Patent Searching on the Internet

A very great deal of patent information has recently become available free of charge on the inter-net. As more PIMA members are setting up to have access to the inter-net it seems an opportune time to point out some of the sites that might be of interest and some basic instructions in how to use them. While the inter-net addresses are included below, these sites may be more conveniently available via direct links from our web-site.

In addition to searching to see if a new invention is patentable, the databases can be used when trying to solve a problem by searching to see how other people’s inventions have addressed the same problem. Much effort might be saved if you do not have to "re-invent the wheel". Most patents never see the light of day, and so the information contained in them is often not
available anywhere else.

Some understanding of the patent classification system will be valuable in order to get better and faster results. While keywords may be entered in the patent search sites, which can lead to the proper classification, it is likely advantageous to review the International Patent Classifications.  Opening this site reveals a list of main categories. Clicking on Section A leads to a breakdown of that category of "HUMAN NECESSITIES". Sub category A01 is entitled "AGRICULTURE; FORESTRY; ANIMAL HUSBANDRY; HUNTING; TRAPPING; FISHING". Patents to do with agriculture are found there, and underneath are further sub categories A01B - A01N.

A01C is designated as "PLANTING; SOWING; FERTILIZING", so seeding equipment is located there. Clicking on A01C opens a list of further sub-categories beginning with "1/00 Apparatus, or methods of use thereof, for testing or treating seed, roots, or the like, prior to sowing or planting (chemicals therefore A 01 N 25/00 to A 01 N 65/00)". Thus the apparatus and/or methods of using them to treat seed are to be found in A01C 1/00, while the chemicals used for treating seed are found in classes A01 N 25/00 to A 01 N 65/00.

Going back a screen we can see that the A01N class is described as: "PRESERVATION OF BODIES OF HUMANS OR ANIMALS OR PLANTS OR PARTS THEREOF; BIOCIDES, e.g. AS DISINFECTANTS, AS PESTICIDES, AS HERBICIDES .................." which would properly seem to include seed treatments.

Finding the correct category is relatively simple, however you should be warned that there are vagaries in the classification system whereby a patent that might be expected to be found in class "A01D 1/00 Hand-cutting implements for harvesting" might instead be found somewhere in class "B26D CUTTING; DETAILS COMMON TO MACHINES FOR SEVERING, e.g. BY CUTTING, PERFORATING, PUNCHING, STAMPING-OUT." For general and initial searching purposes however a look at the classification will greatly assist the searcher.

Also listed above the main categories on the first screen is a link to the "Official Catchword Index" which can be used to find out in which class a certain invention might be. If looking for "balers", click on "babies - bangles", and on the second page you will find "bales" and "baling". Links are provided to take you then to classes A01F 1/00, 15/14, 13-17/00 and so forth.

Canadian patents and laid open applications back to 1920 are available through the Canadian government’s Strategis site http://strategis.ic.gc.ca/ which should lead you to the patent search location at http://patents1.ic.gc.ca/intro_e.html. The advanced search page allows searching by inventor, by owner, by International (IPC) or Canadian (CPC) Patent Class and so forth. Entering "Deere" in the owner field for instance calls up 3295 patents, the vast majority of which, if not all, would belong to the long green Deere & Co. line. Similarly entering "Bourgault" in the owner field for instance calls up 37 patents, the majority of which are owned by the Bourgault farm equipment manufacturers, including #1,277,863 WING PACKER, which was the subject of a recent court action.

Entering A01D 41/00 (Harvester-threshers; Combines) in the IPC field yields 25 hits, the earliest being issued June 3, 1980. Older technology is not available through the IPC field as the older patents are not reclassified from the former Canadian system - use of keywords in one of the text fields will give the older patents. Entering "harvester and grain" in the Title field yields 28 patents, the earliest being 0205279 issued November 2, 1920. The Canadian class for the invention is 56/94, and so entering this in the CPC field yields four patents. Further experimentation will lead to other classes and so on.

United States Patents back to 1976 are available at the United States Patent and Trademark web-site at http://www.uspto.gov/patft/index.html. Full patent images, including drawings, are available by choosing the full-text site and following the directions to download the necessary viewing software. The U.S. has its own patent classification available at http://www.uspto.gov/web/offices/pac/clasdefs/index.html, however U.S. patents are also classified according to the International Patent Classifications.

U.S. (back to 1971), European, Japanese and Patent Cooperation Treaty patents, many with images, are available at a site operated by IBM at http://www.patents.ibm.com/ .

The images and drawings especially are rather large files and may take considerable time to download. High speed inter-net access makes the operation much faster, and in fact is necessary to do the job without severely testing one’s patience.

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