Internet Resources for Electrical and Mechanical
Engineering
Patents
A patent is a legal document that secures
the owner or inventor the right to exclude others from making, using or
selling the claimed invention for a period of time, normally twenty
years. The government or patent issuing authority grants the owner or
inventor the sole right to exploit the invention during this period. To
be awarded a patent, an invention must meet certain criteria, including
usefulness, novelty and inventiveness. Once a patent has expired, anyone
can use the technology which it claims, free of charge.
The Library does not hold patents.
However, those which cannot be obtained freely can be obtained through our Document Delivery Service.
Much free information, sometimes
including the full text of patents, is available from various web sites.
Below are some of the most useful sites.
-
UK Patent Office
- The UK Patent Office is the official
body for the granting of patents and for the registration of designs
and trademarks in the UK. It includes many full text documents. The
site incorporates Esp@cenet, a database in which you can search for
British, European, worldwide PCT (Patent Cooperation Treaty) and
Japanese patents. It also includes images for some GB patent
applications since 1996.
-
Esp@cenet
- Esp@cenet is a collection of
databases brought together with one interface. A
Quick Search option is available. It has access to patent
information for over seventy countries and regions, with varying
amounts of information for each. There is limited full text
availability. It concentrates on European countries, and these can
be searched individually or collectively. There is lots of
useful
help available for using esp@cenet databases.
- US
Patent and Trademark Office
- Patents are available in full text,
with images, from January 1976. The main file is supplemented with a
smaller file of pre-grant publications.
-
World Intellectual Property Organisation (WIPO)
- WIPO is a UN intergovernmental
organisation responsible for promoting the protection of
intellectual property worldwide. No full text patents are available.
-
Irish Patent Office
- Lots of information at this site. To
search for Irish patent information use the esp@cenet interface.
-
British Library
Links
- A useful selection of links
including weird and wonderful patents!
Recently introduced free services offer
more direct access to patent documents and information about patents.
-
Google Patents
- Quick, free access to U.S. patents
in a familiar search format.
-
Tech Xtra
- Based in Heriot-Watt University,
Tech Xtra uses the search engine
GlobalSpec to search for
U.S., European and World patents and standards.
-
Free Patents Online
- Offers a search engine and provides
an
RSS service enabling you to keep up to date in any of several
hundred subject categories.
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