What is a patent?

A patent is a right granted by the Government to an inventor "...to exclude others from making, using, offering for sale, or selling the invention throughout the United States or importing the invention into theUnited States." There are three types of patents:

 Utility patents may be granted to anyone who invents or discovers any new and useful process, machine, article of manufacture, or composition of matter, or any new useful improvements thereof.

 Design patents may be granted to anyone who invents a new, original, and ornamental design for an article of manufacture.

 Plant patents may be granted to anyone who invents or discovers and asexually reproduces any distinct and new variety of plant.

A patent is different from a trademark or a copyright. A trademark protects the name of a product or service, and a copyright protects an original artistic or literary work.

These definitions were based on information from General Information Concerning Patents, a brochure published by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO). It also contains information about what can be patented, how to apply for a patent, and the patent application process. Consult the Guide to Filing a Utility Patent Application for specific information about utility patents. Design patents are thoroughly described in the USPTO brochure A Guide to Filing a Design Patent Application. Information about patent law is contained in Title 35 of the United States Code.

The Patent Collection

CASSIS DVD-ROM -- a computerized search system
Utility patents: 1973 - 1999 microfilm; 1790 - date On DVD-ROM
Design patents: 1973, 1983 - 1999 microfilm; 1894 - date On DVD-ROM
Reissue patents: 1983 - 1999 microfilm
Plant patents: 1931 - date
Official Gazette of the USPTO: 1879 - 1919, 1926 - date, print
Index of Patents: 1876 - date, print
http://www.uspto.gov: All U.S. patents issued from 1790 - date
http://www.uspto.gov: All published patent applications 3/15/2001 - date

Our collection also includes numerous books about intellectual property, how to conduct a patent search, and how to apply for a patent. Some of these books are available to borrow.South Carolina residents may apply for a courtesy borrower's card to check out books for two weeks. The cost of this card is $10.00 for the first year, with a $7.00 annual renewal charge.

Handouts

• The 7 Step Strategy
• How to Obtain a Copy of a Patent
• Searching the Patent Database at http://www.uspto.gov
• Searching the Patent Application Database at http://www.uspto.gov
• USAApp - Facsimile images of published U.S. Patent Applications
• USAPat - Facsimile images of U.S. Patents
• Historic Inventors and Their Inventions

Patent Searches

Reference Librarians have been trained to offer assistance, but you must perform the search yourself. Staff are not available to do patent searches for individuals, and cannot give opinions or legal advice.

The United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) maintains a patent database which include all patents, beginning from the year 1790. Earlier patents are only accessible by patent number or classification. The collection of full-text patents dating from 1976 is completely searchable, and contains the complete text and drawings of these patents. Consult the handout on Searching the Patent Database for more detailed information.

The USPTO has recently begun publishing patent applications 18 months after the filing date (only if the applicant assures that there will not be a foreign filing, or unless the applicant specifically asked that it not be published.) These applications are published every Thursday, beginning on March 15, 2001. The database contains full text and images of the published applications, and is completely searchable. Consult the handout on Searching the Patent Application Database for more information.

Note that it is necessary to have a TIFF Image viewer installed on your computer in order to view and print patents or patent applications. There are only two (known) free TIFF viewers that will handle the requirements of these large image files. Details are available here. Alternately, those who are interested in acquiring complete patent documents can order them from the USPTO.

The PTDL Program recommends The Seven Step Strategy to conduct a preliminary patent search at a Patent and Trademark Depository Library. It may be helpful to look over this handout before coming to the library. Internet resources that exist are linked to the appropriate step. Keep in mind, however, that although it is possible to search patents on the internet, it is very difficult to do a patent search. The PDTL Program office also produces a brochure describing the uses of a patent collection.

It may also be helpful to consult the Patent Searching Tutorial or the Patent Application Searching Tutorial created by the staff of the McKinney Engineering Library at the University of Texas at Austin. Another useful tutorial has been prepared by the Engineering Library at the University of California at San Diego.

Increasingly, performing a thorough preliminary patent search involves patent information from countries other than the United States. The USPTO has compiled a list of Intellectual Property Offices from other countries. Some of these sites have searchable databases. In particular esp@cenet from the European Patent Office allows free searching of EP, WO, Japanese and "worldwide" patent documents.

To complete the patent process, a patent application with the appropriate fees must be filed with the USPTO. After you complete a preliminary patent search, it is recommended that you consult a patent attorney to complete the search and application process. Additional information, forms, and free brochures are available from the United States Patent and Trademark Office.

Comments to: Jan Comfort