Patent & Trademark Resource Center
The Engineering & Physical Sciences Library is the College Park Patent & Trademark Resource Center
EPSL became a Patent & Trademark Depository Library January 1984; renamed PTRC October 2011
Getting Started
The U.S. Government grants a patent to an inventor "to exclude others from making, using, offering for sale, or selling the invention throughout the United States or importing the invention into the United States."
A trademark is a word, phrase, symbol or design, or combination of words, phrases, symbols or designs, which identifies the source of goods or services of one party from those of another.
- How to Conduct a Preliminary U.S. Patent SearchWatch this helpful 36 minute video offering a step by step strategy to searching for patents.
- World Intellectual Property Organization's Guide to Using Patent InformationA helpful guide that includes a brief overview of what patents are, how they are used, and the basics of searching.
- Intellectual Property Awareness Assessment ToolTo promote knowledge and provide personalized training resources for small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs) and inventors.
- General Information Concerning Patents
- Freepatentsonline.com***Currently the best free search site for US patents**
*Same field codes as USPTO web databases
*Search granted patents and pre-grant publications together
*Includes European and WIPO patents, Japanese Patent Abstracts, and Non-Patent Literature cited in patents.
*Advanced Search includes proximity search
*Fast downloading, printing, and exporting to spreadsheets. - Google PatentsGoogle Patents has OCR search for most U.S. patents since 1836. One of the quickest sources for displaying, printing and downloading full-text. For more advanced searching, try freepatentsonline.com
Patent Search Aids
Trademark Search Aids
- Design Code Manual for Trademarks (online version)
- Design Code Manual for Trademarks (print version)EPSL Reference T223 .V15 1990
- Index of trademarks issued from the United States Patent and Trademark Office 1928-1972EPSL Reference T223.V1U5
(Brief list of older trademarks) - Index of trademarks issued from the United States Patent and Trademark Office 1974-1997EPSL Reference T223.V1 U52
(subject title list only)
Librarian |
 Jim Miller Contact Info Engineering & Physical Sciences Library University of Maryland College Park MD 20742-7011 301-405-9152 Send Email |
Helpful Sources
Patent and Trademark Resource Center Association "Handout Central"
Patents Guide by Mike White. Queens University, Ontario.
End-User Patent Searching Using Open Access Sources by Pat LaCourse. Engineering and Science Librarian. New York State College of Ceramics.
Patents Guide: "Help for Researchers". British Library
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