Guide to STN Patent Databases – Basic Version - Paton - TU Ilmenau

Type of Search Notes
Introduction
Subject search You need to find out what patents have been published on a subject or in a specialist
field, i.e. you want to know what is already known and what, if anything, is already
protected by a patent
Name search You need to find out all the patents published by a particular company (applicant) or
person (inventor).
Patent family search You are aware of a published patent (its patent or application number) and want to
know in which other countries its inventor has filed an application or been granted a
patent.
Legal status search You are aware of a published patent (its patent or application number) and want to
know if a patent was granted and if it is still valid.
Citation search You have details of a published patent and want to know what other publications are
cited in it and in which other publications it is itself cited.
Full text order You have got the details of a published patent and want the entire text and drawings.
Search by country You want to limit the outcome of a search (e.g. a subject search) to particular countries.
Search by date You want to limit the outcome of a search (e.g. a subject search) to a particular period of
time.
Search by number You have got a number, which may be either a patent number or an application
number, for a published patent, and want to know whether this application really exists
and what is protected under the patent.
3 Overview: Search options available in STN databases
On the following pages, an outline is given of the most important search options available in STN patent databases.
These symbols are used:
+ search option is available,
* limited search option (e.g. only display).
For an actual search problem, the notes on the appropriate database and the search type in general should be read
first, and then the other notes or examples.
15