Google Patents is a valuable resource for anyone who wants to learn more about patents, whether you’re an aspiring inventor or need to research patents for work or school. In this guide, we’ll take you through everything you need to know to get started with Google Patents, including how to access it and get the most out of the information. Keep reading to learn more!
What Is Google Patents?
Google Patents is a free online search engine and database provided by Google that allows users to search and explore millions of patents from around the world. It provides access to a vast collection of patent documents, including granted patents, patent applications, and patent publications.
Google Patents is useful in a wide range of industries, including government agencies, non-profit organizations, and startups, but you don’t have to be a lawyer or researcher to take advantage of it. Anyone with an interest in innovation and intellectual property can use Google Patents to learn about emerging technologies and developments in specific fields.
To access it, visit the Google Patents website. You’ll see a homepage with a search bar where you can enter the specific keyword, inventor’s name, or patent number you’d like to find information about. It also gives you the option to search for non-patent literature relating to the query.
Click on “Display advanced search options” on the search bar to refine your search with specific criteria, such as inventors, assignees, publication date, and patent type.
After entering all your criteria, you’ll see a list of search results for different patents relating to your topic. Next, let’s take a look at how to make the most of your search results.
Viewing Search Results
Once you see the list of results, you can click on each patent’s title to view more detailed information, such as the bibliographic information, abstract, and drawings. Results are sorted by relevance to your search query, and they can also be classified by the date of filing. To help narrow your search, patents are grouped using an algorithm that determines the most relevant Cooperative Patent Classification code to your search, but you can switch this grouping on and off.
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You can also explore patent families, which refers to a group of patents that share a common priority application (all the patents filed in different countries or regions that stem from the same initial patent application). You can track the status of patents within a family, identify related patents, and assess the scope of protection granted in different jurisdictions.
When you click on each patent page, you’ll see a brief summary overview of what the patent involves, a much more thorough description of the patent’s systems and methods, and a list of claims to be protected by a United States letters patent.
If you want to check for related patents, click on the “Similar” icon under the patent number. From there, you’ll see a list of similar patents, including the priority, when it was filed or granted, and the country of origin. You can also use the translate option to translate the patent into different languages, and you can download full patents in PDF format by clicking “Download PDF.”
Citations and Legal Events
Citations are important for understanding the significance of a patent – they allow you to see the patent’s influence and relevance in the field. You can explore the citations section at the bottom for specific details on where the patent has been cited and by who, as well as other patents cited by the current patent. At the bottom of the page, following the list of citations, you can also find a record of legal events relating to the patent, including information on when the patent was granted.
Google Scholar Integration
Google Patents is integrated with Google Scholar, which indexes the full text or metadata of scholarly literature across various disciplines. It includes academic journals, conference papers, theses, and dissertations and allows you to cross-reference patents with academic articles. This is especially beneficial if you’re conducting deeper interdisciplinary research on a specific patent, as the results can provide additional context.
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