Patent public search FAQs
Please search commonly asked questions about the Patent Public Search tool.
Getting started
Why was Patent Public Search created?
Legacy systems PubEAST, PubWEST, PatFT and AppFT are old technology. Patent Public Search was created to replace these systems with a single, more robust online platform that provides the public access to search tools used by patent examiners.
Are PubEAST and PubWEST still available?
The Public Search Facility reopened on May 31, 2022 and is now available to assist the public in person. However, the Patent Public Search tool has replaced the older legacy systems such as Pub EAST and Pub West. Assistance for the new Patent Public Search tool from trained staff is available Monday through Friday 8 a.m. to 5 p.m..
What was the timeline for Patent Public Search adoption?
On November 3, 2021, a soft launch of Patent Public Search included testing and feedback by the Patent and Trademark Resource Centers. Testing and feedback continued until the official launch on February 1, 2022. On October 1, 2022, other searching platforms (i.e. PubEAST, PubWEST, Pat/FT and App/FT) were retired and replaced with Patent Public Search.
How does Patent Public Search work?
Patent Public Search supports most of the same searching syntax of PubEAST and PubWEST (i.e. Boolean operators, Proximity operators, Indexes, and Wildcards). The Patent Public Search's landing page links to training materials for the tool.
How can I enter a query in Patent Public Search?
The Patent Public Search Advanced Search interface lets you enter a search statement in the Search pane using a specific syntax (search statement format). If you’re searching for more than one term, you’ll need to use an operator. If you don’t enter an operator between two terms, the operator selected in the Default operator box in the Search pane is used. For a field-specific search, please refer to the Searchable Indexes section in the Help gadget.
How can I enter a long search query?
You can let a long search query wrap, or press
Is there a system limitation on search query length?
In the Patent Public Search Advanced Search interface, there is no character limit in the Search box. The system is set by default to show errors if it cannot complete the search as written. In addition, Patent Public Search can support additional usage of unlimited truncation (using $ vs $n).
Truncation limits:
Match limit: If an individual term in a query matches more than 20,000 hits, Patent Public Search will not run the query.
- Example: A$ and database
The term A$ matches more than 20,000 hit terms, so the query will not execute.
Combinatorial limit: When the product of the numeric modifiers exceeds 125, Patent Public Search will not execute the query.
- Example: A$32B$4
The numeric modifiers 32 and 4 multiplied together equals 128. This is greater than 125, and the query will not execute. - Example: A$3B$5C$2D$3 The product of the numerical modifiers equals 90. The query will execute unless the term itself matches more than 20,000 hits.
What is the Quick Search layout in Advanced Search?
The Quick Search layout provides a simple layout if you just want to run a search and view search results and documents. However, you may activate other gadget options from the gadget toolbar if you prefer.
What is the Enhanced Search layout in Advanced Search?
The Enhanced Search layout provides a four panel view with all panels activated by default. Some display options are only available in the Enhanced Search layout.
Where do I get more information on training materials?
You can find more information in the Help pane or read through the quick reference guides.
Accessibility
What does accessibility mean in Patent Public Search?
The accessibility options give equal access to web content and services for all people, including those with visual and mobility impairments.
What accessibility options are available in Patent Public Search?
The accessibility options include:
- Textual information provided through operating system functions for displaying text, such as voice to text.
- An on-screen indication that moves among interactive interface elements as the input focus changes.
- Information about user interface elements, including the identity and state of the element, are available to assistive technology (e.g. screen reader software).
- Keyboard shortcuts make typing easier or more accurate for those who have motor control difficulties.
- Screen reader software can read and announce everything that is happening on the computer.
Are screen reader shortcuts compatible in Patent Public Search?
Yes, the screen reader shortcuts are compatible using Patent Public Search.
Will I get verbal announcements for menus, icons, links, and buttons?
When Patent Public Search is used with a screen reader, all menu options, icons, links, and buttons are announced so that you can navigate the application.
What browser should I use for Patent Public Search?
Patent Public Search interface works best when using the latest approved version of Chrome or other updated Chromium based browser (e.g. Google Chrome, MS Edge, Brave, Vivaldi, etc.) and Mozilla Firefox on a desktop or laptop computer. Currently, Patent Public Search’s Advanced Search is not supported by the Safari browser nor on mobile devices including smart phones and tablets. The Basic Search interface works with all current browsers and mobile devices.
Patent Public Search Basic (PPUBS Basic)
What are the differences between Basic Search and Advanced Search?
Basic Search is a new, simplified interface recommended for users new to Patent Public Search who value the ease of drop-down menus in conducting searches for issued U.S. patents and U.S. pre-grant publications. The Basic Search interface allows you to combine queries to retrieve documents based on any of the following:
- Applicant name
- Assignee name
- Attorney agent/firm
- Attorney name
- Patent/application publication number
- Inventor name
- Publication date ranges
- Keywords (limited to two search query boxes)
Search results will be displayed as a list of documents that will include a link to the PDF of a publication, the text of a document, or a front-page preview.
The Advanced Search interface allows you to customize your workspaces and select databases, and also provides a query box for more complex searching. In addition to Boolean set operators (AND, OR, NOT), users can perform field-specific queries or full-text searching on documents using proximity operators. Search queries are listed as ‘L’ numbers in a Search History tab and can be used with additional queries to build more complex search strategies. Search results are listed in sortable columns which can be copied and saved. In Advanced Search, a user can view the full text and image of a document.
Both the Basic Search and the Advanced Search interface use the same search engine to search the same document collection.
In Advanced Search, what are the differences between the Quick Search and Enhanced Search formats?
The Quick Search format has three customizable panels with the most frequently used Gadget features already activated (Search, Search History, Help, Search Results, and Document Viewer). Keywords are highlighted in a single color.
The Enhanced Search format has four customizable panels with all Gadget features activated, including three additional Gadgets—Tagged Documents, Notes Viewer, and Hit Terms—often used by frequent patent searchers. Keywords are highlighted with a different color for each word.
How can I search patent documents using Basic Search?
Basic Search has a Quick Lookup option for fast searching with a patent number or published patent application number. It also has an option for two search query text boxes, allowing up to two terms to be searched using a Boolean set operator (AND, OR, NOT). It offers a limited number of fields (searchable indexes). To run a Basic Search:
- Select the field (searchable index) from the drop-down menu.
- Enter search terms in the search query text boxes.
- Select which Boolean set operator to use from the drop-down menu (if searching for a second term).
- Select Search.
- Review search results.
In Basic Search, what does the Preview provide to the user?
Preview provides only the image of the front page of a patent or published patent application with its inventor/applicant/assignee information, classifications, references cited, an abstract, and a representative drawing enabling the user to make a quick review of the featured invention. Use the PDF display option to view all the pages of the patent or published patent application.
What order are the search results in Basic Search? Can I re-sort them?
Results are listed in order of issue/publication date from newest document to oldest.
At this time, it is not possible to sort the results by any other field. Re-sorting search results columns is available for users of Advanced Search.
In Basic Search, can I print the full text of a patent document?
Yes. In Basic search you can print the document in full text. To view the document in full text view, click on the text link that is included with the search results. Once the full text view of the document is displayed, the document may be printed in full text using the browsers printing options.
Is it possible to print or download a list of search results in Basic Search?
There is no print or download option available for an entire list of search results in Basic Search, but users can print each current page of results using the browser’s print/print to PDF function.
I need to search a field, but it is not listed in the Basic Search drop-down list. How can I search those fields?
Basic Search has a limited choice of fields (searchable indexes). These fields and more are also available in Advanced Search and are listed at Patent Public Search Basic - Searchable Indexes.
How can I go to Advanced Search from Basic Search and vice versa?
In the Basic Search interface on the right top menu bar, select Go to Advanced Search. In the Advanced Search interface on the right top menu bar, select Go to Basic Search.
Will my search query in Basic Search carry over when I switch to Advanced Search?
No, queries in Basic Search are not carried over to Advanced Search. Likewise, queries in Advanced Search are not carried over to Basic Search.
When I transition from Basic Search to Advanced Search, can I go back to the Basic Search screen to review my search results or does transitioning to Advanced Search close out the Basic Search session?
Yes, you can go back. Basic Search and Advanced Search interfaces are displayed on different tabs, so it is possible to review search results.
How can I find the equivalent search fields used in PatFT/AppFT in Patent Public Search?
Many of the search fields used in the now discontinued Patents Full-Text and Image (PatFT) database and Applications Full-Text and Image (AppFT) database differ from those used in Patent Public Search Advanced Search. A concordance to help make the transition to Patent Public Search is available in Quick Reference Guide “Patent Public Search—Field Conversion from PatFT/AppFT”.
When I search same terms in both Basic Search layout and Advanced Search layout, I get two different number of hits. Why is that?
In Advanced Search layout, the default setting has both Plurals and British Equivalent checked. In Basic Search layout, these two options are set differently by the system. They are unchecked; therefore, you get different results.
To get the same results, you need to have Plurals and British Equivalent checkboxes in Advance Search and Basic Search the same, then run the query, You should get same search results. Since Basic Search layout does not have user preference setting option, you need to uncheck Plurals and British Equivalent checkboxes in Advance Search to get same search results as Basic Search.
Document Viewer
How do I change the appearance of the Document Viewer?
In Document Viewer, select the gear icon to use the Document Viewer user preferences to customize the font type, font size, text color, background color, and hit terms display location. Also, when the document is in Image view, you can adjust the zoom setting through the Document Viewer user preferences or by using the zoom drop-down (percent icon) on the Document Viewer toolbar. You can also change the appearance of the document’s image by selecting the Invert color icon on the Document Viewer toolbar, selecting Fit to width for the image, and rotating the image left/right.
Image
What is the function of the highlight display in the Document Viewer preferences window?
When the Document Viewer user preferences window is open, the first tab that opens displays Hit Terms options. Selecting the drop-down menu beside Highlight Display will provide the options of top, center, and bottom. Each selection will change where the highlight is positioned for a hit term found using the Find Within functionality on the Document Viewer toolbar.
How can I customize the information displayed from a document in the text view of the Document Viewer?
There are two ways to control the information displayed in the text view. You can select specific document sections for display from the Document sections drop-down indicator, which has All sections selected by default. Or, you can toggle on and off specific metadata using the Show and Hide Metadata button on the Document Viewer toolbar.
While viewing text in the Document Viewer, how can I change the highlights in the Document Viewer?
Like the Search Results grid, the text view of the Document Viewer has a Highlight bar, where you can toggle the hit term visibility and off. Selecting the Highlight button on the Highlight bar opens a Highlights Details window where you can adjust the visibility and colors of highlighted terms.
What is the function of the KWIC button in the toolbar of the Document Viewer while in text view?
KWIC stands for Keyword in Context. When the KWIC button is selected, it limits the information displayed from the document to paragraphs that include terms from the search statement string.
When is the KWIC button disabled?
When you select Advanced Find options from the Document Viewer and select Display and include hidden fields and sections, the Document Viewer shows all fields and sections which have the search terms. In some cases, this would require showing fields and sections which do not have KWIC hit terms but has the term searched. For this reason, Search disables the KWIC button when this Advanced Find option is selected.
How can I perform a citation search?
The open, close, and open-close quotation mark buttons in the Document Viewer toolbar perform citation searches. Selecting one of these buttons will populate the Search pane and execute the corresponding citation search for the current document.
- The button with an opening quotation mark executes a backward citation search for all documents cited by the document being viewed.
- The button with a closing quotation mark executes a forward citation search for all documents that cite the document being viewed.
- The button with both quotation marks executes a simultaneous forward and backward citation search.
- Note: Published patent applications do not have backward citations, so the open and open-close quotation marks will be unavailable
Image
How can I control the size of the document in Image view?
The zoom drop-down allows you to choose a setting for image magnification of document images. Valid settings range from 5% to 200%. You can also use the Fit to width button to scale images to the width of your Document Viewer. You can use the Fit to window button to scale the image so that the whole page is visible. If you prefer to view images at a specific size, the default zoom can be set under images in the Document Viewer user preferences.
Can I display highlights in the image view?
Currently, this feature is unavailable.
Can I auto-flip images?
Currently, this feature is unavailable. However, you may press and hold numbers 1-3 and 7-9 of the keyboard numeric keypad to manually auto-flip document images. You can view the Navigation with numeric keypad quick reference guide.
Can I add comments or notes to a document?
Yes, when viewing the document as an image, you can right-click on the image to Add Note or add Highlight Only. Selecting Add Note opens a new pop-up window where you can optionally enter text in the Notes Text field, select Tags, and select the color of the notes marker. Upon clicking Add, the note will be added with the selected-colored-marker. The Highlight Only option adds the marker, without text, with the selected color. Notes will not be saved after you exit Patent Public Search and your session ends.
Display customization
What is a workspace?
The workspace is a layout page where you can search and review search results, which has multiple panels.
What are panels?
A panel is a location that holds one or more panes within the workspace. A workspace may have multiple panels depending upon which workspace layout you select.
How do I resize, collapse, and expand panels?
Within the workspace, you have the ability to resize or hide panels by simply dragging the panel resizing dividers along a panel’s border. You can resize panels regardless of the type of workspace layout selected. Panels can be collapsed into buttons or hidden. In the three panel workspace layout of Quick Search, there are two indicators that divide the workspace. You can select these to close a panel so that the other areas have increased display room.
When a panel is collapsed, it becomes a pane. The pane will display how many panes are open inside the panel and their names. You can select anywhere in the pane to re-display the collapsed panel.
By moving the mouse over the indicator and holding the mouse button down, you can adjust the size of the panel by sliding it to the left or right. There are also north- and south-oriented panels which are controlled in the same manner, this time by sliding them up or down.
Can I save my customized workspace layout?
Currently, saving a workspace is unavailable.
Which panes can be duplicated?
In the workspace window, only Document Viewer can be duplicated. Each Document Viewer can be set to display a different format of the same document, such as text view and image view. Up to three Document Viewers can be opened.
When I zoom in, I cannot see all the panes in my workspace. What can I do?
If you zoom in at a high percentage (e.g. 200%), because of the limited real estate on a monitor, you may not be able to see one or more panes in a panel. Use the panel dividers to resize any panels so that they are visible. You can also select F11 to expand or contract the window to full screen mode or normal screen mode. NOTE: If your keyboard has an F Lock key, ensure that the F Lock key is activated–press the F Lock key on the keyboard (location of the button will vary on keyboard) to activate or deactivate the F Lock key.
I can view the panes in my workspace when I zoom in, but when a dialog pop-up opens, the buttons are cut off or missing.
Some pop-ups are best viewed at 100% or less. If you find that after zooming in, you are missing buttons for a pop-up or pane, try zooming out until you can see the command buttons. If you are missing the buttons within Search, try closing the Databases section and turning off the option for Show Errors to enlarge Search without changing other panes within the workspace.
Can I extend my workspace onto two monitors?
Yes. This can be accomplished by clicking and dragging the borders of the main workspace window (or the browser window) to expand or shrink it.
What options can be set within which panes?
Your user preferences can be set at a pane level. Preferences can be chosen by selecting the gear icon or A icon in their respective toolbars.
|
Search History |
Search |
Document Viewer |
Search Results |
Hit Terms |
Help |
Tagged Documents |
Notes Viewer |
|
|
Hit terms |
Yes | No | Yes | Yes | No | No | Yes | No |
|
Images |
No | No | Yes | No | No | No | No | No |
|
Fonts |
Yes | No | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
|
Colors |
Yes | No | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
|
Document Navigation |
No | No | Yes | No | No | No | No | No |
Where do I set my search options?
Patent Public Search’s Advanced Search interface allows you to set options for queries, operators, and search databases. To change the search options, you can make changes for specific searches settings, such as Databases and Default Operator from Search.
What are the options for making changes in highlighted terms?
Changes to the highlighted search terms are available from the text Document Viewer. The search terms are highlighted above the text of the document. They can either be a single color (default in Quick Search or multi-color (default in Enhanced Search).
If you wish to turn off the highlighting of a particular search term because it is a term that is less critical to see in the text, clicking on the highlighted term above the text of the document will turn off the highlighting for that term.
Image
In the above example the search term, club is no longer highlighted within the text of the document. Using the button to the right, Highlights will display all the highlighted terms with a box displaying the color of the highlight. Clicking in this box allows you to change the color of the highlight.
What display options are available for images in the Document Viewer?
To increase or decrease the size of the document image in the Document Viewer, use the zoom function dropdown button located in the Document Viewer toolbar. This button looks like a percent sign (%) icon.
Where can I change the text font and size?
You can modify fonts in the workspace within individual panes. To change text font and size, click on the User preferences icon in the toolbar. The User preference window will pop up. In this window, select Fonts to access font preferences.
What are color themes?
A color theme sets the background and text colors for the workspace. To change the color theme, select User preferences, select Colors, and then select Custom Colors. Select your preferred Text Color and Background Color. Some items from your selection of Custom Colors, such as family-filtered groups and fields with links, may be difficult to see. If you run into visibility or contrast problems, try using a different color from the custom colors.
Highlighting
How do I turn off highlights?
By default, highlights for hit terms are turned on. You can turn off highlights for specific hit terms by selecting the term in the Search Results pane or the Document Viewer pane. You can also turn off highlights for all queries by setting Highlights to None in Search Results.
What are multi-colored highlights?
By default, highlights for hit terms are turned on and in the Enhanced Search, are set for multiple colors. Multi-colored highlights assign a color to each hit term found for a query. These colors are system-assigned but you can specify a particular color of one or more terms by selecting the Hit Terms button in Search Results or the Highlights button in the Document Viewer.
How do I change the color of a highlight for a hit term?
To change the color of a highlight for a hit term from the Search Results, select the Hit Terms button. You can then scroll to the desired hit term or use the filter text box to find the desired term. Select the color swatch to open the color selector and pick a new color. Select Search Results to see the change.
To change the color of a highlight for a hit term from the Document Viewer, select the Highlights button to open a Highlights Detail window. You can then scroll to the desired hit term or use the Find Highlight filter text box to find the desired term. Then, select the color swatch to open the color selector and pick a new color. Select the Close button to see the changes in Document Viewer and also reflected in the Search Results.
How do I change the color of a highlight for two or more hit terms?
You may want to change a group of terms to the same highlight color.
To change the color of a highlighted term from the Search Results, select the Hit Terms button to go to Hit Terms. You can then use the filter text box to find the desired term and its variations. Next, select the color swatch and select a new color. All the terms displayed will be changed to this single color. To see all the hit terms, clear the filter field. Select the Close button to see the changes in the Search Results.
To change the color of a highlighted term from the Document Viewer, select the Highlights button to open a Highlights Detail window. You can then use the Find Highlight search box to find the desired term and its variations. Next, select Apply this Color to hit terms below from the color swatch and select a new color. All the terms displayed will be changed to this single color. Select the Close button to see the changes in the Document Viewer, which are also reflected in the Search Results.
What does toggle visibility mean?
In the Document Viewer Text view, select the Highlights button to open a Highlights Details window which has a checkbox labeled Toggle Filtered Terms. This checkbox allows you to turn off or on the highlights for all of the terms listed. You can filter the list and then toggle visibility for just the terms listed. Use this option to quickly turn on or off highlighting for multiple hit terms at once.
I want to turn off highlights for a search query, but want to avoid updating my user preferences for each search. How do I do that?
Highlights can be turned off for a specific search query, overriding the default preferences. To do so, in Search enter the search criteria and go to the Highlights option to change the setting to None. When the search is performed, none of the terms will be highlighted. To return to the default setting, select the Clear button in Search. Remember that the Clear button will restore all your default search settings, so if you change other options, these will also be reset.
Keyboard shortcuts
What are the keyboard shortcuts being used in Patent Public Search?
Patent Public Search has most of the keyboard shortcuts of prior search systems, however they are modified to address advanced functionality in a search. Please see the Navigation with numeric keypad quick reference guide.
Managing workspaces
How do I start a new workspace?
To create a new workspace, select the New button. Data in all of your panes will be cleared and will not be recoverable. However, the locations and user preferences of each pane will remain unchanged.
How do I save a workspace?
Currently this feature is unavailable. However, you can click the Print icon in Search History, Search Results, Document Viewer, Tagged Documents, and Note Viewer to print your work history.
Does the workspace time out?
The Patent Public Search workspace will time out after a period of 30 minutes of inactivity. A pop-up window reminds the searcher two minutes prior to time-out.
Search
How do I create a search query?
Locate the Search pane in the main workspace. In Search, enter the desired search terms in the Search pane. Select the Search button to execute a search.
Where can I get information on search syntax?
To find more information on search syntax, use the Help gadget. Help contains information on wildcards, Boolean searches, proximity operators, field specific searches, and sorting by relevance, as well as User Interface (UI) controls and stop words.
Does Patent Public Search use semantic searching?
Unlike third party proprietary patent search databases, Patent Public Search does not use semantic searching. However, a user may sort search results by relevancy.
How can I search patents by classification?
Visit the Learn about Patent Classification page at USPTO.gov for more information about patent classification. If you are using a Cooperative Patent Classification (CPC) number in your search, you will need to search without spaces. For instance, a search for A45B 19/04 (umbrellas with telescopic sticks) using the field code for CPC classification would look like:
A45B19/04.cpc.
Note that the period before and after the field code is important for an accurate field search. See “Search Overview” in the Quick Reference Guides section of the Training Materials page to see other search possibilities.
How do I turn off showing errors in search queries?
The option to Show Errors is on by default. If you want to turn off Show Errors in Search pane for the current search query, deselect the Show Errors checkbox next to the Highlights option. Selecting the Clear button will clear the search textbox and will reset the Show Errors checkbox.
What does the option for Plurals do?
When the option for Plurals is turned on, a search will return hits which include plurals for each term. For example, a search for "widget" returns documents with "widget" or "widgets", or a search for "company" returns documents with "company" or "companies". Plurals can be turned on/off for an individual query at the bottom of Search by selecting the checkbox.
What does the option for British Equivalents do?
When the British Equivalents option is turned on, the search will also return hits for any different British spellings in search results. For example, a search for "color" returns documents with "colour" as well. British Equivalents can be turned on or off for an individual query at the bottom of Search by checking the checkbox.
How do I see more of my search query?
You can make more room to view your search query by the following methods:
- Minimize the Databases section and the Options section.
- Uncheck Show Errors.
- Resize the panel containing Search.
- In Search layout, minimize the Search Results pane using the down arrow between the Search pane and Search Results pane.
What is the coverage of patent documents that can be accessed with Patent Public Search?
Patent Public Search provides patent documents from three sources:
USPAT (granted U.S. patents) comprised of granted U.S. patents containing full text of most patents issued from 1971 to present, and limited information for U.S. patents back to 1790 including patent number, date, and classification.
US-PGPUB (U.S. pre-grant published patent applications) comprised of full text searchable U.S. Pre-Grant published patent applications from its inception in March 2001 to present.
USOCR (granted U.S. patents scanned using optical character recognition) comprised of U.S. patents dated from 1836 through 2000 that were scanned using optical character recognition and support limited field-specific text searching. This database also contains patent documents dated before 1836 and back to 1790 but have limited information such as patent number to search on.
All three sources allow searches of U.S. patents and/or published applications by classification, patent number, publication date/year and published patent application number (if applicable).
At this time, Patent Public Search does not have access to foreign patent databases.
A full list of searchable indexes can be found in the References section of the Training Materials page.
Where can I find additional resources for searching patents?
The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) provides additional resources for patent searchers on the Search for patents page at USPTO.gov. These resources include a web-based tutorial, links to patent search databases available through USPTO and other intellectual property offices, and USPTO tools that can be used for furthering your patent research.
Search history
What does the Search History contain?
The Search History pane includes a list of previously run searches for the workspace. This information includes a unique identifier (L number), the number of results found, the query text, databases searched, operator, search options, and the date and time of the search. You can select the L number to add the unique identifier to the search text box in order to create a new query, or you can rerun the search immediately by selecting the underlined text in the query column. You can also delete search results and restore them from the trash or print the current search results, resize the text, and run a text search within the Search History. As with all panes in the application, the columns can be shown or hidden, reordered, resized, and sorted.
What does the L number represent?
The L number represents previously executed (Prior Art) search queries.
Can I rerun my search queries?
Yes. To rerun a search query immediately, you can select the L number to add the search query (identified by its unique identifier) to the search text box, or select the underlined text in the query column in order to create a new query.
When you select the L number in the search text box, it will expand to display the full query.
How do I print my Search History results?
To print your search history, select the Print icon in Search History. You can select any search queries you want to print.
What does the Find Within text box do?
You can search for additional keywords within Search History to find searches where the keywords are present.
Can I restore my queries from the trash?
Yes. To restore search queries:
- Find the desired item in the Trash section of Search History.
- Select the Restore from Trash icon in the Actions column for the search query.
- The restored items display in the Prior Art section of the Search History.
Note: After search queries have been deleted from the Trash section of Search History by selecting the Permanently Delete icon, the permanently deleted search queries cannot be recovered.
Can I move and sort my column headers?
Yes. You can move the columns by dragging a column to another column position. To sort the column headers, select the header to present the metadata information in ascending or descending order.
Search results
What can I see in Search Results?
Search Results panel lists the documents found for a search query. The Search Results header displays sorting options, highlights, document counts, and metadata for the listed documents. The Settings button presents a drop-down menu allowing you to turn off and on metadata information for the listed documents.
Where do I see the number of documents in search results?
The number of documents for a search query displays in the dark grey bar in Search Results next to the search query identifier (L number). Search results are grouped by Family ID. The number of families for each search query is shown in parentheses in the dark grey bar.
Can I set the number of search results per page?
No. Search results will list 500 documents at a time. To view documents over 500, scroll down to the last document, the system will auto load the next 500 documents. Continue to do this until all documents in the search results are viewable.
How are documents in Advanced Search sorted by relevance?
The search engine first uses a Boolean model to return only those documents which match the user’s query. The search results returned are ranked and sorted by relevancy score, with documents having the highest scores appearing at the top of the results. The relevancy score for each document returned in the result uses a statistical approach called TF-IDF (Term Frequency and Inverted Document Frequency) based on the terms in the query. If the term frequency is higher in one document than another, that document is considered to be more relevant to the query. The IDF for a query term is high when the term is rare and therefore a more relevant term for the query. The IDF for a query term is low if the term is a common term occurring in a large number of documents across the collection.
Documents in the Search Results list will only be sorted by relevance if the searcher clicks on the Relevancy column heading in Search Results twice—once to sort from least relevant to most relevant, once again to sort from most relevant to least relevant.
How do I open a document to view its content?
To view a document, double-click anywhere on its row in the search results pane. The document will be displayed in the text and/or image mode in the Document Viewer.
How do I tag one or more documents?
To tag relevant documents, select one of the numbered columns and check the checkbox. This will now represent that the document is part of a tag group. There are 26 tag groups in Patent Public Search. You can also use keyboard shortcuts using the Numpad (Numeric Keypad) to tag a document for tag groups 1 through 26. Once a document is tagged, it can be untagged or moved between tag groups. You can go to Settings to show additional tag group columns.
Keyboard shortcuts for tagging are:
- * on the Numpad: Selects document for tag group 1
- Ctrl + * on the Numpad: Removes document from tag group 1
- Alt+Numpad: Selects document for tag groups 1 through 9.
- Ctrl+Numpad: Removes document from tag groups 1 through 9.
- Alt+Numpad 0: Tags document to tag group 10.
- Ctrl+Numpad 0: Removes tag document from tag group 10.
- A-Z: Selects the document for tag group for tag groups 1 through 26
How do I print documents in Search Results?
Select the Print icon to print a documents list from the Search Results. You can select one or more documents to print. The Print icon will open a Print Search Results window allowing you to further specify settings for printing the document.
Can I reorder, resize, and sort my columns?
Yes. You can reorder columns by dragging a column heading to another position. To resize a column, move the cursor to the right of the column header until the cursor changes to double bars with arrows (similar to Excel) and then select and drag the column width to the desired size. To sort the column headers, select the header to ascend or descend the metadata information.
How do I show and hide my columns?
To toggle between showing and hiding metadata information in the Search Results, go to the Settings button and select a metadata item to show or hide in a column of the Search Results. In addition, you can use the + in the columns headers or right click on the column headers to toggle the metadata items between showing or hiding columns in the Search Results.
Where do I go to modify and view all Hit Term results?
To modify and view all hit terms, select the Hit Terms button or select the Hit Terms tab. Hit Terms displays all hit terms with hit counts and highlight colors. You can modify a single term color or a color for a group of hit terms or deselect the Visible checkbox to hide selected highlights.
Is it possible to export my search results?
You may print selected patent documents or you may copy columns to a spreadsheet but there is not a simplified export button at this time. See the “Search Results” in the Quick reference guides section of the Training Materials page for instructions.
Is it possible to import a list of patent documents to search?
Importing documents or a list of patent numbers is not available at this time, but you can copy and paste patent numbers/publication numbers into the Advanced Search interface’s Search pane with a space between each number. Then select the PN button to execute the search.
What do the +1, +2 buttons represent in the Search Results?
The + column displays the number of documents sharing the same Family ID. When the +1 or +2 button is selected, the additional U.S. family member documents display below the preferred document and the + symbol changes to a - symbol. Selecting the button when it is a - symbol hides the related documents and changes the symbol back to a + symbol.
What is the Find Within field in Search Results?
The Find Within field allows you to search for any words or characters within the metadata of the Search Results.
Tagged documents
How do I tag documents?
In the Search Results or the Document Viewer, the first five tag groups (1-5) are visible by default, and the remaining tag groups can be added from the Settings metadata toggle. You can tag the document by selecting the checkbox for the desired tag, or by using the keyboard’s Numpad (numeric keypad). Keyboard shortcuts are:
- * on the Numpad: Selects document for tag group 1.
- Ctrl + * on the Numpad: Removes document from tag group 1
- Alt+Numpad: Selects document for tag group for tag groups 1 through 9.
- Ctrl+Numpad: Removes document from tag groups 1 through 9.
- Alt+Numpad 0: Tags document to tag group 10.
- Ctrl+Numpad 0: Removes tag document from tag group 10.
- A-Z: Selects the document for tag groups 1 through 26
How do I view Tagged Documents?
Tagged Documents gadget displays all tagged documents within the workspace.
How can I customize the information displayed in Tagged Documents?
The data for all views can be toggled on or off from the Settings metadata toggle. Columns can also be turned on using the + icon on the far right of the header.
Can I add comments or notes to a tag group?
Currently this feature is unavailable.
In Tagged Documents, how can I sort the tagged documents that are displayed?
You can double click on a column head to sort documents in ascending or descending order by the column.
How do I search on just the documents I have tagged?
You can select the Create L# for All Tag button at the top of the Tagged Documents to execute a search containing all tagged documents from all tag groups.
Can I print a subset of the tagged documents?
You can print all of the tagged documents using the Print icon in the toolbar. You can select specific rows from different tag groups using the checkboxes on the left under "Actions". You can print selected rows using the Print icon on the Tagged Documents toolbar.
How do I remove documents I have tagged?
In order to remove tags from all documents, you can use the Remove All Tags button on Tagged Documents. You can select the trash can icon in each row to remove specific documents. You can also uncheck the columns for tag groups to remove that document. Alternatively, tags can be removed in the Search Results by unchecking the tag checkboxes for the desired tags.
Technical concerns
Why does my layout look different in various browsers?
Patent Public Search is designed to work with Chromium based browsers and thus you may experience display issues when using other browsers.
Is there a minimum screen size needed to utilize Patent Public Search Advanced Search interface? (Specifically, can it run in Chrome on a mobile device with a smaller screen size such as a tablet or smart phone)
Currently Patent Public Search's Advanced Search interface does not support smaller screen sizes of mobile devices and tablets. The Basic Search interface supports smaller screen sizes of mobile devices and tablets.