Locating U.S. Patents and Trademarks
A patent for an invention is a grant of property right by the Government to the inventor. In order to be issued a patent, the patentee must file specifications and a detailed description of the invention, sufficient to enable anyone skilled in the art to make use of the invention. These descriptions are then published by the government as patents.
There are three types of Intellectual Property which are regulated by the U.S. Government:
| Property Type | Definition | Example |
| Copyright | Grants protection for an author or creator of a work in the way a work
is expressed. Copyright does not protect the ideas, systems, or facts conveyed in a work. |
Authorship of books Photographs Song Lyrics |
| Patent | Registration of new and novel inventions, designs or plants for a fixed period of time to the creator. | Telephone Prescription Drugs New plant breeds |
| Trademark | Words, names, symbols, devices, colors, smells, and sounds used to identify and distinguish goods. | Company logos Disney and other cartoon characters MGM Lion |
Resources for Patents and Trademarks:
These databases are constantly updated and can be searched by patent number, date, assignee, inventor, title, abstract, claims, classification, and keyword.
United States Trademark and
Patent Office - Searching Patent Databases
http://www.uspto.gov/patft/index.html
This site includes both the U.S. Patent Bibliographic Database (a freely searchable
database of U.S. patents issued from 1/1/76) and the AIDS Patent Database, which
contains the full text and images of AIDS-related patents issued by the U.S.,
Japanese, and European patent offices.
University of Texas
at Austin - Engineering Library
http://www.lib.utexas.edu/engin/patent/uspat.html
Librarian Susan Ardis's site at the Richard W. McKinney Engineering
Library is a comprehensive source on patent information, including
patent tutorials and information sheets about patents and trademarks.
Community of Science
http://patents.cos.com/
The U.S. Patent Citation Database of the Community of Science is a
fully searchable bibliographic file containing all U.S. patents
issued since 1975. Emphasis is on tracing the technological impact of
existing patents.
Patent Depository Libraries
Want to begin your preliminary searching in a patent depository library? Listed below are locations, hours of service, phone numbers, and holdings for some nearby patent depository libraries. These libraries have patents, all the reference works listed above and many other aids to patent searching, plus knowledgeable staff that are trained and experienced in helping searchers. A thorough search of the patent literature can take several hours to several days. Plan to spend more time than an afternoon performing your search.
| Library | Hours | Patent Holdings |
Trademark Holdings | Telephone Number |
| New York State Library
Cultural Education Center Albany, NY 12223 |
9 a.m. - 5 p.m. Monday - Friday |
1790 - present | 1872 - present | (518) 474-5355 |
| Buffalo and Erie Co. Public Library Science Department 1 Lafayette Square Buffalo, NY 14203 |
8:30 a.m. - 6 p.m. Monday - Saturday 8:30 a.m. - 9 p.m. Thursday |
1790 - present | 1872 - present | (716) 858-7101 |
| New York Public
Library Science, Industry, and Business Library 188 Madison Ave. New York, NY 10016 |
10 a.m. - 6 p.m. Monday, Friday, Saturday 10 a.m. - 8 p.m. Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday |
1790 - present | 1872 - present | (212) 592-7000, press option 4. |
| State University
of New York - Stony Brook Engineering and Applied Sciences Library Frank Melville, Jr. Memorial Library N-1001 Stony Brook, NY 11794 |
8:30 a.m. - 10 p.m. Monday - Thursday 8:30 a.m. - 5 p.m. Friday Noon - 4 p.m. Saturday |
1790 - present | 1911- present | (631) 632-7148 |
Patent resources at the Binghamton University Libraries
Our Libraries do not have full copies of patents, only short abstracts of them. We do have selected reference works and services that can help determine if your invention is "new and useful." The following table gives a summary of patent resources available. Since the collection at Binghamton University is limited in scope, and 24 hours notice is required to page materials, consider using one of the Patent Depository Libraries listed towards the beginning of this guide.
| Title | Location and Holdings | Features |
| Index of Patents. Part II: Index of Subjects of Inventions |
Library Annex 1968 - 1994 | Search for patents using subject terms and keywords which describe the invention. |
| Official Gazette of the United States Patent and Trademark Office | Library Annex 1965-present | Summaries of all patents and trademarks approved by the US Patent and Trademark Office. |
| Index of Trademarks Issued from the United States Patent and Trademark Office |
Library Annex 1971 - 1989 | Annual compilation of new and renewed trademarks, organized alphabetically. |
| Index of Patents, Part I: List of Patentees | Library Annex 1968 - 1994 | Allows searching for patents using author names. |
| Index to the U.S. Patent Classification | Library Annex 1990-1997 |
Look up common terms describing the invention and its function, effect, end-product, structure, and use. |
| Manual of Classification | Library Annex | Used to locate class and subclass numbers for patent classification. |
Patent and Trademark Terminology:
Application - Papers including petition, specification, drawings, one or more claims, witness signatures, and filing fee, with which an applicant seeks a patent.
Assignee - Company, organization, or individual to whom the inventor's rights to a patent are assigned. Name and city are listed.
Claims - Formally written phrases that describe the invention, outlining the invention's boundaries. The claims become the actual monopoly that is given when the patent is granted.
File Wrappers - Documentation and cited art associated with a patent.
First to File - Applicant who is first to file an application will be awarded the patent over all others. This is the present law in all countries except the U. S. and the Philippines.
First to Invent - Applicant who is first to invent will be awarded the patent in the U. S. and the Philippines.
Infringe - To make, use or sell the patented item or process within the country covered by the patent.
License - A transfer of patent rights that does not amount to an assignment. A license, which can be exclusive or non-exclusive, does not give the licensee legal title to the patent.
Patent family - All patents and patent applications for the same invention in various countries; sometimes called "patent equivalents."
Pending - The period in which the patent office has not yet decided on whether to reject or grant a patent application, and it has not yet been withdrawn.
Prior Art - Technology related to an invention and searched before application to determine novelty of "new" idea.
Reissue patent - A patent that corrects and replaces an unexpired patent reexamined for invalid claims.
Search Report - A list of published items issued by the patent examiners checking the novelty of the patent application.
Shoes - Patent and Trademark Office (PTO) patent files; descendants of the original shoe boxes in which patents were stored.