Quick guide to Key word Searching the USPTO database.

• Click onto the US Patent & Trademark Office database at http://www.uspto.gov/patft/index.html
• Choose Quick Search. This is a user friendly search page; however, it does not allow searching for any more than two terms or phrases.
• Fill in the key word blanks using these criteria:
  • Enclose phrases in quotations. Example: "corrugated steel"
    Use $ for the truncation wildcard. Example: harvestor$ will retrieve harvestor as well as harvestors.
    TRUNCATION IS NOT ALLOWABLE IN PHRASES.
    Example: "grain bin$" will only find grain bin, not grain bins.
• Choose where you want your key words searched. Usually start with titles only; if there are few or no results, expand to all.
• Select whether you want a search from 1976 to date (full text database), or the entire database back to 1790.
  • Note: Patents issued prior to 1976 are searchable only by patent number or classification number. Key word searching is not available for these older patents, although you can search by the classification numbers assigned to newer related patents.
  • Patents issued prior to 1976 are available in image form only. You must install TIFF browser to view them. Free software is available from http://www.alternatiff.com/

Terminology might change, so trace back preceding patents by clicking on them from the patent history. Remember, you must have TIFF viewer installed on your computer to display older patents.

More search tips are available from the USPTO page at http://www.uspto.gov/patft/help/helpbool.htm

Advanced Search: For complicated searches, use the USPTO Advanced search page. Searching instructions are available from the USPTO. The Advanced Search is not user friendly, however complicated searches can be entered using Boolean operators, and nested phrasing. Example: ttl(("grain bin" or "grain bins") and ("corrugated steel" or "corrugated sheet metal"))