CHEMISTRY: MOLECULAR BIOLOGY AND MICROBIOLOGY

Classification 435/257.300 - 258.400 >> view this class definition

U. S. PATENT RESOURCES

As general guidance, a complete search of U. S. patents in this art area will include the following:

1. A classified search of the original classification class and subclass for the subject matter and the other highly relevant art areas in the US patent documents
2. A text search of the US patent documents; patents, PG PUB, and OCR databases:
• Broad text search for the general inventive concept(s), not limited by classification
• Narrow text search for the specific claimed invention
• Boolean text search employing the relevant inventive terms

The resources listed below are internal USPTO search tools. However, the information that they cover is available either commercially, on the USPTO web site, or in the Public Search Facility on the USPTO Headquarters campus and the Patent and Trademark Depository Libraries.

EAST/WEST

EAST Coverage: 1971 - present, Full Text: 1971 - present

WEST Coverage: 1971 - present, Full Text: 1971 - present

Full text patent and inventor searching.

EAST or WEST is used for full text and inventor searching.

ABSS (Automated Biotechnology Sequence Search System)

Coverage: - Current, Full Text: - Current

Genetic sequence search system.

USPTO internal genetic sequence search system composed of commercially available databases such as Genbank/EMBL, Geneseq, PIR, and UniProt. In-house databases (pending applications, issued patents, and published applications (PGPubs)) are also available for interference and prior art purposes. Useful for routine sequence searching as well as specialized searches, including alignments, length-limited, oligomer, and score/length.

BRS Search/USOCR Database

EAST Coverage: 1920 - 1970, Full Text: 1920 - 1970

WEST Coverage: 1920 - 1970, Full Text: 1920 - 1970

Full text of U.S. patent grants.

EAST or WEST used for text and inventor searching.

PGPUBS

EAST Coverage: 2001 - present, Full Text: 2001 - present

WEST Coverage: 2001 - present, Full Text: 2001 - present

U.S. published applications.

EAST or WEST is used for full text and inventor searching. Good source for double-patenting information.

USPATFULL

STN Coverage: 1971 - present, Full Text: 1971 - present

U.S. Patents Original Publications.

This database is used when searching by chemical Registry number. Complete Chemical Abstracts indexing for one equivalent US patent may be available, which facilitates cross-file searching with CAplus, REGISTRY, and USPATFULL. Useful for searching short sequences, registry numbers, text, and inventors.

FOREIGN PATENT RESOURCES

Searched separately from the U.S. Patent Search. These databases consist of abstract documents. Text searching abstracts requires the use of different search logic e.g. the use of broad Boolean and/or operators instead of narrow proximity operators.

Derwent World Patents Index and the contents of the EPO Abstracts and JPO Abstracts are available commercially.

Derwent World Patents Index, IPC Classified and Text Search

EAST Coverage: 1970 - present, Full Text: 1970 - present

WEST Coverage: 1970 - present, Full Text: 1970 - present

English abstracts database of patent documents from more than 40 patent-issuing authorities.

EAST or WEST is used for text and assignee/inventor searching.

EPO Abstracts, Text and Classified Search

EAST Coverage: 1978 - present, Full Text: 1978 - present

WEST Coverage: 1978 - present, Full Text: 1978 - present

English abstracts database of published unexamined applications from EPO, WO/PCT, United Kingdom, France, Germany, and Switzerland.

EAST or WEST is used for text and assignee/inventor searching.

EPO esp@cenet

esp@cenet Coverage: 1920 - present, Full Text: 1920 - present

National patent information from all member states of the EPO as well as bibliographic data from patents worldwide.

EAST or WEST is used for text and assignee/inventor searching.

FPAS3

Coverage: - , Full Text: -

USPTO foreign document retrieval system.

JPO Abstracts, Text and Classified Search

EAST Coverage: 1976 - present, Full Text: 1976 - present

WEST Coverage: 1976 - present, Full Text: 1976 - present

English abstracts database of published unexamined applications.

EAST or WEST is used for text and assignee/inventor searching.

JPO Industrial Property Digital Library

NCIPI Coverage: 1976 - present, Full Text: 1976 - present

Japanese patent information.

Used for text and assignee/inventor searching, and for machine translations.

NON-PATENT LITERATURE RESOURCES

The resources listed are those that USPTO staff have found consistently yield the most relevant search results. Commercial databases available through a single vendor can generally be searched simultaneously, although it is preferable to search full text and bibliographic databases in separate groupings. In addition to the use of subscription databases and public Internet sites, it is recommended that books, manuals, standards and specifications be considered in the search for prior art.

BIOSIS Previews

Dialog Coverage: 1969 - present, Full Text: - N/A

STN Coverage: 1969 - present, Full Text: - N/A

Comprehensive worldwide coverage of research in the biological and biomedical sciences.

Contains information on life sciences, including biological and biomedical areas. Used for text, inventor searching, registry number searching and searching exact sequence strings, subsequences, and functionally similar sequences using motif and pattern search capabilities. Good source for conference presentations.

CA SEARCH: Chemical Abstracts

Dialog Coverage: 1967 - present, Full Text: - N/A

Questel Orbit Coverage: 1967 - present, Full Text: - N/A

STN Coverage: 1907 - present, Full Text: - N/A

Database of the worldwide literature of chemistry and its applications. Abstracts available via STN.

Useful in text, inventor and registry number searching and a broad range of areas including chemical engineering, electrochemistry, biochemistry, and applied, macromolecular, organic, physical, inorganic, environmental and analytical chemistry.

CAplus

STN Coverage: 1907 - present, Full Text: - N/A

Chemistry bibliographic database.

Covers the same material as file CA but also contains early access to bibliographic information and patent family information for the documents in the process of being indexed. Useful in text, inventor and registry number searching and in a broad range of areas including chemical engineering, electrochemistry, biochemistry, and applied, macromolecular, organic, physical, inorganic, environmental and analytical chemistry.

Dissertation Abstracts Online

Dialog Coverage: 1861 - present, Full Text: - N/A

STN Coverage: 1861 - present, Full Text: - N/A

Subject, title, and author guide to virtually every American dissertation accepted at an accredited institution.

Dissertations and Theses - Full Text

ProQuest Coverage: 1861 - present, Full Text: Dates - vary

Doctoral dissertations and Master's theses.

EMBASE

Dialog Coverage: 1993 - present, Full Text: - N/A

STN Coverage: 1974 - present, Full Text: - N/A

Index of the world's literature on human medicine and related disciplines.

Used to locate information on biomedical and pharmaceutical applications.

MEDLINE (Medical Literature, Analysis, and Retrieval System Online)

Dialog Coverage: 1951 - present, Full Text: - N/A

STN Coverage: 1950 - present, Full Text: - N/A

Bibliographic database containing references to journal articles in life sciences with a concentration on biomedicine.

Contains information on every area of medicine as well as biochemistry and molecular biology literature. Corresponds to Index Medicus. Used for text and inventor searching, and to obtain publication dates.

REGISTRY

STN Coverage: - Current, Full Text: - Current

Substance database containing records for substances identified by the Chemical Abstracts Service (CAS) Registry System.

Used to identify synonyms, obtain enzyme information, and to identify other databases to search.

SciSearch: A Cited Reference Science Database

Dialog Coverage: 1974 - 1989, Full Text: - N/A

STN Coverage: 1974 - present, Full Text: - N/A

Cited reference index.

Used for citation searching.

AGRICOLA (AGRICultural OnLine Access)

Dialog Coverage: 1970 - present, Full Text: - N/A

STN Coverage: 1970 - present, Full Text: - N/A

Bibliographic database consisting of records for literature citations of journal articles, monographs, theses, patents, translations, microforms, audiovisuals, software, and technical reports.

Worldwide coverage of agriculture and related fields.

BIOTECHNO (BIOTECHNOBASE)

STN Coverage: 1980 - 2003, Full Text: - N/A

Coverage of scientific, technological, and professional biotechnology literature, from fundamental research to industrial applications.

CANCERLIT

Dialog Coverage: 1963 - present, Full Text: - N/A

STN Coverage: 1963 - 2002, Full Text: - N/A

Bibliographic records referencing cancer research publications.

Used as a source for information on cancer treatments.

CONFSCI (Conference Papers Index)

STN Coverage: 1973 - present, Full Text: - N/A

Bibliographic database that provides access to international research papers and findings presented at scientific and technical conferences and meetings throughout the world.

This resource may provide relevant information on the latest technology.

Derwent Biotechnology Resource

Dialog Coverage: 1982 - present, Full Text: - N/A

Questel Orbit Coverage: 1982 - present, Full Text: - N/A

STN Coverage: 1982 - present, Full Text: - N/A

Formerly Derwent Biotechnology Abstracts. Covers journal articles, patents, and conference proceedings describing research in the field of biotechnology.

Good source for meetings presentations.

Derwent World Patents Index

STN Coverage: 1963 - present, Full Text: - N/A

Provides information on patent publications from the 41 most important patent issuing authorities of the world.

All patent-relevant areas of science and technology are included.

Inside Conferences

Dialog Coverage: 1993 - present, Full Text: - N/A

Contains details of all papers given at every congress, symposium, conference, exposition, workshop, and meeting received at the British Library Document Supply Centre.

This resource may provide relevant information.

LIFESCI (Life Sciences Collection)

STN Coverage: 1978 - present, Full Text: - N/A

Bibliographic database from Cambridge Scientific Abstracts.

Provides broad coverage of international scientific research in different fields of life sciences, including animal behavior, biochemistry, biotechnology, ecology, genetics, and immunology.

Merck Index OnlineSM

CambridgeSoft Coverage: - , Full Text: 13th ed. - 2001

Dialog Coverage: 2001 - 2001, Full Text: 2001 - 2001

STIC online catalog Coverage: - , Full Text: -

STN Coverage: 2001 - 2001, Full Text: 2001 - 2001

13th edition of The Merck Index.

Used to identify chemicals, drugs, and biologicals.

NTIS: National Technical Information Service

Dialog Coverage: 1964 - present, Full Text: - N/A

STN Coverage: 1964 - present, Full Text: - N/A

U.S. government-sponsored research, development, and engineering reports.

INTERNET SEARCH TOOLS

An Internet search should be considered when a search of the resources listed above fails to locate relevant prior art. A preliminary Internet search may be performed to obtain an overview of the technology, and to identify additional search terms and related product information.

Public Comments on the Search Templates

Public comments on the search templates are invited. Comments should address the points enumerated in the Criteria for Evaluating Recommended Search Resources. Comments can be submitted via the Search Template Project e-mail link on each template page or by mail addressed to:

Mail Stop Patents Search Template Comments
Commissioner for Patents
P.O. Box 1450
Alexandria, VA 22313-1450
Electronic submission is preferred. The Office will respond to comments in writing.