Business

Searches "the USPTO's database of registered trademarks and prior pending applications to find marks that may prevent registration due to a likelihood of confusion refusal."

Help with searching USPTO's trademark database, TESS.

Links to find trademark information for each state from the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office.

Definitive source for U.S. patents. The official database of the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office includes full text of all patents issued since 1790. All patents are searchable by patent number and classification number. Patents published beginning in 1976 are fully searchable.

European Patent Office's patent search engine.

Excellent list of freely available databases for finding international patents.

While Google Patents is a more familiar search interface, results are not necessarily exhaustive. Do not rely on it as your sole source.

World Intellectual Property Organization's patent search engine.

Detailed information about the Cooperative Patent Classification system, the new system being used by the European Patent Office and the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office.

From the United States Patent and Trademark Office.

This helpful guide from Tufts University Libraries explains some of the key concepts involved in patents and trademarks and how to search for them.

Attorneys Arnold B. Silverman and George K. Stacey explain the intricacies of patent language.

Teska, K. (2007). CHAPTER 4: The Claim Game: How to Read a Patent. In , Patent Savvy for Managers (pp. 83-128). Nolo.

A chapter from a book explaining how to read a patent.