Below is a list of open and freely accessible search tools for finding patents:
United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO)
- Search for patents from 1790 to present and patent applications from 2001 to present.
- Users can search through pre-grant applications and granted patents in full-text.
- Allows for patent application search for patents published since March 2001.
Google Patents
- Indexes over 87 million patents and patent applications from 17 patent offices worldwide, including the United States Patent
and Trademark Office (USPTO), European Patent Office (EPO), and China's National Intellectual Property Administration (CNIPA).
- Allows users to perform advanced searches using patent related key terms, patent numbers, and inventor names.
- Provides access to full-text to patents.
- Allows users to find prior art to identify existing technologies and publications relevant to new patent applications.
Lens.org
- Includes over 227.7 million records, covering journal articles, books, book chapters, conference proceedings, and works cited in patents.
- Offers over 128.7 million patent records from 105 jurisdictions, including patent families, biological patents, and patent sequences covering multiple decades.
- Allows users to access full-text for patents from the United States, World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO), European Patents, and Australia.
- Users may perform searches for issued or pending patents as this is essential for identifying prior art.
