Patents

Patent databases and subject databases, that include patent information, you can access for your study and research.

A patent is a legal document that protects new and original inventions, substances, products, methods, processes and devices. It gives the patent owner exclusive rights to commercially exploit their invention for the lifetime of the patent.

Each country controls its own patent application process. IP Australia is responsible for processing and granting Australian patents.

The databases below provide access to current Australian and international patents, patent applications and lapsed patents.

Patent databases

• Australian Patent Search
  Australian patents from 1904.
• The Lens - Free & Open Patent and Scholarly Search
  The Lens is a worldwide, open access, free full text patent informatics resource. Search and retrieve the full text of more than 80 million patent documents from US, Europe, Australia and WIPO, their status and counterparts in up to 90 countries.
• Google patents
  US Patent Office.
• Espacenet patent search
  European Patent Office.

Databases that include patents

• Dimensions
  Patent data is collected and provided by IFI claims.
• SciFinder-n
  American Chemical Society

Patent organisations

A select list of common Australian and international patent organisations

• IP Australia
• World intellectual property organization (WIPO)
• United States patent and trademark office (USPTO)
• Canadian intellectual property office
• UK intellectual property office
• The European patent office (EPO)
• Japanese patent office (JPO)