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Patents: Introduction & Resources
Patents
A patent is a grant of property right by the government to an inventor which excludes others from making, using, or selling the invention. An inventor may assign the patent rights to his/her heirs or to another person or company (i.e., Sperry Marine Division). The Patent and Trademark Office is the agency responsible for examining each patent application to see if the invention is "new and useful" or that any improvements to an existing object are "new, useful, and unobvious." General information on patents can be found on the USPTO Patents web page.
An inventor must thoroughly research his/her invention (usually with the help of a patent attorney) to see whether it meets the above criteria. While a complete patent search cannot be conducted at Shannon Library we do have some of the tools that are necessary to begin a search. Virginia Commonwealth University Library, formerly a patent depository, has a very useful Patent page.
- Patent and Trademark OfficeAgency responsible for examining each patent application to see if the invention is "new and useful" or that any improvements to an existing object are "new, useful, and unobvious." General information on patents can be found at the USPTO Patents page.
- Attorneys and agents registered to practice before the U.S. Patent and Trademark OfficeSee also print version in 3 NEW Stack, Call Number C 21.9/2:
Patent law is very specialized. Should you have an invention you want patented it's advisable to have a patent attorney. - Google PatentsGoogle ran OCR software against the entire Patent Office image file to make ALL patents keyword searchable. See especially the Advanced Search Page. Also useful is the FAQ page
- Classification Definitions (web - current)Older editions - Microfiche, Class number C 21.3/2:
Class definitions are detailed descriptions of each class and sub-class. The chemical definitions give chemical diagrams. There are no definitions for Design patents because they involve how the item looks. - Foreign and International PatentsSearch some foreign and international patents using the World Intellectual Property Organiztion Intellectual Property Digital Library. This contains some patents, particularly ones under the Patent Cooperation Treaty (PCT).
- Index of Patents - C 21.5/2: (print)1925-1973 - 3rd floor, New Stacks
1974-1990 - Ivy Stacks . 1991-2000 - 3rd floor, New Stacks. Not usually needed because of full text database now available. - Index to the U.S. Patent ClassificationCall Number C 21.12/2:
3rd floor, New Stacks. An alphabetic subject guide to provide initial entry into the U.S. Patent Classification system. See also web version (section B) - Manual of Classification (USPTO) - web versionManual of Classification of the U.S. Patent Trade & Trademark Office. Use web version for current searches. Searchable by keyword. If your invention is not a new technology you may need to use older print versions of the Manual of Classification (C 21.2:) to determine whether someone has already patented your idea. See also Patent Classification Search Templates for this purpose.
- Manual of Classification (USPTO) - C 21.2: (print)1929-1992 (Ivy Stacks). 2000 (3 New Stacks)
A detailed list of classifications and sub-classifications used to categorize patents. Each class is divided into a hierarchy of sub-classes. A searcher should use the most specific class and sub-class numbers available. The Patent Office makes available Patent Classification Search Templates which should assist in identifying whether or not an idea has been patented. - Official GazetteFrom the US Patent & Trademark Office. Abstracts of patents with information on the inventor, reduced scale drawings and summaries of patents claims.
Other formats at UVA: Print:C 21.5:, Microfilm (1872-1985) and Microfiche (1986- present). - Patent Office Full-Text and Full Image DatabaseThis database has the full-texts of patents since 1976 and full page images since 1790. It's searchable by keyword, inventor, patent number, classification, etc. From 1790-1975 the images are only searchable by patent number or patent classification number (see below). Viewing the patent images may require downloading a TIFF image viewer called Alternatiff.
- Subject-Matter Index of Patents for Inventions from 1790 to 1873 (3v)Call Number.I 23.7:874. Primary print index to older patents. Prior to 1874 the Patent Office was in the Interior Department. Older patents are contained within the annual reports of the Secretary of the Interior - I 1.1:yr. They are also located in the Congressional Serial Set, indexed in LexisNexis Congressional. Shannon owns the Serial Set in microfiche up to 1924.