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Syracuse University Libraries

Patents: Patents and Intellectual Property

Patent Tutorials and Search Strategies

Recommended Reading on Patents & IP

Patent Search Guidance

Receive expert patent searching strategies as well as patent, trademark, and copyright guidance from the Syracuse University College of Law Innovation Law Center (ILC) in collaboration with the Blackstone LaunchPad at Syracuse University Libraries. Visit the Blackstone LaunchPad on the first floor of Bird Library during these Innovation Law Center drop-in office hours:

March 8 from 2:00 pm to 4:00 pm - Kalen Sullivan
March 19 from 2:00 pm to 4:00 pm - Emily D’Agostino
March 21 from 2:30 pm to 4:00 pm - Shirya Gosh

To schedule a different time with the ILC, outside of these hours, email LaunchPad@syr.edu.

Patent Search Tools

These tools allow you to do quick, keyword, searches for patents. You can also search by inventor and assignee (the person or company that holds the rights to that patent).

Classification Searching

Patent classification is a way the that patent examiners arrange documents according to the patent's technical features. Classification searching allows searchers to quickly find a document disclosing the invention identical or similar to the invention for which a patent is claimed. Patents may have more than one classification.

Additional Databases

These databases that you may already be using also include patents:

Trademarks

Below are a few resources recommended by the above article when conducting a trademark search:

Business, Management, and Entrepreneurship Librarian

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Steph McReynolds
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Contact:
Schedule an Online Meeting

Drop-in Office Hours at Bird Library and Whitman:

Couri Hatchery in Whitman Drop-in Office Hours:
Tuesdays, 2:00 pm to 4:00 pm
Whitman, First Floor in the Couri Hatchery (Falcone Center, Suite 116)
NOTE: Last day for Whitman office hours this semester will be April 16.

Blackstone LaunchPad in Bird Library Drop-in Office Hours:
Wednesdays, 2:00 pm to 4:00 pm
Bird Library, First Floor in the Blackstone LaunchPad
NOTE: Last day for Bird Library office hours this semester will be April 10.

If none of the online meeting options or drop-in office hour options work for you and you would like to schedule an online or in-person meeting, or if you simply want to email a question, please do email me. I will reply to your email as soon as possible, usually that same business day.

However, if my schedule is especially busy that week, it may take one or two business days to receive a reply. If you would like immediate assistance from a library staff person, especially if it is after "business hours," consider using SU Libraries' Get Help options, which include a 24/7 chat service.

Basic Terminology

A few key definitions excerpted from the Oxford English Dictionary:

Patent

"...A licence conferring the sole right to manufacture, sell, or deal in a product or commodity; (now) spec. a licence from a government conferring for a set period the sole right to make, use, or sell some process or invention; a right conferred in this way."

Intellectual Property

"...A general name for property (such as patents, trademarks, and copyright material) which is the product of invention or creativity, and which does not exist in a tangible, physical form."

License

"...To give (a person) permission to (do something)."

Trademark

"...A mark (secured by legal registration or, in some countries, established by use) used by a manufacturer or trader to distinguish his goods from similar wares of other firms; usually a distinctive device or figure, a fancy name or trade name, or the name of an individual or firm, marked or impressed on the article or upon the package, etc., in or with which it is sold."