Patents & Trademarks
 Patent and Trademark Depository Library Program Information
A Partnership with the United States Patent and
Trademark Office
Atkins Library is a member of
the Patent and Trademark Depository Library. As
a Patent and Trademark Depository Library, Atkins Library has been designated by
the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office to receive and house copies of U.S. patents
and patent and trademark materials, to make these materials freely available to
the public, and to actively disseminate patent and trademark information.
Atkins Library is only one of two libraries with this designation in North
Carolina and is the only depository library in western North Carolina. The
program is designed to facilitate the needs of individual inventors as well as
business and community interests.
Preliminary Search for Patents
All U.S. patents are assigned to a classification and subclassification by the
patent examiners
at the
U. S. Patent and Trademark Office. Finding the correct U.S. classification/subclassification is a
key to starting a successful patent search. The most intuitive search tool available for patents is GOOGLE PATENTS. (www.google.com/patents).
You can search by keyword, inventor, etc., and download
full patents, including drawings, in PDF (Adobe Acrobat) files. From here you
can narrow down to the U.S. classification/subclassification that may include
your invention. A Help page is available to
understand patent search
results from Google.
Basic Information on Patents
Types of patents
- Utility patents - New and useful process, machine, article of
manufacture, or composition of matter, or any new and useful improvement
thereof. A utility patent lasts 20 years.
- Design patents - New, original, and ornamental design for an article of
manufacture. A design patent lasts 14 years.
- Plant patents - Invention or discovery and asexually reproduction of any
distinct and new variety of plant.
Utility patents consist of the following information:
- The patent number assigned by the USPTO
- The date the patent was issued
- The name of the patent
- The name and city of the inventor
- The name and city of anyone the inventor has assigned the patent
(assignee)
- The patent application number
- The date the application was filed
- The international classification number/subnumber for the patent
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- The U.S. classification/subclassification numbers (very important for
search!)
- Fields of search
- Previous patents cited
- The names of the USPTO examiner and assistant examiner
- The inventor's attorney, agent, or firm
- An abstract (brief description of the patented item or process)
- Detailed drawings of the patented item or process (including flowcharts)
- A detailed description (background of the invention, summary of the
invention, brief description of the drawings, and a detailed description of
the drawings)
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Complete patent
information is available at the U. S. Patent and Trademark Office Web site at
http://www.uspto.gov
Trademarks
A trademark is a word, name, symbol, or device that is used in trade with
goods to indicate the source of the goods and to distinguish them from the goods
of others. A servicemark is the same as a trademark except that it identifies
and distinguishes the source of a service rather than a product. The terms
"trademark" and "mark" are commonly used to refer to both trademarks and
servicemarks.
Trademarks consist of the following:
- A drawing of the trademark
- A word mark
- Description of the goods or services that are covered by the trademark
- Mark drawing code
- Design search code
- Serial number
- Filing date
- Current filing basis
- Original filing basis
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- Publication date for opposition
- Owner
- Attorney of record
- Prior registrations
- Description of mark
- Type of mark (trademark or service mark)
- Register
- Other data
- Live/dead indicator (is the trademark still current)
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Preliminary Search for Trademarks
The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office Web site includes
TESS (Trademark
Electronic Search System), a database to search for trademarks and service
marks.
Making an Appointment
Contact Jeanie M. Welch, Business Reference Librarian, at 704-687-2747 or
email:
jmwelch@uncc.edu for an appointment
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