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Patents issued between 1790 and 1976
are searchable only by patent number and current US classifications.
US Patent Classification data in the
Full-Text Database (Current US Classification [CCL]) has been updated to
reflect the most current Master Classification File, and may not match the classification
data which appears on the patent full-page images (i.e., the printed patent).
Changes to patent documents
contained in Certificates of Correction and Re-examinations Certificates are not included
in the text of the patent databases, but are included as full-page images at the end of
each patent's linked image pages.
Assignment changes recorded at the
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Sequence listings associated with
about 95% of the biosequence patents published in 2001 only are not contained in the
patent full-text database. The sequence listings do appear in the full-page images of the
affected patents. PTO is presently investigating the feasibility of adding these sequence
listings to the full text. In the full-page images, sequence listings usually appear at
the end of the specification. One way of navigating to the sequence listings is to click
on the [Claims] section navigational link, and then back up one page.
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information on registered patent attorneys and agents, see
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Registered to Practice before the USPTO.
Additional information about the
patenting process is available elsewhere on the PTO Web site and at Patent and Trademark Depository
Libraries located throughout the country.
The fact that an invention cannot be
found by searching in the USPTO's patent database does not mean that the invention is
patentable. The USPTO's text-searchable patent database begins with patents granted since
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patents, foreign patents and non-patent literature.
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Tools
to Help in Searching by Patent Classification 
