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1. Searching Patents – A brief Introduction
Björn Jürgens
E-Mail: bjorn.jurgens@gmail.com
Twitter: @benlogo
© 2011
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2. Where can we search Patents?
• “Back in the old days”:
– Directly in the National Patent Libraries
– By looking through Official Patent Bulletins
• In more modern times:
– First Commercial Databases, direct modem
connection (no internet), paid by time and/or results
– Patent stored on Compact Discs (retrieval via CD
Towers)
• Nowadays:
– Everything available on Databases via Internet! Mostly
flat rate pricing, and lots of public free databases 2
available!

3. Patent Databases
• We can distinguish:
– Public Patent Databases (mainly offered by the
national patent offices)
– Commercial Patent Databases (offered by Database
Hosts)
“TOP PLAYERS”:
• THOMSON INNOVATION
• QUESTEL ORBIT
• STN
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4. Why using Public Patent Databases?
• Searching in most public patent databases are FREE OF COST
• Comparing to commercial databases, search and analysis
functionality of public databases have improved quite
substantially over the years!
– Alerting services
– Automatic Translation
– Search history
– Etc.
• Knowing WHICH public database to use WHEN can be as
effective for a Technology Watch activity as with a commercial
database (or even better!) 4

5. Public Patent Databases – A selection:
• Multinational: • Asian:
– ESPACENET (European Patent JPO IPDL (Japan)
Office)
KIPRIS (Korea)
– DEPATISNET (German Patent SIPO (China)
Office)
• Iberoamerican:
– PATENTSCOPE (WIPO)
Invenes + Latipat
• US:
– PatFT & AppFT (USPTO)
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6. Thank you very much!
Contact Details:
Björn Jürgens
E-Mail: bjorn.jurgens@gmail.com
Twitter: @benlogo
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