PATENT SEARCH
CLASSIFICATION SYSTEM
IMPORTANCE OF PATENT SEARCH
Publication in
other forms of Patent Published
INVENTIONS documentation
PUNCH CARD 1914 1889
TELEVISION 1928 1923
JET ENGINE 1946 1936
CAST IRON 1947 1939
GATORADE 1984 1971
Conducting a patent search will save us
from re-inventing the wheel
IMPORTANCE OF PATENT SEARCH
Patent documents – can freely support research and
development activities since it contains information not
yet divulged in any other form of literature.
To gauge the prospects of obtaining broad claim
coverage.
Prevention of court litigation (infringement) in case other
patents are violated as part of the invention.
Investors require search reports in order to move forward
and apply for patents on any invention (business
intelligence).
To save money in tedious patent application processes in
case the invention is not new or inventive.
IMPORTANCE OF PATENT SEARCH
THE CLAIMS MUST OVERCOME THE PRIOR ART
WITHOUT PATENT WITHOUT PATENT
SEARCH SEARCH WITH PATENT SEARCH
PRIOR PRIOR
ART ART
INVENTION PRIOR
ART
INV A INV A
INV B INV B
NOT
NOT PATENTABLE PATENTABLE
PATENTABLE
IF CLAIMING FOR INV A IF CLAIMING FOR INV
B
“Patent searches lead to a better, strong patent application”
DURING THE 19TH CENTURY
NOW IN 21ST CENTURY
PATENT SEARCH DATABASES
Public Sector Databases - those provided by
national and regional patent offices for free
Free-of-charge commercial databases
Fee-based commercial databases
- STN (1.5 Million)
- Web Of Science (3.5 M)
- EPOQUENET (3 M)
- IEEE (1.5 M)
RECOMMENDED FREE
PATENT SEARCH DATABASES
1. European Patent Office (EPO) – over 90 M documents
around the world http://www.espacenet.com/access
2. Google Patents - 17 patent offices (87 M docs)
https://patents.google.com
3. Free Patents Online (FPO)
http://www.freepatentsonline.com/search.html
4. United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO)
http://patft.uspto.gov
HOW TO SEARCH FOR PATENTS
(ESPACENET)
1. Keyword Searching (waffle maker)
2. Classification Searching - revisiting
Patent Classification (IPC/CPC)
DEVELOPING A SEARCH STRATEGY
Example: MOUSE TRAP (Keyword Search)
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Developing Search Strategy
Truncating - search terms with wildcards
* String of characters of any length
? 0 (zero) or 1 character
# Exactly 1 character
If your search should also include the plural form of a word, different endings or alternative
spellings, use the appropriate wildcard.
Examples
Enter screw* to find any word beginning with screw , e.g. screws , screwdriver , screwing ,
screwer , etc.
Enter screw? to find the words screw or screws .
Enter Ann# to find the names Anne or Anna .
Search String: (mouse or rodent or vermin) and (trap or box or
enclos* or hous*) and (door or lock* or secur*)
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DEVELOPING A SEARCH STRATEGY
DETERMINE THE INTERNATIONAL PATENT
CLASSIFICATION (IPC) OF YOUR TECHNOLOGY/RESEARCH
Purpose of IPC is quite similar to card catalog
For easy patent search
For easy retrieval patent documents
Other patent classifications are CPC (EP & US), FI/F Term (JP)
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COMPLETE CLASSIFICATION (IPC) SYMBOL
MAIN
B 64 C 25 / 00 GROUP
SUBGROUP
25 / 30
SECTION
CLASS
SUBCLASS
GROUP
http://www.wipo.int/classifications/ipc/ipc8/?lang=en
DEVELOPING A SEARCH STRATEGY
Ex. MOUSE TRAP – Determine the International Patent Classification
http://www.wipo.int/classifications/ipc/en/
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DEVELOPING A SEARCH STRATEGY
Ex. MOUSE TRAP – Determine the International Patent Classification
Covers 70,000 classification
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DEVELOPING A SEARCH STRATEGY
Ex. MOUSE TRAP – Determine the International Patent Classification
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DEVELOPING A SEARCH STRATEGY
Ex. MOUSE TRAP – Determine the International Patent Classification
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DEVELOPING A SEARCH STRATEGY
Ex. MOUSE TRAP – Determine the International Patent Classification
A01M23/20 – note your searched
IPC/s
A01M23/38 – note your searched
IPC/s
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Developing Search Strategy
Example:
Mouse trap
(keyword search)
Use NESTING,
TRUNCATION,
AND BOOLEAN
Functions
Search String: (mouse or rodent or vermin) and (trap or
box or enclos* or hous*) and (door or lock* or secur*)
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ESPACENET Patent Search
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ESPACENET Patent Search
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ESPACENET Patent Search
Deleted the term “VERMIN” and “box” 22
ESPACENET Patent Search
DO THE CLASSIFICATION SEARCH
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ESPACENET Patent Search
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ESPACENET Patent Search
25
ESPACENET Patent Search
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ESPACENET Patent Search
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ESPACENET Patent Search
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ESPACENET Patent Search
Enter the CLASSIFICATION
29
ESPACENET Patent Search
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ESPACENET Patent Search
Adding the keyword “SENSOR” 31
ESPACENET Patent Search
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ESPACENET Patent Search
33
GOOGLE Patent Search
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GOOGLE Patent Search
Adding synonyms (keyword search)
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GOOGLE Patent Search
Adding another keyword “sensor”
36
GOOGLE Patent Search
Adding further keywords
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GOOGLE Patent Search
Adding sub-class (classification search)
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GOOGLE Patent Search
,
Adding the sub-group
(classification search) 39
GOOGLE Patent Search
,
Read the documents and
select the closest prior arts
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GOOGLE Patent Search
,
,
, ,
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GOOGLE Patent Search
17 Offices 16 languages
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GOOGLE Patent Search
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GOOGLE Patent Search
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GOOGLE Patent Search
,
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USING FREE PATENTS ONLINE (FPO)
SIMPLE PATENT SEARCHING
Ex. Stop smoke (cigarette box with timer)
Using patent search worksheet
1. List the keywords used
2. List all classifications
3. List all prior art documents searched
IPOPHL PATENT SEARCH
http://www.ipophil.gov.ph/#search
IPOPHL PATENT SEARCH
http://www.ipophil.gov.ph/#search
,
TIPS IN DOING PATENT SEARCH
1. CHOOSE THE APPROPRIATE KEYWORDS (TECHNICAL
TERMS & ITS SYNONYMS) IN ORDER TO ARRIVE AT THE
CLOSEST PRIOR ARTS.
2. CHOOSE UNIVERSALLY ACCEPTED KEYWORDS
3. KNOW WHAT YOUR INVENTION DOES (FUNCTION, PARTS,
ETC)
4. CHECK THE SPELLING OF THE KEYWORDS BEING USED
(Google Patents auto-correct mispelled word/s but others
don’t)
5. KNOW THE IPC/CPC OF YOUR SUBJECT MATTER.
Keyword search plus Classification Search is a must.
THANK YOU
PRESENTATION FROM
RODEL S. ESPIRITU
OIC- Division Chief
Electrical and Electronics Examining Division
Bureau of Patents
