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  1. Dartmouth Libraries
  2. Research Guides
  3. Dartmouth Libraries Guides
  4. Patents
  5. Patent Search Strategy

Patents

Resources for starting your research for patent information
  • Patent Basics
  • Patent Search Strategy
    • Patent Searching
    • Searching for Patents
    • Niche Patent Search Tools
  • Books & Articles
  • Dartmouth's Technology Transfer Office This link opens in a new window
  • Engineering Home This link opens in a new window
  • Tech Transfer Guide
  • Magnuson Center for Entrepreneurship This link opens in a new window

Patent Searching

Creating a patent search

Perhaps the hardest part of patent searching is the fact that it is NOT keyword searching. It instead focuses on:

  • the function of the item
  • the materials used to make the product
  • how the item is intended to be used

Answer these questions:

  1. Essential function
    1. What does it do?
    2. Who will this be used by?
  2. Physical structure
    1. What is it made of?
    2. What are the additional components?
  3. Intended use
    1. What is it used for?
    2. What is the expected result of its use? 
  • Patent Search Worksheet
    Use this worksheet to help guide your word choice and search construction.
    more... less...
    Worksheet created by Kari Kozak, University of Iowa. Licensed CC-By 2.0.

Other Ideas for Finding Patents

  • If you're looking for the patent of a well-known product, search Google for the creator or distributor name. Either or both of these could be on the patent.
  • Use Patent Lens and a search using a the known product name in quotes.
  • Gather CPC Classifications from relevant patents in your search and use those to find related patents.
  • Use the cited and cited by lists in Patent Lens to look for related patents.
  • If you are looking for a patent on a known item with a trademarked name or tagline, find the possible patent owner by searching for the trademark. You can then use the name of the trademark owner in Lens.org to narrow your search.

Searching for Patents

There are three main search engines for US patents: the USPTO (most difficult), Patent Lens (not difficult, best filtering), and Google Patents (not difficult, familiar interface). Patent Lens has patents issued from 1976-present and also indexes patent applications from 2001-present. If you are looking for older patents however, you will need to check USPTO as well.

  • Patent Lens
    Worldwide, open-access, free full-text patent informatics resource. USPTO Grants from 1976; USPTO Applications from 2001; about 2 weeks behind USPTO.
  • GlobalData: Disruptor This link opens in a new window
    Includes Patent Analytics tool - bibliographic data for patents. Covers the last 20 years of patents from 100 patent authorities. Full text available for US & EP patents. Includes trend analysis. Navigate using the top bar to Databases → Sector Databases → Patent Analytics.
  • Patentscope (WIPO)
    Includes US Patents & applications (Design, Utility & Plant), US reissue patents, European patents, Japanese patents, along with 36 other patent offices. Full text is unavailable for some documents prior to 1976.
  • USPTO Patent Database
    Patents may be searched in the USPTO Patent Full-Text and Image Database (PatFT). The USPTO houses full text for patents issued from 1976 to the present and PDF images for all patents from 1790 to the present.
    General Information Concerning Patents
  • Google Patents
    Free searching of US patents only. Coverage from 1790-present and includes everything publicly available from the USPTO.
  • Espacenet (European Patent Organisation; 38 member states)
    Worldwide patent database. Abstracts, bibliographic data and full text of patents are provided for: EPO, France, Germany, Switzerland, United Kingdom, United States, Japan, China and WIPO; provides patent families; more than 80 million patent documents.

Niche Patent Search Tools

  • US Department of Energy & OSTI: DOE Patents
    DOE Patents, developed by the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI), is a search tool for discovering patent information resulting from DOE-funded research and development (R&D). Included here are patents that DOE sponsored through a variety of funding mechanisms, including grants, contracts, or cooperative agreements.
  • Prior Art Archive
    Open archiving platform for the IT industry which offers a search tool to find technology where the prior art may be in the form of old manuals, documentation, web sites, etc.; documents are machine-classified with CPCs; Hosted by MIT and used by USPTO examiners.
  • WIPO GREEN database
    The WIPO GREEN database is a free, solutions oriented, global innovation catalogue that connects needs for solving environmental or climate change problems with tangible solutions. The database consists of user uploads of needs and solutions, green technology patents from the WIPO Patentscope database, imports from select partner organizations, relevant knowledge material, and relevant expert profiles.
  • << Previous: Patent Basics
  • Next: Books & Articles >>
  • Last Updated: Jul 2, 2025 9:05 PM
  • URL: https://researchguides.dartmouth.edu/patents
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