Trademark Databases

Trademark registers are accessible through databases made available by the trademark offices and also through commercial databases. 

Commercial databases allow one to search for a trademark in one country or many countries simultaneously using a single search interface. 

SAEGIS. Thomson Thomson, N. Quincy MA. URL http // www.saegis.com. Web-based, subscription international trademark service. 

Trademark.com MicroPatent, East Haven, CT. URL http // www.micropat.com/static/trademark page.htm. Web-based international trademark and domain name service. Access through daily or long-term subscription. 

---

Ojala M. Trademarks for the Business Searcher. Online 1996 20(2) 52-57. Trademark searching from the business specialist s point of view, including a comparison of the Thomson Thomson TRADEMARKSCAN and IMS International Imsmarq Trademark databases available in 1995-1996. 

Fulton ML. Q S A Comparison of QUATRA and SAEGIS Trademark Databases. Searcher 2003 11(9) 38. 

Japan Patent Office. URL http //www.jpo.go.jp/. Information in English and Japanese about Japanese patent, design, and trademark law and searchable databases in Japanese and English. The Patent and Utility Model Gazette, Patent Abstracts of Japan, and Trademark databases are in English. Status information and document copies are displayable and machine translations can be generated for Japanese patent applications published since 1993. 

European Community Office for Harmonization in the Internal Market. URL http //oami.eu.int/en/design/bull.htm. Includes the free Community Trademarks Database and Community Designs Database. 

Information on polymer trademarks can be found by searching in trademark databases on Dialog. The search is complicated because a name may be trademarked in one country, and yet not in another. Trademailcs may be sold, or they may be assigned by one business to another. 

Usually, the trademark database of each country of interest must be checked to determine whether the name is registered. 

U.S. Patents. This file, produced by Derwent, Inc., covers U.S. patents from 1971 to the present. The database iacludes all bibliographic and front page information and the text of all claims. (Prom 1971 to 1974 the claims from many patents were not available from the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) source tapes, and therefore are not iacluded.) The complete cl aim text can be searched from 1971 but can be ptinted only from 1982. Tides and patentee names are present ia their original form, aeither expanded nor standardized. There is no enhanced iadexiag. Examiner citations are directly searchable, and USPTO classification is updated when the tapes are received from the Patent Office. 

For purposes of tracking statistics on database classes, several subclasses for word-oriented and number-oriented databases have been estabhshed. Word-oriented databases can be subdivided into bibhographic, patent/trademark, directory, dictionary, full-text, and other categories. The first pubHcly... 

U.S. Patent and Trademark Office Web Patent Databases. The Patent and Trademark Office (PTO) [72] offers free World Wide Web access, http // www.uspto.gov/main/patents.htm, to a bibliographic patent database that uses the most current patent classification system, this may not match the classification data that appears on the printed patent, and to a full-text patent database that uses the classification data that appear on the printed patent, this may not match the current classification data. The databases start with January 1, 1976, patents. The full text of a patent includes all bibliographical data (e.g., inventor s name, the patent s title, the assignee s name, etc.) and the abstract, full description of the invention, and the claims. All the words in the text of the patent are searchable. If the patent number is known, the patent, regardless of year, can be ordered from the PTO. Automated searching of 1971 to date patents is available at some of the Patent and Trademark Depository Libraries. Prior to 1971 searching can be done at the PTO facilities or at the Patent and Trademark Depository Libraries. Commercial patent search services are also available. 

A major objective in developing these risk estimation procedures was to provide a method capable of evaluating hundreds of properties in several communities within the DOE Uranium Mill Tailings Remedial Action Program in a timely manner. Therefore, we chose a calculation scheme that could be performed using commercially available database software (dBASE II, a trademark of Ashton-Tate, Culver City, CA), but that at the same time would be flexible enough that assessments for other contaminants could be readily incorporated. 

Today, nearly every important reagent or method reported in the literature has a patent or patent application associated with it, especially if it has potential commercial value. A search of the patent databases, such as the United States Patent and Trademark Office (http //www. uspto.gov/) or the European Patent Office (http //ep.espacenet.com/) for key words or the potential names of inventors can provide a list of any existing issued patents or patent applications related to a bioconjugate technique or compound. In addition, a fee-based service such as Delphion is particularly effective at finding patents related to any subject matter (http //www. delphion.com/). 

The Physical Properties Database (PHYSPROP) is a trademark of Syracuse Research Corporation . 

Patented procedures and sequence information affect decisions about testing. It is not always clear whether a technology or sequence has been patented or, if so, who owns the patent. It is thus advisable to check with the investigators who first described the sequence and to review the patent database and pending patent databases (United States Patent and Trademark Office Home Page www.uspto.gov). 

The Eleventh Edition added new chemicals, revised the format for chemical entries, and added new trademarked products and definitions. Chemical Abstract Services (CAS) numbers were included for many chemical entries to facilitate recourse to computerized databases. 

The patent offices worldwide have opened their databases to the public there is no better place to start the search for patentability than with these free databases the same databases that provide additional services and literature search are packaged by other vendors. The United States Patent and Trademark Office (1) has created one of the world s largest electronic databases that includes every patent issued recently, published applications are also available in the database. Scientists are strongly urged to develop expert skills in interacting with the database of the United States Patent and Trademark Office. The search at United States Patent and Trademark Office can be most beneficial if the scientist learns how to use the patent classification system. (Tutorials are available at the United States Patent and Trademark Office website alternately, please consult Filing Patents Online A Professional Guide by Sarfaraz K. Niazi, CRC Press 2002). 

Second to the United States Patent Office, the largest database is accessed through the European Patent Office, where one should conduct a similar classification search as suggested previously for the United States Patent and Trademark Office (2). The World Intellectual Property Organization (3) offers many useful features including complete details of the Patent Cooperative Treaty and its gazette. The Canadian Patent Office can be reached at the website mentioned in Ref. 4. 

Derwent (6) is one of the most widely used databases, from which the United States Patent and Trademark Office examiners benefit as well. 

Dialog (7) is another large database that allows you to search without having to register an account you pay as you go along using your credit card. You cannot do this if you are searching for Trademarks. 

U.S. Patent and Trademark Office. URL http //www.uspto. gov. Information about U.S. patents and patent law. Free searchable databases U.S. patents and published appfications, fiill text from 1996 and images from 1836 browsable Official Gazette U.S. patent assignment records Patent Application... 

Protein and nucleic acid sequences are submitted electronically to the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) to avoid the introduction of errors in printed documents and to simplify the job of examining patent claims that include biosequences. Short sequence listings are printable in the USPTO s full text database, but for longer sequences the electronic sequence records are stored in the Publication Site for Issued and Published Sequences (PSIPS), located at http // seqdata.uspto.gov/. 

---