Patent

This second edition provides a systematic introduction to the work and views of the emerging patent-search research and innovation communities as well as an overview of what has been achieved and, perhaps even more importantly, of what remains to be achieved. It revises many of the contributions of the first edition and adds a significant number of new ones.

This 2009 edition of the OECD Patent Statistics Manual takes stock of the recent developments in the field. It provides guiding principles for the use of patent data in the context of S&T measurement, and recommendations for the compilation and interpretation of patent indicators in this context.

International in scope, Patent Fundamentals for Scientists and Engineers, Second Edition provides a clear explanation of the patent system and patent principles. Designed for non-lawyers, this book includes information on the patenting process, obtaining patent protection, and how to recognize patentable inventions and avoid legal problems of infringement.

Patent laws are different in many countries, and inventors are sometimes at a loss to understand which basic requirements should be satisfied if an invention is to be granted a patent. This is particularly true for inventions implemented on a computer. While roughly a third of all applications (and granted patents) relate, in one way or another, to a computer, applications where the innovation mainly resides in software or in a business method are treated differently by the major patent offices in the US (USPTO), Japan (JPO) and Europe (EPO).

Patent Grabber makes it easy to download U.S. patents EP patents and published applications, and PCT published applications for free from public patent archives.