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PATENT SEARCH:
Patent search is
important, time consuming and complex process. There are many different
modes of search.
1. Paper based
search is outdated as it involves search in application filed, journals,
etc. in Patent Office.
2. Electronic
search is more popular it involves search through.
a)
Electronic Databases in CDs like Delphion this process is costly and
requires frequent upgradation.
b) Online search like through European Patent Office's
http://ep.espacenet.com/
which is a free internet service from the European Patent Office. It
makes a search in 45 million patent documents and is constantly
upgraded. http://www.espacenet.com/had
data 38,3 million patents from 71 countries.
To make a Patent
search you have to enter your search criteria in the input fields of the
Search Form. Every search field is accompanied by a Help button, which
will provide you with direct instructions on the use of that particular
search field.
USE OF BOOLEAN IN
PATENT SEARCH:
You can enlarge the
search ambit by adding your search term with an OR operator. The search
engine will find records that contain at least one of the items
in your search terms.
You can also narrow
your searches by linking your search terms with the AND operator. The
search engine will find records containing all of your entries in
the search terms.
You can also exclude
some records that you find are not relevant to your search by preceding
the search term with the NOT operator. To make you search using Boolean
make use of parentheses and nested queries "(" and ")". If there are
nested parentheses, the search engine processes the innermost
parenthetical expression first, then the next, and so on until the
entire query is interpreted.
USE OF
TRUNCATION
One can also use
Truncation in the "Inventor", "Applicant", "Title" and "Title or
abstract" fields. The following symbols can be used:
For a single unknown
word use "?" -
For a single,
compulsory character use "#" -
Use asterisk
"*" - for unlimited truncation.
There are number of
parameters available to perform a Patent Search. You can make search by
using:-
1. NUMBER
SEARCH: This is useful in case when the user knows the number of the
Patent document. So instead of wasting lot of time in going through a
tedious exercise one can cut time in finding relevant
document.
2. INVENTOR
NAME: You can also search by inventors’ name that can also
include a legal person. The Company Quick Search option enables
you to find the patent collection of an organisation (company,
university etc.).
3. NUMBER
SEARCH: This is based on INTERNATIONAL CLASSIFICATION INDEX which is
developed and maintained by WIPO (World Intellectual Property
Organisation) The IPC Search facility finds patents by the International
Patent Classification (IPC). Though this is the most cumbersome and
difficult process. You can find detailed information about the IPC on
the WIPO web site at http://www.wipo.int/classifications. IPC is
used in more than 100 countries in the world including India,
Japan, Europe, US, etc. use IPC. It is a hierarchical
classification system used to classify and search patent
documents (patent applications, specifications of granted patents,
utility models, etc.). It also serves as an instrument for arrangement
of the patent documents in an order for easy retrieval, and basis for
selective dissemination of information and a basis for investigating the
state of the art in given fields of technology. The classification
scheme contains 70,000 entries. The legal basis of IPC is the
Strasbourg Agreement. On March 24, 1971, the Diplomatic
Conference adopted the Strasbourg (IPC) Agreement Concerning the
International Patent Classification, which on that date was signed by 15
States.
4. CATCH
WORD INDEX: Which is most popular and easy search method. You
have to think as many as possible synonyms that can best define your
invention. Then you can search for that either by entering the word of
go through a catch word index maintained by WIPO.
LINKS TO PATENT
SEARCH SITES.
1.
European Patent Office
:
2.
US Patent
Office
3. Japanese Patent
Office
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