European Patent Office (EPO)
United States Patent and Trademark Organization (USPTO)
* Patents issued from 1790-1975 are only searchable by patent number, issue date, and U.S. classification.
- PATFT contains U.S. patents and APPFT contains U.S. patent applications only
- Coverage is from 1790 to present, and patent applications from 2001 to present*
- Uses the U.S. Patent Classification System (USPC) to classify patents
* Patents issued from 1790-1975 are only searchable by patent number, issue date, and U.S. classification.
Canadian Intellectual Property Office (CIPO)
- The Canadian Patents Database contains Canadian patents only
- Coverage is from 1869 to present, with full-text available from patents from 1920 to present*
- Classification varies depending on what year the patent was filed. Patents filed before October 1st, 1989 are classified according to the Canadian Patent Classification (CPC) system, while patents filed on or after October 1st, 1989 are classified according to the International Patent Classification (IPC) system.
* Texts from the abstract and claims sections isn't availble for patents issued before August 15th, 1978. You can only retrieve these patents by searching for their patent number, titles, owner/inventors, or classification.
World Intellectual Property Office (WIPO)
- Patentscope has international patent applications from 1978 to present
- Uses the International Patent Classification (IPO) system
Japan Patent Offices (JPO)
- The Patent Abstracts of Japan (PAJ) has abstracts for Japanese patents
- Coverage is from 1976 to present, with applications from January 1990 to present containing legal status information
China Patent Trademark Office
Here is a link to other patent offices of the world.
