Patent information searching requires the knowing of the basics related to the patents. You can begin by first becoming acquainted with the guide of the European patent office (EPO): Patent information tour.
Espacenet is a free service on the internet provided by the European Patent Organisation through the EPO and the national offices of its member states. In addition to the worldwide collection and national collections Espacenet offers EP and WO databases in which full texts are also searchable.
PatSeer Explorer is an AI based patent database which is in use of the staff and students of the university. The use of the service requires login with the e-mail address of the university. The use is not allowed in other than work assignments of the university or in studying. PatSeer Explorer quick guide | PatSeer Explorer user guide
An easy-to-use interface for the world's leading chemical information sources, millions of literature and patent references, as well as chemical compounds and reactions containing information of CAS databases, such as the Chemical Abstracts database. Also contains Medline. Access only in university network, for remote connection use VPN client. Only the students and staff of University of Oulu are entitled to use this database. All users need to create a personal account to use SciFinder-n. Use an email address ending oulu.fi in contact information. Link to new user registation | SciFinder-n quick guide | Rights to use | SciFinder-n Content
PatentInspiration is a freemium patent search and analysis tool of 69 million patents. PatentInspiration quick guide
PatentInspiration is based on the DOCDB database from the EPO (European Patent Office) which contains bibliographic data from over 90 countries. The database contains also full text (claims & descriptions) of the main searched authorities (WO, EP, US, CA, …). Search instruction Help | More information .
Google Patents covers granted patents and published patent applications from the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) and the European Patent Office (EPO). Coverage expanded to include documents from China, Germany, Canada and WIPO in 2013. US patent documents date back to 1790, EPO and WIPO to 1978.
The database includes information about all US patents (including utility, design, reissue, plant patents and SIR documents) from the first patent issued in 1790 to the most recent patent issue week.
The data included in the patents appear as printed on the patent on the day of issue. Changes to patent documents contained in Certificates of Correction and Re-examinations Certificates are not included in the searchable full-text of the patent databases, but are available as additional full-page images at the end of each patent's linked full-page images.
Some patents and images have been excluded from the database. For more information, see the Patent Full-Text Database Contents at http://patft.uspto.gov/help/contents.htm
Japanese patents since 1976, legal status information since 1990.
Japan Platform for Patent Information (J-PlatPat) is provided by the National Center for Industrial Property Information and Training (INPIT) and the Japan Patent Office (JPO).
This facility makes it possible to check the patent's priority and filing dates, verify the applicant or owner, identify the inventor, establish whether the patent is in force and contact the owner or their representative. In addition, it provides a link to any related Supplementary Protection Certificate (SPC).
DEPATISnet is a service provided by the German Patent and Trade Mark Office. You can conduct online searches in patent publications from around the world stored in the database of DEPATIS.
The Patent Information Users Group (PIUG) is a global not-for-profit organization for individuals having a professional, scientific or technical interest in patent information.
WON is an association of patent information specialists from companies and institutes. A collection of links to patent offices and registers arranged by continent.
The five IP offices (IP5) is the name given to a forum of the five largest intellectual property offices in the world that was set up to improve the efficiency of the examination process for patents worldwide.
Inventions and University of Oulu
University of Oulu Innovation Services have own pages in Patio.
The International Patent Classification (IPC) is a hierarchical system in which the whole area of technology is divided into a range of sections, classes, subclasses and groups. It provides for a common classification for patents for invention including published patent applications, utility models and utility certificates.
The Cooperative Patent Classification (CPC), in force from 1 January 2013, has been jointly developed by the EPO and the USPTO.
CPC has replaced the previous European classification system (ECLA) and will replace the United States Patent Classification system (USPC) as the official patent classification scheme of both the EPO and the USPTO. The CPC is substantially based on the ECLA system, which itself was a more specific and detailed version of the International Patent Classification (IPC) system.
Patent classification is a system for organizing all U.S. patent documents and other technical documents into specific technology groupings based on common subject matter. Search Patent Classification Systems - USPTO.
Japanese FI/F-terms. Japan Platform for Patent Information (J-PlatPat) is provided by the National Center for Industrial Property Information and Training (INPIT) and and the Japan Patent Office (JPO).
A range of publications designed to assist users in finding technology using patent information: Patentscope search & clir, Finding technology using patnets, WIPO guide to using patent information.
