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.
You can find full text of some patents via SUPrimo Articles + databases. Content from the European Patent Office and the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office is included in any search using the Articles + databases tab, to view these you can use the filters on the left to include only Patents under the Resource Type option:
Alternatively you can include the term epo to find items from the European Patent Office or the term uspatents to find content from the U.S. Patents and Trademarks office. These can be used in conjunction with other keywords, e.g. epo "wind power" will find you European Patent Office items related to the exact phrase "wind power".
If you want to find materials from both offices you should use the filtering option.
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.
