We have images of patents online back to 1790 -- really 1790!

Our website provides full text for patents issued from 1976 to the present and TIFF images for all patents issued since 1790.

You can search on text in all elements (fields) of the patent or select those fields you wish to search only for patents issued since 1976.

You can only search on patent numbers and/or classification codes for the pre-1976 patents. See links at How to Search for links to both the patent and trademark databases as well as for tips on classification-based searches and Patent and Trademark Depository Library locations for local search resources and training.

Patent numbers prior to the Great Patent Fire of 1836 begin with an "X." There are 11,280 so-called "X files." X0000001 is the first patent, issued to Samuel Hopkins. » view Patent X0000001 (TIFF plug-in required)

Open a new window to view a Table of Issue Years and Patent Numbers, for Selected Document Types Issued Since 1836 to help in locating other patents or a simple table of patent numbers available online.

For a brief kids tutorial on patent searching see: Be a Patent Detective.
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***** IMPORTANT NOTE:   If you can view a screen that has a little rectangle with a red square, green circle and blue triangle in it, or if you get a message in your browser saying that some required software cannot be found, then you need to download and install a TIFF image viewer for your browser that works with our TIFF images. *****

The directions for viewing patent images are on the website on the Patent Search page under "How to Access Full-Page Images"

To view the images for any patent you must

(1) download and
(2) run the downloaded executable file to install a TIFF image plug-in that supports G4 compression;
(3) when you get a search result listing the patent number, locate the image button near the top of the screen to launch the viewer.

To access the image database, just click "Search Patents" on the left side of http://www.uspto.gov select a search query type and enter your search criteria or parameters. When the result for a single patent comes back, click on the "Images" button at the top of the page to view the TIFF image. Remember to read the instructions on http://www.uspto.gov/patft/help/images.htm and to download and install the TIFF image viewer plug-in first. Some compatible free TIFF plug-ins can be located via: http://www.uspto.gov/web/menu/plugins/tiff.htm