Availability of patent databases and patent document delivery services on the Internet.

Abstract

This study reviews five free patent databases and eight patent document delivery services on the Internet and discusses their impact on patent libraries with special reference to the National Patent Information Centre (NPIC). The free patent databases covered were the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO), the European Patent Office (EPO), the Japanese Patent Office (JPO), the Canadian Intellectual Property Office (CIPO), and the IBM Intellectual Property Network (IPN).