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Patents

A patent may be defined as a grant by the State of exclusive rights for a limited time in respect of a new and useful invention (Grubb, P.W. 1999, Patents for chemicals, pharmaceuticals and biotechnology, Clarendon Press: Oxford, p.1.).

Patents protect the intellectual property of the inventor, preventing unauthorised people from practicing the invention. Patents are granted in a particular state or territory, and an inventor wishing to have protection in a number of countries must obtain separate patents in each of them.

The European Patent convention requires in patents that the invention is new, that it must involve an inventive step and that it must be capable of industrial application. These requirements are fairly standard in all countries that have a system of patent application.

Warning! The only way to ensure that a comprehensive patent search is carried out is to consult a patent attorney. They are specialised in the area and have expertise and access to the required information.

Patents in full text

• Australian Patents - IP Australia
• AU Published Patent Data Searching - searchable database of Australian published patents. Links to full text where available.
• Patsearch - Australian patent applications. Full text unavailable.
• United States Patent and Trademark Office - searchable database of US patents with full text of both published patents and patent applications provided in TIFF format.
• Europe's Network of Patent Databases - provides access to published patent documents from three databases: the EP (European Patent Office) database, the WIPO (World Intellectual Property Organization) database and the worldwide database (72 different countries and regions). English titles and abstracts are provided for non-English language patents. Full text provided in pdf format.

Search engines

• Scirus - Scirus, the most comprehensive science-specific search engine indexes patents from the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO), the European Patent Office (EPO), the Japanese Patent Office (JPO) and the Patent Cooperation Treaty (PCT) of the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO). Indexing is not comprehensive, only scientific patents or those considered relevant to the scientific community are included.
• Google Patent Search indexes USPTO issued patents from the 1790s onwards. It doesn't cover US patent applications, international patents, or recently issued U.S. patents.

Databases

• SciFinder Scholar - a bibliographic database indexing journals, conferences, patents and reports on pharmaceutical sciences, chemical engineering, metallurgical engineering, polymer engineering, chemistry and physics.

Websites of interest

• The British Library - Patents Information Service gives links to patent and other intellectual property resources and advice on searching.
• IP Menu: the Home of Intellectual Property on the Internet provides links to global Intellectual Property resources, including country specific resources, patents, trade marks, designs, domain names, plant rights, copyright, organisations, patent attorneys, conferences and databases.
• Patent Watch, available via the ACS chemistry portal, explores topics in research and development in chemical industries.

Patent Classification Codes

• International Patent Classifications - hosted on the WIPO website.
• European Patent Classification - hosted on the esp@cenet website. Select: ‘How do I use the Classification search? Get Assistance.’
• US Patent Classification - hosted on the U.S. Patent and Trade Mark Office website. Select ‘Help’.

Patent Offices

• IP Australia
• Intellectual Property Office of New Zealand
• Canadian Intellectual Property Office
• The United Kingdom Patents Office
• U.S. Patent and Trade Mark Office
• The European Patent Office
• World Intellectual Property Office

Patent Attorneys

• The Institute of Patent and Trade Mark Attorneys of Australia provides a list of registered patent attorneys that are Fellows of the Institute.
• WWW Attorney List - PIPERS Worldwide Listing of Patent Attorneys & Patent Agents; Trade Mark Attorneys & Trade Mark Agents, & Intellectual Property Attorneys.

Inventors’ Associations

• Innovation Profession of Australia (IPA) - a non-profit association dedicated to providing assistance to the individual innovator. The IPA aims to provide a reference and resource for innovators and IP professionals to exchange strategies, views and contacts.
• Assistance for Inventors - information from the Business Victoria, Developing Products and Services website.
• INNOVIC - an independent non-profit organisation whose primary objective is to promote and support the practical development of innovation, educate and assist early stage innovators and small businesses, and help to commercialise viable new products and technologies.