How to Search European Patents
Searches of past patent documents are often essential in the process of applying for a new patent. It's important to ensure that the new invention doesn't have excessive similarities with one already patented.The easiest way to conduct a search of European patents is through an organization called the European Patent Organisation, which has jurisdiction in over 40 European countries. The EPO provides a free service called esp@cenet, which is a searchable database of over 60 million patent documents from both EPO member states and other countries which have agreed to contribute.
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Things You'll Need
- Internet connection
- Computer or smartphone capable of accessing Internet
Instructions
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Look up the year of publication, two-letter country code for the country in which the patent was granted, and applicant company for the patent you are looking for. The esp@cenet database only lists 500 results, so the more specific information you have, the more likely you are to find the patent you are looking for.
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Go to ep.espacenet.com.
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In the "SmartSearch" box, enter the patent you're looking for by typing the name of applicant, then the two-letter country code for the country in which the patent was filed (for Europe, use EP), and finally the year in which the patent was published. For example, for a patent filed by IBM in Germany that was published in 2006, you would type: "DE IBM 2006."
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Select the patent you are looking for.
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References
- Photo Credit europe image by margouillat photo from Fotolia.com
