Patent Searching Online

You can search U.S. patents online at http://www.uspto.gov/.

When you arrive at the site you see a list of topics along the left margin. The fourth item down is patents. Clicking on the word expands the topic to 16 categories. Item number 3 is "Search Patents". If you are just searching by a known patent number this will suffice. Since searching is not exactly simple, if you are doing a full search you may need to start at item number 10, Guides & Manuals". When you click on this topic you will get a screen with two columns. In the right hand column in the second box, below the word "help" the third line down is "How to search patents and more". This should give you a better start. If you want to print a patent from the site you will have to have TIFF installed on your computer. Good luck! If you need help you can call me at the Worcester Public Library.