Patent Searching for Research

The USPTO's Advanced Search provides the flexibility to search by keyword and execute complex search strategies. However, it has its quirks and challenges. On this page you'll find:

• Tips on Keyword searching that will work in just about any patent database
• Tips on using the USPTO's Advance Search tool
• Helpful USPTO Tutorials and guides

You will find the Advanced Search button in the bottom left of the USPTO's Patent Search Public page. 

Patent titles and documentation are designed to describe what something does and how it does it.  Patents are not typically issued under the trademark, trade name, or catchy marketing name with which you may be familiar, and a patent title may change from application to issue date.

For example, a fly for fly fishing might be called an "interlaced segmented artificial fly body"

So, when preparing for a keyword search, think:

1. What is it? What is it for? What does it do?

AND

2. How does it do it?

The answers to these questions become the keywords that you search.

Words of Caution:

• Patents are notorious for variations in words used to describe a particular application.  For example, the patent titles of “Frisbee” type patent applications have called flying saucer, flying disc, flying disk, airfoil projectile, aerial disc, throwing disc, aerodynamic toy, disk for throwing, throwing toy, flying toy, flexible toss device, and flying object. Unless you can think of every possible wording for such a patent, your search will be incomplete.
• Keyword searching also brings in “false drops” or patents that include your words but are peripheral to your interest.  For example, searching for flying saucer brings patents of the Frisbee variety, but also games that have flying saucers in their visual imagery.

Consider adding other terms to your search, such as a company name, inventor name, patent number or date to your search. And if you need to do a comprehensive search, consider searching by patent classification.

The USPTO Advanced Search is a powerful tool for finding inventions and designs patented in the United States. The template looks complicated, but once you understand the key features, it's a bit easier. So here's a brief introduction.

The search Template is divided into 3 Parts:

• Search on the left with Search Results below it, and the
• Document Viewer on the Right

Search - Key Features

In addition to the large search box where search terms are entered, you will see these choices:

• Databases to search on the left. Unless you change this, the default is to search all of the database. For most searches, this suffices
• Operators to combine with search terms.
  • Search using AND, OR, ADJ, NEAR, SAME, WITH
    • Check the Boolean and Proximity Operators quick reference to see what each operator does
  • Note: the default operator is OR, which will retrieve records with one or more of the search terms, but not necessarily all of them. This expands your search results
  • Recommendation: If you're new to using Advanced Search, change the operator to AND, so your finds patents with ALL of the search terms
• Default Settings: search Plurals of words and British spellings:
  • Examples:
    • Labor, will be searched as Labor, Labors, Labour, Labours
    • Fly, will be searched as Fly, Flies, Flys
• Highlight Colors, which can be helpful when particular terms are more important than others
  • Highlight all of the search terms where found in the same color
  • Highlight each search term in a different color
  • Plurals and variant spellings will appear in the same color

Wildcard Symbol Searching

USPTO Advanced Search also allows you to search using wildcard symbols that search variants of words, which can save you a lot of typing and searching or expand your search results if your first attempt didn't find much.

• Question mark (?) matches any one letter at the beginning, middle or end of a word
  • Example: wom?n retrieves all records with the word "woman" or "women"
• Dollar sign ($) with a number matches up to the number of characters
  • Example: Nano$5 retrieve records with words like nanometer, nanoscale, nanotesla, nanowatts, nanotubes
• Asterisk (*) or Dollar sign ($) will finish a word with any number of letters
  • Examples
    • Nano* retrieves records with words like nanograms, nanotechnology, nanoseconds, nanotubes, nanoelectronics
    • Micro$ retrieves words like microencapsulated, microelectronic, microradiograph, microstructural

Once you have entered a search, you will see your search results, a list of the patents and patent applications, below the Search Template.

Search Results Spreadsheet  - Key Features

• The Highlight bar shows the keywords searched with all their variants. The terms will be highlighted in multiple colors if that option was selected when searching
• Settings allows you to change the fields that are displayed in the results spreadsheet. Click the down arrow, then uncheck fields you don't need to see or check boxes for fields you want to add
• Click on the Document ID number to open the patent in the Document Viewer on the Right
• Check the "Select" box to select the document for downloading
• Click the Number and plus sign (+) in the second column to see related patents
• Need more room to see the search results spreadsheet?
  • Use the Arrow at the right border of the box to close the Document Viewer, making perusal of the results easier
    • To reopen the Document Viewer, click on the vertical Document Viewer column at the far right
  • Hover over the border between the Search Template and Search Results until an arrow appears, then drag upward to expand the vertical size of the Search Results box

• To reduce your search results, add additional keywords to the "Find Within" search box and click the Magnifying glass symbol
• Need search tips or help reading the results, click the Help tab

[Search History]

Document Viewer - Key Features