U.S. Patents.—The specification and accompanying drawings of all patents are published on the day they are granted and printed copies are sold to the public by the Patent and Trademark Office. Over 6,000,000 patents have been issued.
Printed copies of any patent, identified by its patent number, may be purchased from the Patent and Trademark Office. Current fee schedule is available by calling the PTO General Information Services at 1–800–786–9199 or 703–308–4357 or by accessing PTO’s Web site at http://www.uspto.gov.
Future patents classified in subclasses containing subject matter of interest may be obtained, as they issue, by prepayment of a deposit and a service charge. For the cost of such subscription service, a separate inquiry should be sent to the Patent and Trademark Office.
Official Gazette of the United States Patent and Trademark Office.—The Official Gazette of the United States Patent and Trademark Office is the official journal relating to patents and trademarks. It has been published weekly since January 1872 (replacing the old “Patent Office Reports”), and is now issued each Tuesday in two parts, one describing patents and the other trademarks. It contains a claim and a selected figure of the drawings of each patent granted on that day; notices of patent and trademark lawsuits; indexes of patents and patentees; list of patents available for license or sale; a list of Patent and Trademark Depository Libraries (PTDLs); and much general information such as orders, notices, changes in rules, changes in classification, etc. The Official Gazette is sold on subscription and by single copies by the Superintendent of Documents, U.S. Government Printing Office, Washington, D.C. 20402.
The illustrations and claims of the patents are arranged in the Official Gazette according to the Patent and Trademark Office classification of subject matter, permitting ready reference to patents in any particular technology. Copies of the Official Gazette are available in the PTDLs and public libraries of other cities.
Index of Patents.—A two-part publication which summarizes for a given calendar year the classification and inventor/assignee information at the time of issue for utility, Design, Reissue, and Plant Patents; Reexamination Certificates, and Statutory Invention Registrations published weekly in the Official Gazette. Part I, List of Patentees comprises an alphabetical listing of every patentee and assignee recorded at the time the patent document was issued. Part II, Index to Subjects of Inventions comprises a listing of all patents for the year according to U.S. Patent Classification class and subclass designation at the time the patent document was issued—it is not an index of subjects, per se. Sold by the Superintendent of Documents.
Index of Trademarks.—An annual index of registrants of trademarks. Sold by the Superintendent of Documents.
Index to the U.S. Patent Classification System.—An alphabetical list of approximately 65,000 common, informal headings or terms which refer to specific classes and subclasses in the Manual of Classification used to categorize patents. It is intended as a means for initial entry into the Classification System and should be especially useful for persons not familiar with the system as well as those who may not be familiar with any particular technology under study. Sold by the Superintendent of Documents.
Manual of Classification.—A loose-leaf manual containing a list of all the classes and subclasses of inventions in the Patent and Trademark Office classification systems, a subject matter index, and other information relating to U.S. patent classification system. Each subclass has a short, descriptive title often arranged in a specific hierarchical order designated by dots for indentation levels. Substitute pages are issued from time to time. Annual subscription includes the basic manual and substitute pages. Sold by the Superintendent of Documents.
Classification Definitions.—Gives a detailed definition for each class and official subclass included in the Manual of Classification. The definitions indicate the subject matter to be found in or excluded from a class or subclass; they limit or expand in precise manner the meaning intended for each subclass title; they serve as a guide to users of the Manual of Classification to refer to the same subclass for patents on a particular technology by eliminating, as much as possible, subjective and varying interpretations of the meanings of subclass titles. The “notes” illustrate the kinds of information that can be found in a subclass and direct the searcher to other related subclasses which may contain relevant information. Subscription service consists of a basic full set of definitions and semiannual sets of updated definitions for an indeterminate period. Sold by the Superintendent of Documents.