Research Guides: BME2000: Biomedical Engineering in the Clinical Environment: E. Patent Information

Identify the patent(s) and related information for your device

How to Read a Patent - basic guide developed by a law firm. Hint: "A" patent is published application, "B" is a granted patent (enforceable).

Lens.org Patent Search
Free patent search tool with extensive filtering and analysis options.
Google Patents
Good starting search (patent number, general topic, known inventor name, known company name)

Derwent Innovations Index
Includes enhanced abstracts describing focus areas of the patented technology. Also, links to newer patents that cite this patent.
Hint: for a specific US patent, search patent number beginning with US, as in US8500000. Use full-text sources links to get the full patent document, or search patent number in Google Patents.

Derwent - Advanced Search Tips
Help with searching for specific country's patents (e.g., US) through an Advanced Search
Patent Classification Browsing
Patent classification is a system for organizing patents into specific technology groupings. US patents now use the Cooperative Patent Classification (CPC) system.

CEAS Library Guide on Patents: guides.libraries.uc.edu/patents for many more resources.

Discovering the patents that relate to a technology

Some tips for patent and invention information:

Locate a history of the particular device, business news announcements, encyclopedia article, or other sources with the inventor name, company associated with the product.

Ex. Wikipedia article on angioplasty cites a seminal patent. Search by the patent number in Google Patents and Derwent for further related information
Ex. search for business articles about the device, trade name or company name in Lexis Uni (linked below). Sort to show the oldest article first to find early articles on the technology.

Nexis Uni
Nexis Uni™ features more than 15,000 news, business and legal sources
from LexisNexis®—including U.S. Supreme Court decisions dating back to
1790—with an intuitive interface that offers quick discovery across all
content types, personalization features such as Alerts and saved
searches and a collaborative workspace with shared folders and
annotated documents.