6. Full Text Patents

Examine the full text and drawings of each patent on your list that may relate to your invention.

Decide whether your ideas meet requirements for novelty and non-obviousness.

Availability:

Utility Patents

Microfilm: 1790-1871, 1942 to date (holdings exclude patents 122,304 to 2,268,539)

CASSIS USAPat: 1790-1938, 1994 to date of disc (holdings exclude patents 2,142,080 to 5,274,845).

Internet:  PTO Patent search (www.uspto.gov/patft/) from 1790 to date.

Design Patents

Microfilm: 1951 to date

CASSIS USAPat: 1843-1938, 1994 to date of disc.

Internet: Design Patent Search (http://patft.uspto.gov/netahtml/search-bool.html) from 1843 to date. (Design Patent numbers have "D" prefix)

The Science Section staff can advise you where to get patents not in SDPL's collection.