Finding and Using Patents at University of Illinois Library

To make this module more meaningful, open the link below in a new window. It will take you to an image of a patent that will allow you to identify the labeled parts of the patent as you read. 

The cover sheet contains the identifying information for the patent. This includes identifying numbers, classification codes, identifying information on the applicant, and citations. The numbers used on the cover page are specified by the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) as part of a list of Internationally Agreed Numbers for the Identification of Bibliographic Data (INID). The following fields describe the patent linked in the first box. 

Field 12 - Identifies the jurisdiction that the patent is issued in

Field 10 - Patent number - A unique identifier assigned to the patent 

Field 45 - Date the patent was granted

Field 54 - Title of the patent - The language describes the technical innovation focused on by the patent. 

Field 71 - Applicant - Name and city of the applicant

Field 72 - Inventor - Name and city of the inventor

Field 73 - Assignee - Name and location of the rights holder at the time that the patent is granted

Field 21 - Application Number - Applications are numbered separately. This field documents the related applications to the granted patent. 

Field 22 - Filing date - The date that the application was submitted.

Field 65  - Prior publication date - Specifies any previous publications related to the application listed in Field 21

Field 60 - Provisional application - Number and date of any provisional application associated with the grant

Field 51 - International classification using the IPC. One of multiple classification fields used to facilitate patent searching across countries

Field 52 - US classification - Uses the Cooperative Patent Classification schema. 

Field 58 - Field of classification search - Identifies the classifications that were searched by the patent examiner during the patent process. 

Field 56 - References cited - Any prior art cited by applicant and examiner during the granting process.

Field 74 - Attorney, Agent or Firm - Any legal representation employed by the patent applicant.

Field 57 - Abstract - A brief overview of the technical innovations described in the patent. 

Content description - Describes the contents in terms of number of technical drawings and number of pages of description

The technical drawings in patents are very precisely drawn to guidelines articulated by the USPTO. Drawings must depict all innovations detailed in the patent description. 

The description details the technical innovation in prose. Common sections include:

• Application numbers. 
• Background section that describes the need for the innovation. 
• Summary briefly describes the innovation. 
• Description of Drawings that describes the technical documents in prose. 
• Detailed description that describes all aspects of the innovation and technical specifications. 
• Claims - This section distinguishes the patent from the prior art. The claims are the most important part of the patent. This is the basis of any potential infringement cases.