About Patents

Patents contain descriptive and useful information on inventions not necessarily available anywhere else. You will be searching patents to determine what has been patented, known as Prior Art. Patent literature is also a good way for identifying the appropriate technical terminology used for specific types of inventions, which will help inform your literature searches.

Challenges when searching for patents

• Patents don't describe inventions as they appear in the market. 
• Patents don't include product names.
• Patents are hard to understand.  
• Patents aren't peer-reviewed literature.  

Understanding "Patentese"—A Patent Glossary

Guide to Patent terminology

Albough, N. About Patents Libguide. MIT Libraries

• About Google Patents