updates to the database Euro-PCT documents and to selected national patent
You will find up-to-date information on the EPO website registers
under “Latest bibliographic coverage” and “Latest full-text • Global Dossier links to the file wrapper for US, Canada,
coverage”. Both lists are updated daily. Latest Full-text WIPO, Chinese, Japanese and Korean patent applications.
coverage information can be found at • export to CSV/XLS
http://www.epo.org/searching-for-patents/technical/full- • searching by keyword in title abstract and full text
text-additions.html (description and claims) and CPC
• CPC browser with CPC’s assigned to EP docs after a delay.
(Other docs are assigned CPCs as they are loaded into the
Updates to the database database.)
The Espacenet database is updated daily. Data is added to
the database as soon as possible after it is received from the
national patent granting authorities, in some cases on the
Global Dossier
day of publication. The link to Global Dossier offers access to patent or
application "file wrappers", free of charge and with
automatic machine translations to English. The file wrapper
Availability of searchable data in the database contains a historical listing of public documents including
Documents in the database have the following searchable search reports, office actions, correspondence between the
fields: application number, priority number, publication applicant and the patent office, and often the current legal
number, publication date, inventor, applicant, International status (status should be verified with the national office).
Patent Classification (IPC), Cooperative Patent Classification
(CPC), title, abstract, description, claims and citations.
Common Citation Document
The CPC assigned by EPO examiners to non-European patent Clicking on the CCD link allows users to search for and view
documents is usually available a few months after the all documents cited by more than 35 patent offices in the
publication date. This should be considered if you are search process for applications for the same invention.
targeting recently published documents.
Online customer support, helpdesk and training
English abstracts are normally loaded approximately one Espacenet has many resources for anyone needing help in
month after the publication date, depending on availability searching or using this powerful search tool.
and delivery from the national offices and patent-granting
authorities. Discussion Forums
Forums allow you to post your opinions, ask questions and
If the abstract is published in a language other than English, share information on Espacenet. Current topics include:
the original abstract is usually translated into English, unless Search tips, Technical issues and Meet the experts.

4 Free Patent Search Tools (Rev. Feb 2007) 4


Espacenet https://worldwide.espacenet.com

1
2

Key Features Our search example is ‘solar portable usb charger’. Using
Smart Search, a list of approximately 74 results is
Landing page obtained. “Approximately” indicates a large number of
1. On the landing page there are three search options: Smart results and the list contains multiple family members.
search, Advanced search and Classification search. (See results below.) If the list is less than 500, you can
2. The Smart search takes a free-form search statement and manipulate the list by sorting it, in which case the list is
will search in title and/or abstract with keywords. It will de-duplicated, “Approximately...” disappears, and the
display a corresponding CQL search statement. You can also new list contains only one hit per family.
construct a CQL command-line search statement using field The advanced search can also be used for specific field
identifiers, Boolean and proximity operators. You can search searching. The Advanced search, in Worldwide EN for full
full text in abstract or description or claims using the text, gives “Approximately 3,744 results”
appropriate field identifiers. (See “Help” and “operators”)
Search results list
3. The number of results is found at the top of the list
4. Arrow for the next page of results

Numerous fields for


advanced searching
5. Sort functions: publication date, priority date, inventor,
applicant and CPC
6. Sort order
7. Check box for selecting documents
8. Select all check box
9. Compact list view
10. Functions of export or download covers
11. Click on star to add the document to My Patents List

9 10
8
3

5 6 4

11

Free Patent Search Tools (Rev. Feb 2007) 5


Espacenet https://worldwide.espacenet.com

Patent Document View 6. Classification codes CPC, IPC


1. Indicator of document being reviewed 7. Link to Global Dossier on the document view page
2. Menu for parts of the document 8. Translation options
3. Previous and Next in result list 9. INPADOC patent family
4. Highlighted keywords 10. Link to Common Citation Document on the family list page
5. Bibliographic information 11. Link to Global Dossier on the family list page

4 3
2

9
6

10

11

Free Patent Search Tools (Rev. Feb 2007) 6


Espacenet https://worldwide.espacenet.com

Results Manipulation Additional Information

Smart search
• Translation • Export
Smart search - entering queries
• My patents list • Query history Smart search - field identifiers
• Downloads Smart search - operators
Advanced Search
Classification Search
Espacenet Assistant
A guided tour through Espacenet,
crash courses (24 courses in 1-3
minutes), and Help index.

My patents list is maintained one


year unless updated.

The query history is maintained


permanently unless deleted or
overwritten. (Maximum of 50
query history entries.)

Check settings before using


Espacenet for the first time. These
functions are not automatically
enabled.

Privacy and Security

Secure access to Espacenet is now available. This


means that you can search in Espacenet within a
verified secure domain. It also verifies that all
communications between your browser and the
website are encrypted.

Espacenet does not monitor individual searches.


For more information, see EPO and Espacenet
Terms and Conditions.

Provider’s Note
Key features and important points include: data coverage, CPC browser, links to Global Dossier, links to national registers, Common
Citation Document , online customer support, forums, and expert helpdesk.

Espacenet is a great place to search, get information about patent families and obtain rapid access to national registers.

Free Patent Search Tools (Rev. Feb 2007) 7


https://patents.google.com

Free Patent Search Tools (Rev. Feb 2007) 8


Google Patents https://patents.google.com

Overview and Coverage Non-patent literature


New ideas are often published either in patent applications or
academic journals. If you are searching for prior art to a patent
Google Patents includes over 87 million patent application, it is critical in many fields to also search for non-
publications from 17 patent offices around the world, as well patent literature to get a complete view of the state of the art.
as many more technical documents and books indexed in
Google Scholar and Google Books. To make prior art searching easier, Google Patents includes a
copy of the technical documents and books indexed in Google
It currently indexes full-text documents from the following Scholar and Google Books. These documents have been
patent offices: machine-classified using the Cooperative Patent Classification
United States Europe scheme commonly used in patent searching to make finding
Japan China documents easier.
South Korea WIPO
Russia Germany You can browse the citation metrics for the top publications in
The United Kingdom Canada Google Scholar Metrics to get an overview of the types and
France Spain sources of papers included, and see Google Scholar help for
Belgium Denmark details on what papers are included.
Finland Luxembourg
The Netherlands Searching
From the homepage, you can begin your search in a few ways:
You can see the real-time number of documents that are
included from each patent office by clicking on "around the • Enter a patent publication or application number, such as
world" on https://patents.google.com. These totals include all [US9014905B1], [9014905], or [US 14/166,502]
patents and published applications in the index, but complete
coverage cannot be guaranteed. • Enter freeform text, such as [autonomous vehicle camera]

• You can also enter ["exact phrases"] and metadata restricts


[assignee:"Google Inc"], [inventor:page], and [before:2001].
Note: inventor and assignee names must be entered using
the prefixes.

• If you are looking for prior art, check the "Include non-patent
literature" box to include results from Google Scholar.
15 October 2016
• Paste a large block of text, such as a paragraph, to run the
Prior Art Finder keyword extractor to suggest search terms.
Many documents have full-text description and claims
available. The "Since ..." dates listed on the statistics graph Any good search begins by developing a clear description of
show when full-text is available, but additional abstract-only the subject of the search.
documents are often available for earlier dates.
Key elements should be identified and any synonyms for those
Optical character recognition (OCR) has been performed on the elements should be noted. (USB = universal serial bus)
US patents to 1790 to make them searchable, and Google
Translate has been used on all non-English patents to make the Keywords can be tested by using Google and looking at
English translations searchable. “Images” to determine which words give the best results.
Patents with only non-English text have been machine- Those words can then used in the Google Patents initial search
translated to English and indexed, so you can search patent box or in any other search tool.
publications using only English keywords.

https://support.google.com/faqs/answer/7049585?hl=en&ref_topic=6390989

Our search example is ‘solar portable usb charger’. Non-patent literature may be included by checking the box,
but for our example search we have chosen to only search patents.

Free Patent Search Tools (Rev. Feb 2007) 9


Google Patents https://patents.google.com

Key Features

1 Landing page
1. Initial syntax search
2. Checkbox to include non-patent literature

Search results list


The initial search terms are placed in boxes containing the
2
search terms and additional open fields on the left. Documents
New! boolean search, graphs, thumbnail grids and downloads are listed on the right. Click on the title to view document
details in the patent document view screen.

3. “Boolean” like search with “or” between synonyms and 9. Proposes CPC codes for words in the search terms box
each box being equivalent to “and” 10. Searches can be narrowed by dates, assignee, inventor,
4. Total results number at the top of the results list patent office, language, status, citing patent and CPC
5. Results can be ordered by relevance, newest or oldest 11. Graphs of top assignees, inventors and CPCs
6. Results can be grouped by classification or ungrouped 12. Expanded Thumbnail images
7. Download results 13. Link to PDF document
8. Narrow or broaden searches by adding terms in boxes 14. New search magnifying glass

14
4 5 6
3 11

12

13
10

Boolean syntax: Google Patents includes boolean syntax (USPTO or EPO format). Graphs allow rapid access
Proximity: You can use proximity operators to boost the score of documents if they contain to other documents by
expressions near each other. the assignee, inventors or
Searching in title, abstract, claims, CPC: Use TI=(safety belt) to search in the title, AB= for the CPCs. The top five are
abstract and CL= for the claims. For CPCs, CPC=B60R22 will match documents with exactly this CPC, viewed by default but the
CPC=B60R22/low matches documents with this CPC or a child classification of this CPC. “Expand” link enlarges
Wildcards, truncation: See the “?” next to Search Terms for additional information the list.

Free Patent Search Tools (Rev. Feb 2007) 10


Google Patents https://patents.google.com

Patent document view 3. Bibliographic information and claims are on the right
By clicking on the title, the document in the document review 4. Arrows to view the next document in the list
screen. 5. Classifications are between the images and the description
1. Key words are highlighted 6. Additional fields to narrow the search
2. Abstract, images and description are in the left-hand column 7. Button to return to the results list view

2 3
4

7 5

Clicking on the
images will open
an image viewer
below the classi-
fications box or on
the right of a wide
screen.

A B C

D
Adjusting the zoom on your web
browser when using a wide
screen monitor, allows viewing
images to the right of the text.
A. Rotate image
B. Next or previous image
C. View enlarge image, open in
a new tab
D. Close

Free Patent Search Tools (Rev. Feb 2007) 11


Google Patents https://patents.google.com

Bibliographic Information Box


1. Document number (See “Also published” to find family documents)
2. Download PDF link
3. Find Prior Art link (finds similar documents based on the priority date
4. Legal Status (Verify status or expiration in country database)
5. Other versions (Related documents)
6. Inventor (link to other work by the same inventor)
7. Assignee (link to other documents owned by the same person or organization
8. Priority and Filing dates
9. Patent Citations (backward searching references)
10. Cited by (forward searching references)
11. Also published as (continuation applications or family members in other
countries)
12. Legal events (useful for events like assignment information)
13. Similar documents (very useful to find other closely related documents)
14. External links (for additional information about status, prosecution history,
family members, etc.)

Results Manipulation

The list results include graphs of the top five assignees, inventors and CPCs.
You can download a CSV file of the top 1000 results.
Additional Information

Privacy and Security • About Google Patents


These help files include additional
How does Google use information provided through patent search queries? information about searching using
When Google Patents receives a search request, it is processed automatically by keywords, classifications, metadata,
computers. patent or application number.
• Access to individual search queries and associated request metadata from Google • Original Google Patents
Patents is limited to Google employees, contractors and agents who need to know Some links in Google Images may
that information, as described in the Privacy Policy about Information Security. direct you to the old version of Google
• For example, for security reasons, they may inspect records when they see patents. (Soon to be eliminated)
unusually large traffic spikes; if they start receiving a hundred patent search In this case, copy and paste document
requests a second from a single source, that source is probably automated abuse numbers into the new version.
of the system. They analyze those logs to protect Google Patents. • Advanced Patent Search
• But Google does not inspect Google Patents logs to inform its own patenting Easy tool for searching in fields for
strategies. specific information.
• The Google Privacy Policy also describes the limited situations in which Google will • Google Scholar
share user information with third parties. Used to search non-patent literature
For more information, please visit the Google Privacy homepage. but also includes patents and case law
searching.
How does Google protect my information?
Access to Google Patents is encrypted over HTTPS. For more information, please
read about Google's security and Frequently Asked Questions.

Provider’s Note
Google Patents aims to make the collection of patents and prior art accessible and useful to the public around the world by applying
search, translation, and machine classification technology.

Free Patent Search Tools (Rev. Feb 2007) 12


https://patentscope.wipo.int/search/en/search.jsf

Free Patent Search Tools (Rev. Feb 2007) 13


PATENTSCOPE
Overview and Coverage https://patentscope.wipo.int/search/en/search.jsf

The PATENTSCOPE database provides access to


international Patent Cooperation Treaty (PCT)
applications in full text format on the day of
publication, as well as to patent documents of
participating national and regional patent offices.
The information may be searched by entering
keywords, names of applicants, international patent
classification and many other search criteria in
multiple languages.

Using PATENTSCOPE you can search 58 million


patent documents including 3 million published
international patent applications (PCT) and
increasing. Detailed coverage information can be
found at
https://patentscope.wipo.int/search/en/help/data_
coverage.jsf
Having a PATENTSCOPE account enables you to:
• Save your customized configuration.
There is a New Chemical Structure Search • Save your queries.
functionality for specialized searches. • Download result lists up to 10,000 records.

PATENTSCOPE has a number of unique and


interesting tools for the curious searcher.

For example, you can search by chemical structure


and all representations of chemical structure are
standardized into InChIKey.

Developed in-house and trained on patent corpuses


CLIR (Cross-Lingual Information Retrieval), first
finds synonyms of your keywords and then translate
those found synonyms and the keywords into more
than a dozen of languages.

Browse by Week allows you to browse PCT


applications by week and includes analysis of PCT
applications by IPC code.

There is also a Sequence Listing of published


nucleotide and/or amino acid sequence listings
contained in published PCT applications. An RSS icon appears on the search results page. Clicking on the icon
takes you to a page from which you can either: copy and paste the URL
The IPC Green Inventory is a list of IPCs associated into your RSS reader or add the search to popular web-based readers
with Environmentally Sound Technologies (ESTs) as using the buttons provided.
listed by the United Nations Framework Convention
on Climate Change (UNFCCC). Once this is done, the search results will be automatically updated in
your RSS reader every Thursday, when new PCT applications are
The Portal to Patent Registers facilitates the published.
verification of legal status of patents at national
registers. WIPO Pearl is a multilingual terminology portal that provides access to
scientific and technical terms derived from patent documents. This tool
WIPO Translate will translate any pasted text. was developed in-house, trained on parallel patent corpuses and
recently upgraded to neural technology

Free Patent Search Tools (Rev. Feb 2007) 14


PATENTSCOPE
Key Features https://patentscope.wipo.int/search/en/search.jsf

Landing page 4. Browse PCT by week, sequence listing, IPC green inventory,
1. Login and Account sign up portal to patent registers
2. Options allows your personal configuration to be saved if you 5. Search type: simple, advanced, field combination, cross
have an account lingual expansion, chemical structure
3. WIPO translate and WIPO pearl 6. Selection of where to search in the document record

5 4 3 2 1

Simple search terms full text: solar portable usb charger = 3860 results
Advanced search: charger and (usb or “universal serial bus”) and portable and solar = 3403 results

7. Number of results 12. Save Query


8. Search criteria 13. Download result list
9. Refine search box 14. User functions: session queries, saved queries, save current
10. RSS feed to receive updated search results every Thursday interface, log out
11. Query tree

User Name
7 8 14

12 13
9
10 11

15. Link to individual record


16. Bibliographic information
17. Abstract
15
18. Image (click to enlarge)
16
18

17

Free Patent Search Tools (Rev. Feb 2007) 15


PATENTSCOPE
https://patentscope.wipo.int/search/en/search.jsf
Patent document view
1. Machine translation (WIPO Translate, Google Translate, 4. Link to bookmark the record for future reference
Bing/Microsoft Translate, Baidu Translate 5. Back to results list
2. Title 6. Next and maximize view
3. Document section tabs 7. Click on image to enlarge

1
5 6
2
3

Additional Information

WIPO Resources
• Video tutorials
• PATENTSCOPE User’s Guide
• WIPO Translate
• Data services
• External databases
• Webinars
• Frequently asked questions

Free Patent Search Tools (Rev. Feb 2007) 16


PATENTSCOPE
https://patentscope.wipo.int/search/en/search.jsf
Results Manipulation

In list view Privacy and Security


1. Sort by: relevance, publication date descending,
publication date ascending, application date descending, During the free registration process for the use of certain
or application date ascending. pages of WIPO websites, access to certain services, such
2. Display of Query trees: a new icon “query tree” is as the WIPO newsletters, and electronic registration at
displayed next to the RSS icon in the result list. If you WIPO conferences and meetings, you may be required to
click on it, the system parses again your last query, supply an e-mail address and demographic information
decomposes your query in sub-clauses and executes each (address, country, zip code).
sub-clause one by one, letting you know the associated
number of intermediate results. For example, when WIPO also logs IP addresses, or the location of your
searching “electric toothbrush” in abstracts in all computer on the Internet, for systems administration,
languages with the CLIR interface, the query is the statistical and troubleshooting purposes.
following:
EN_AB:("electric toothbrush") OR DE_AB:("elektrischen Third parties: WIPO will not provide personal information
Zahnbürste" OR "Elektrozahnbürste") OR ES_AB:("cepillo about you supplied electronically as an individual
de dientes eléctrico" OR "cepillo dental eléctrico" OR subscriber to any third party without your consent.
"cepillo eléctrico dental") OR FR_AB:("brosse à dents Aggregate disclosure only: WIPO will disclose information
électrique") OR JA_AB:("電動歯ブラシ" OR "を用いた電 supplied electronically to third parties only in aggregate
動電子歯ブラシ" OR "これを用いた電動電子歯ブラシ
form.
") OR KO_AB:(" 전 동 칫 솔 " OR " 전 동 칫 솔 용 ") OR
Disclosure: WIPO will provide you all of your personal
PT_AB:("escova de dente elétrica") OR
RU_AB:("электрическая зубная щетка" OR "для information provided electronically at registration upon
электрической зубной щетки") OR ZH_AB:("电动牙刷") request. This information will only be sent to the e-mail
address on file or when the request is supported by the
and by clicking the query tree, the distribution per subscriber ID associated with it.
language of the 896 results is displayed: Fora: Any information you disclose when posting a
613 are in English message in any fora, list servers and message boards
153 are in German which WIPO may offer, becomes public. Moreover,
150 in Spanish subscribers who post a message in WIPO fora and similar
474 in French
services may make their e-mail address available to others
24 in Japanese
5 in Korean through a feature of WIPO fora software, which could
3 in Portuguese result in unsolicited e-mail from other subscribers or
48 in Russian parties, for which WIPO declines responsibility.
0 in Chinese
3. Save session queries in order to view them in another PATENTSCOPE is an https secure site.
session. For additional information, see WIPO Terms of Use.
4. View saved queries allows you to re-run a query.

User Name

Provider’s Note
Key features include: First time available published PCT applications, unique national and regional collections, full-text searching,
chemical structure searching, query assistant available to help users build complex queries, and one record for all republications of
the same application. Chinese utility models are available.
New: dossier content from participating IP offices is available in the “Documents” tab on the document view page.

Free Patent Search Tools (Rev. Feb 2007) 17


https://www.lens.org/lens/

Free Patent Search Tools (Rev. Feb 2007) 18


The Lens https://www.lens.org/lens/

Overview and Coverage For those who like structured searches


The Lens allows you to select fields to be searched.
They include:
What is the Lens?
The Lens is an open global cyberinfrastructure to make the
innovation system more efficient and fair, more transparent It should be noted that
and inclusive. an assignee field is not
present; however, the
The Lens serves nearly all of the patent documents in the “Applicants” field
world as open, annotatable digital public goods that are selection provides
integrated with scholarly and technical literature along with similar search results.
regulatory and business data. The Lens will allow document “Owners” field is
collections, aggregations, and analyses to be shared, specifically US
annotated, and embedded to forge open mapping of the world assignment data that
of knowledge-directed innovation. Ultimately, this will restore that is used to
the role of the patent system as a teaching resource to inspire supplement the EPO-
and inform entrepreneurs, citizens and policy makers. derived Applicant as
published data. The
Patent datasets Lens also provides links
Bibliographic data for: to global patent status
The European Patent Office’s DocDB from 1700 with 100+ information using OPS
million documents from over 100 jurisdictions. of the EPO as default.
Full text, images, and PDFs for:
USPTO Applications from 2001 (4.7M+ documents)
USPTO Grants from 1976 (5.5M+ documents) With respect to document types, The Lens organizes its
European Patent Office (EP) Grants from 1980 (1.49M+ docs.) collection by twelve (12) different document types.
WIPO PCT Applications from 1978 (3.47M+ documents) 1. Patent Application
Australian Applications and grants from 1917 (1.2M+ docs.) 2. Granted Patent
USPTO Assignments (8.5M+ documents) 3. Limited Patent
4. Search report
PatCite: non-patent literature sources 5. Amended Patent
The Lens has integrated the DOCDB citation database that 6. Design right
consists of 32M+ citation strings, out of which more than 40% 7. Abstract
were matched to unique and open persistent identifiers. 8. Plant patent
• PubMed – In collaboration with NCBI, the Lens 9. Statutory Invention Registration
interrogated 25M+ PubMed unique identifiers (PMIDs) 10. Supplementary protection certificate
and found matches to non-patent scholarly literature 11. Ambiguous
CrossRef – In collaboration with CrossRef, the Lens 12. Unknown
interrogated 85M+ Digital object identifiers (DOIs) and
found matches in the non patent literature In the Lens, the term “Limited Patent” encompasses, but not
• ORCID® – Through linkages with DOIs, ability to search by limited to, utility model, simple, innovation, and petty patents,
ORCID®IDS (2M+) or text strings for ORCID®IDs to retrieve i.e. patents with limited duration and/or rights. If one selects a
patent collections that cite the scholarly work of users’ so-called “Ambiguous” or “Unknown” document, the following
selected ORCID® IDs is enabled. message is provided at the top of the viewing window:
“The full document isn’t yet available to us from the patent
PatSeq office”
For those working in biotechnology, you will appreciate the
amino acid or nucleotide sequence searching and analytic Persistent identifiers – The Lens uses a 15 digit identifier,
tools. These are based on the world’s largest publicly available Lens ID, that allows you to find *many* of the knowledge
patent sequence database (262M+ sequences). Coverage artefacts associated with a patent record, ranging from the
details are depicted in the PatSeq Data application and value-added metadata, the original images, the full text and
updated monthly. Various text searches of documents or the ‘complex work units’ (e.g.. DNA sequence), including
sequence explorer, finder and analyzer are available for you. citations. In the Lens, this unique identifier will be used as the
default patent ID and useful for you since it is open, persistent,
LinkedIn® and ORCID® integration for inventorship verifiable and devoid of internal business logic.

Free Patent Search Tools (Rev. Feb 2007) 19


The Lens https://www.lens.org/lens/

Key Features
Landing page
1. PatSeq search enables access to patents
disclosing genetic sequences and bulk Basic search terms: solar portable usb charger = 3788 (2224 families)
Structured search: charger AND usb AND portable AND solar = 3788 (2224 families)
downloads of disclosed sequence data
Structured search: charger AND (usb OR "universal serial bus") AND Portable AND solar
2. Guest or User tools = 3824 (2235 families)
3. Account register and Sign in Note: operators AND, OR and NOT must be in all caps.
4. Simple search
5. Structured search option

1 2 3

4 5

Work area 12. Inventorship: allows recording inventorship in the popup


6. Guest or Personal work area (if signed in) dialog for your name in “Inventors” sections. This allows
7. Search history to review and save searches other users to see your profile from ORCID or LinkedIn.
8. Collections: to save documents of interest 13. Sequence bulk download enables you to download sequence
9. Save Queries: searches that can be run again listings extracted from full-text patent documents, megafiles,
10. PatSeq Finder History: saved queries and public databases in FASTA format.
11. Tags: can be added to documents from the search result 14. Registration reminder
page to assist in organizing documents 15. Personalization Options

7 8 9 10 11 12 13

14

15

Free Patent Search Tools (Rev. Feb 2007) 20


The Lens https://www.lens.org/lens/

Search results list 6. Check all or individual document selection


1. Number of results and number of families 7. Save query, export results
2. Create a collection of documents of interest for later review 8. Group by simple families
3. Numerous options to refine the search 9. Results table, results summary, graphical analysis
4. Refine the search by changing search terms 10. Sort options: rank, publication, filing, cited, sequences or family
5. New search or structured search 11. Click on title or document number for details
1
4
5
7 9

2 6 8 10

11

Patent document view 16. Family and legal information


12. Add a document of interest to a collection with + 17. Notes can be added either in Notes section or click on the
13. Add document notes paper clip for each section
14. Tabs to parts of document: summary & full text, 18. Document preview; click to open in a new tab
key words highlighted 19. Document history
15. Forward and backward citations

14 15 16 17
12

18

13

19

Free Patent Search Tools (Rev. Feb 2007) 21


The Lens https://www.lens.org/lens/

Results Manipulation

Refine your search within a set of results by using the


selection options on the left or by clicking on the “Graphical
Analysis”. Facets/Graphs include:
• Jurisdictions
• Publications by Year
• Inventors
• Owners
• Applicants
• Authors
• CPC, US and IPCR Classifications Privacy and Security
• Document Type
• Citation ID (DOI/PMID)
• Biological Organisms Website Visitors
• Top Cited Patents “We want the Lens to be the best tool that it can be, and
we are working continually on making the Lens better and
better. In order to do this, we need to know what kind of
New functionalities include the ability to “include”, “exclude”, browser you’re using, which language version and where
“ignore” various parameters for each facet within your set of you’re visiting from. So we collect this information
results whenever you visit the Lens. But this information will not
be used to identify you personally. We would love it if you
would tell us who you are and why you use the Lens. But
you’re going to have to initiate the conversation yourself,
because we’re not going to snoop around to figure it out
on our own.”

“We collect this information by using cookies. If you don’t


want a cookie, then change the settings on your browser
so that it won’t accept them – simple as that. And when
we talk about the Lens or write about the Lens, we might
say that “X percent of the people who visit the Lens use
the Firefox browser, and Y percent of them use the
Additional Information Russian language version.” But that's it.”

Help Resources Knowledge Database Email Addresses


• Basic Help • The Basics “If you want to register for an account, you need to give
• Search Results • Patents us a valid email address (we require a valid email address
• Result Views • Claims for an account so we can reset your password should you
• Document Views • Continuity forget it). We’re not going to share your email address
• Advanced Document Views • Patent Rights with anyone. But if you don’t want to share one of your
• Workspaces • Other Articles email addresses with us, that’s fine – just don’t register
• Biological Tools • Around the World for an account.”
• Patent Sequence Tools • Biological
• Other Pages • Applied Knowledge The Lens is an https secure site.
For additional information, see The Lens Privacy Policy.

Provider’s Note
The Lens is the longest continually operating open full text resource available to date and it strives to make the innovation system
more open, efficient, transparent and inclusive. Openness in the Lens means that the patent and non patent knowledge, the
collections, the analyses can be shared with “anyone” on any platform with no compromises of privacy or security. Feedback is
welcome at support@cambia.org

Free Patent Search Tools (Rev. Feb 2007) 22


Summary Chart
So much more could be said for each of these tools but we have limited this presentation to information useful for the
casual or occasional searcher. Since searchers have diverse needs, we have chosen to summarize a few of the key
characteristics and features here. For each blank box in this list there may be other features you will find useful,
therefore, these should not be construed as deficiencies. To improve the quality of your search results, it is highly
recommended to use a combination of these and other search tools. It is our hope that you will enjoy discovering these
powerful sources of information as much as we did. The IPO Patent Search Committee

Features Espacenet Google Patents PATENTSCOPE The Lens

Search Authorities 90+ 17 41 95

IP 5 Full-text (CN, EP, JP, KR, US)    

Non-English documents -
Machine translations searched Abstracts and Abstracts and Abstracts and
Full-text
(See links in Document Information many full-text many full-text many full-text
and Dates below for details)

Bibliographic PATENTSCOPE Data


Document Information and Dates “Around the World” The Lens Datasets
Full text Coverage

Syntax search    
Boolean search    
Search history viewing   
Saving of searches   

Alerts RSS Feeds With Google Scholar RSS for changes In 2017

Creation of portfolios or collections  (downloads) (download list only) 

Export of results    
Graphing / Analysis   
Searchable PDF  
Privacy - Account Https Https Https and Account Https and Account
Security    

 Citations, families,
Links to similar documents Citations and families In 2017
(Algorithm) non-patent literature

Field searching / Advanced search    

Patent and non-patent literature   


Grouping by family   
Design patents Some  Some
Link to Global Dossier   In 2017 In 2017
Highlighted text    

Free Patent Search Tools (Rev. Feb 2007) 23


Other Resources
In our early consideration of this document, we were unable to get feedback from the owners of the following tools but
have included a mention of them here since Free Patents Online is well known, and See-the-Forest has unique features
for patent analysis that you may find useful.

Free Patents Online / SUMOBRAIN Key features include:


SumoBrain and Free Patents Online are owned and operated by 1. Quick Search and Fielded Searches
Patents Online, LLC and both search tools feature full-text 2. Keywords are highlighted in the text of results
cross-collection searching of US patents and applications, EP 3. Possibility of creating an account
patents and applications, PCT documents, and Japanese 4. Login for additional functions and for lists with links to PDF
abstracts. 5. Account functions of portfolios, portfolio downloads,
alerts, saved searches, and sharing options.
The user should be aware that this is not a secured internet site 6. Possibility of creating an account
and should take precautions to protect their work. 7. Login for additional functions and for lists with links to PDF
8. Account functions including portfolios, portfolio
Among its advantages are the fact that publications are rapidly downloads, alerts, saved searches, and sharing options.
available, especially for US patent documents. The fielded 9. Portfolio can be copied, merged, or exported as an Excel
searches permit very precise Boolean search strings and give spreadsheet
highly relevant results. Numerous search fields are available. 10. Saved searches can be modified
11. Saved search can be used to create an alert

See-the-Forest Help on Features and Functions for the


This is an interactive patent analytics tool from ipvision. "Unregistered User" Permission Level
Search Methods
According to ipvision, “When you register to use our free Search Results
patent search and patent analysis software, you’ll be able to: Analysis Results Box
• Gain access to our comprehensive patent search engine IPVision Patent Maps
• Expand your patent search capabilities with sophisticated Patent Citation Interconnection Maps™
data mining techniques Patent Landscape Maps™
• Utilize easy-to-understand patent visualization and patent Using Patent Maps
mapping Map Action Menus
• Unleash the power of your own patents Patent Family Maps - You Can View But Not Create These At the
• Take a closer look at competitors’ patent strengths and Unregistered User Subscription Level
weaknesses Patent Cousin Maps - You Can View But Not Create These At
• Find appropriate IP acquisition targets” The Unregistered User Subscription Level
Map Highlighting - You Can View But Not Create These At The
For additional information, see Terms of Use for See-the-Forest. Unregistered User Subscription Level

We thank Lucy Antunes,


Michael Chernoff, Nigel Clarke,
Osmat Jefferson, Richard
Jefferson, Ford Khorsandian and
Sandrine Ammann for their
assistance with this publication.

©2017 Intellectual Property Owners Association

While care has been taken to ensure that information contained in this publication is true and correct at the time of publication, changes in circumstances after
the time of publication may impact on the accuracy of this information. The information is for general purposes only, and neither IPO nor any organization cited
makes any representations or warranties of any kind concerning the information presented in this pamphlet or accessed through any Internet site referenced.

Free Patent Search Tools (Rev. Feb 2007) 24

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