Basics: Patents, Trademarks and Copyrights
A patent is a legal right granted by a government to an inventor, giving them exclusive rights to make, use, sell, or distribute their invention for a specific period of time. In exchange, the inventor must publicly disclose the details of the invention. This prevents others from copying or using the invention without permission during that time.
A trademark is a recognizable symbol, word, phrase, design, or combination of these that distinguishes goods or services of one company from those of others. It's used to protect the brand identity and prevent others from using a similar mark that could cause confusion among consumers. Essentially, it's a way for businesses to legally safeguard their unique products or services in the marketplace.
This Guide provides background information and tools for finding patents and trademarks.
Patent Databases
- Esp@cenet (European Patent Office)Espacenet offers free access to 70 million+ patent documents worldwide. Includes information about inventions and technical developments from 1836 to today.
- Patent Full Text and Image Database (U.S. Patent and Trademark Office)Patent full-page images back to 1790. Searchable in five-year blocks back to 1976, and in one additional block covering the years 1790-1975. The 1790-1975 block contains only patent numbers and current US Classifications (in addition to links to full-page images). Patents prior to 1976 can be searched for only by patent number or current US classification.
- Google Patent Searchresults come from the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO). FAQ
- FreePatentsOnlineIncludes the full text of US patents from number 4000000 to 6857132. Free (pdf) downloading including patent images.
IBM Patent for Coffee Delivery Drones
