LibGuides: Standards and Patents: Patents

What is a patent?

A patent is a form of intellectual property right which enables an inventor to protect in law their creation, preventing others from copying or modifying it without permission. It is related to, but not the same as, copyright. You must file a patent with the relevant local body for it to be applicable, and you should check that no existing patent exists for a similar invention.

Patents detail the idea and invention as well as any related technical information and drawings.

Patents via SUPrimo

You can find full text of some patents via SUPrimo. Content from the European Patent Office and the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office is included in any search using the Search the full library, to view these you can use the filters on the left to include only Patents under the Resource Type option:

Patent searching

Derwent Innovations Index
The Derwent Innovations Index from Web of Science allows searching of patents related to chemical, electrical and mechanical engineering from over 40 worldwide patent authorities.
SciFinder
SciFinder contains patent information covering the areas of chemical engineering, materials science and biotechnology.
You will need to register for a password to access SciFinder, contact help@strath.ac.uk for details.
Espacenet
This service from the European Patent Office allows searching of patents from various global patent issuing bodies. This content can be found via SUPrimo as outlined above.
United States Full Text Patent Database
The US Patent Office provides a searchable, full text database of patents from 1976 onwards. This content can be found via SUPrimo as outlined above.
Patent Lens
The Lens is a searchable resource created from various sources including European Patent Office, US Patent Office, World Intellectual Property Organization and IP Australia. Included alongside patent information is grant data and linking to related scholarly publications.
Compendex and Inspec
Within Engineering Village, Compendex and Inspec index historical patents up to 1970 and 1977 respectively.

Reaxys
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Reaxys is a factual chemistry database combining three major databases: Beilstein, Gmelin and the Patent Chemistry databases. It covers organic, organometallic and inorganic chemistry and includes data on single and multi-step reactions, physical properties, structures and catalysts.
Strathclyde users must sign in to access many library eResources. Please follow any on-screen instructions and enter University email address and password with multifactor authentication where prompted.

Patents in print

The Mitchell Library in Glasgow (at Charing Cross) is the base for the Scottish national patent service, with a wide collection of print resources and databases for public use.

Additionally, The British Library holds an extensive patents collection which can be consulted in their Business and IP Centre.