Authors: Greg Lynch and Jared Scarlett

Most of you will be aware of the need for regular searching of the scientific literature. However, the information which is available in the patent literature is often overlooked. This is particularly true in the area of biotechnology. It is estimated that there are currently more than 36,000 biotechnology patent applications currently awaiting examination at the United States Patent and Trademark Office. Approximately 20,000 of these applications claim DNA fragments or other materials and technologies related to the study of genomics. Details of the inventions protected by many of the applications will already be available to the public to read. Therefore, there is a large resource of information available in patent databases.

Extracting Useful Information from Patent Databases
In both a research and commercial context, searching the patent literature is a valuable tool for:

- Identifying published patent specifications that may impact on the novelty of technology being pursued or developed.
- Identifying patents which may be infringed by a proposed activity.
- Identifying technology that a competitor is pursuing and ascertaining its commercial strategy.

In recent years, there has been a growing awareness among scientists and researchers of the vast volume of scientific and technical information that is published in the patent literature which may not be available by any other means.

Online Patent Databases
As with the scientific literature, there are a number of freely available internet sites in which the patent literature may be searched. Many of these are hosted by national and regional patent offices. These are generally restricted to the literature for that region. Sites of particular use include:

- www.uspto.gov
The United States Patent and Trademark Office
- www.ipaustralia.gov.au
The Intellectual Property Office of Australia
- www.iponz.govt.nz
The Intellectual Property Office of New Zealand
- ep.espacenet.com
The European Patent Office

In general, these sites have a search page enabling the database to be searched using keywords in a similar fashion to scientific literature databases, for example MEDLINE. Patents can be searched by title, inventor's name, and applicant's name, as well as a patent number if known. Boolean operators such as " AND", "OR" and "NOT" are also usually available for more precise searching.

In addition to the freely available regional databases, a number of commercial websites have been established which allow registered users access to a vast quantity of patent literature. They also allow downloading of full patent documents. One of the more useful of these is the Delphion Intellectual Property network.

- www.delphion.com

The Delphion Intellectual Property network website provides access to patent document collections covering US patents (1971 to present), European patent applications (1997 to present), issued European patents (1980 to present), English language abstracts of Japanese patent applications (October 1976 to present) and PCT applications (1990 to present).

A website of particular relevance to the biotechnology sector is the DNA patent database:
- www.genomic.org
This web site is a joint project between the Kennedy Institute of Ethics at Georgetown University and the Foundation for Genetic Research. This site provides free public access to the full text and analysis of all DNA patents issued by the United States Patent and Trademark Office.

This article is intended only to be an introduction only to the patent searching services that are available via the Internet. Generally these sites have only basic search functions. Advanced searching of the patent literature often requires access to services not available via these free sites. Although every effort has been made to ensure the accuracy of the information in this article, it should not be treated as a basis for formulating business decisions without further professional advice. The formulation of search strategies for advanced patent searching is a skilled activity. The more accessible databases do, however, provide a useful starting position.

This is a general summary only and should not be taken as a substitute for specific advice.

Web site: Baldwin Shelston Waters

Email: email@bsw.com