The United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) announced a new Patent Public Search tool that provides more convenient, remote, and robust full-text searching of all U.S. patents and published patent applications.
Based on the advanced Patents End-to-End (PE2E) search tool USPTO examiners use to identify prior art, this free, cloud-based platform combines the capabilities of four existing search tools scheduled to be retired in September 2022: Public-Examiner’s Automated Search Tool (PubEAST), Public-Web-based Examiner’s Search Tool (PubWEST), Patent Full-Text and Image Database (PatFT), and Patent Application Full-Text and Image Database (AppFT).
“This new platform represents a significant step forward in our broader efforts to meet stakeholders where they are, especially in the pandemic,” said Drew Hirshfeld, Performing the Functions and Duties of the Under Secretary of Commerce for Intellectual Property and Director of the USPTO. “Knowing that our previous tools did not provide users with the convenience or similar functionality as those used by our examiners, it is incredibly gratifying to know that now more stakeholders can search for patents using the resources of four powerful search platforms in one expansive tool.”
In the past, users could only access legacy search tools PubEAST and PubWEST at a USPTO facility like the headquarters in Alexandria, a regional office, or a Patent and Trademark Resource Center. With the launch of the new tool, remote searching is now available to all users with internet access. Additional benefits include:
- Layouts: Multiple layouts with multiple tools to provide more data at once
- Highlighting: Multi-color highlighting that can be viewed across multiple gadgets and turned on or off
- Tagging: Ability to tag documents into multiple groups that can be renamed and color coordinated
- Notes: Ability to add notes to an image with options to include tags, relevant claims, and highlights
- Quality: Robust full-text searching of U.S. patents and published applications
- Familiar usability: Same searching syntax as PubEAST and PubWEST
In conjunction with the launch of Patent Public Search tool, the USPTO unveiled a new Patent Public Search webpage that includes FAQs, training resources, and other information to help users transition to the new tool. Upcoming public training sessions will be posted on the webpage as soon as they are scheduled.
For questions regarding Patent Public Search, please contact the Public Search Facility at psf@uspto.gov or visit the Public Search Facility and/or Patent and Trademark Resource Centers websites.