Query building guidance

To start a quick lookup, enter a single patent or publication number and select the Search button. To start a basic search, select a search field, enter your search term, and select the Search button.

For example, to search for the inventor ‘John Smith,’ select Inventor Name from both of the Basic Search dropdowns. Type ‘John’ in the top text box, select 'AND' from the Operator dropdown, type ‘Smith’ in the bottom text box, and select the Search button.

Formatting rules for searching are as follows:

1. One word per text box
2. If using the Patent/Application Publication number field, add leading zeros:
   • Before Patent Numbers with 6 digits or less to make 7 total digits
     - ex: 123456 should be entered as 0123456
     - ex: 12345 should be entered as 0012345
   • After the year to make 11 total digits for Application Publication numbers:
     - ex: 2021123456 should be entered as 20210123456
3. If using Publication Date, the date format should be YYYYMMDD (e.g. 20221230)