Patents 

UCSD Library Resources

• Patent Resource Page - List of resources from the Science & Engineering Library, some of which are restricted to UCSD affiliates.
• Books and Journals in the UCSD Libraries on Patents and Patenting

UCSD Resources

• Technology Transfer Office- UCSD's patent and licensing department
• Von Liebig Center - Advisory services and seed funding for commercializing UCSD inventions

US Patent & Trademark Office (USPTO) Resources

• General Information Concerning Patents- Good overview of patenting basics
• Frequently Asked Questions About Patents (FAQ)
• Inventor Resources - Designed specifically for independent inventors
• Search the USPTO patent database- For granted patents and patent applications
• Manual of Patent Classification
• \"Kind\" Codes - What does A1 or B1 mean after the patent number?
• Schedule of Fees - What does it cost to get a patent?

International Patent Resources

• European Patent Office (EPO) Website- General information about the EPO
  • esp@cenet - The EPO patent database - Search worldwide patents
  • EPO Member States - Participating countries in the European Patent Organization
• World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO)
  • Patentscope - Search WIPO patent applications
• International Patent Country Codes

Other Free Patent Websites

• Google Patents - Google's beta US patent search site
• pat2pdf.org - Free patent printing site (US only)
• Free Patents Online - Full text of U.S. patents back to 1974. Full patent downloads in PDF format.
• Patents.com - Includes full text of US and European patents.
• Patent Lens - Includes US patents from 1976 on.  Also European, World, and Australian patents. Contains patent applications from US, World, and Australia.

• Comparison of free patent databases -
  
  • Librarian blogger Michael White compared the quality of 5 free online patent search engines on several search criteria. Bottom line - Beware of Google Patents!
  • MIT Library comparison of 4 free patent databases by severial features/criteria.

Other Resources

• Lemelson MIT Inventor's Handbook
• Wacky Patents - Who knew?
• Crazy Patents - Ditto
• Patently Silly - Unique? Useful? Unobvious?
• Patently O blog - "The nation's leading patent law blog"
• Intellogist - free website for patent searchers, provides sources of patent information, comparisons of free and fee-based patent databases, best practices in patent searching, etc.