Patent Full-Text Tips on Fielded Searching

Tips on Fielded Searching

This page contains tips on the use of fields in your searches. If, after reading this page, you have any unanswered questions, please read the FAQ.

Patents are divided into many fields, such as inventor name. By narrowing your search so that a document is only counted as a 'Hit' if the term you are searching for occurs in the field you specified, you can greatly decrease the likelihood of having extraneous patents returned.

Please remember that this database, like most full-text search resources, conducts searches based only on alpha-numeric characters; that is, letters and numbers. Punctuation and other symbols (e.g., periods, commas, hyphens, slashes, colons, semi-colons,ampersands, asterisks, etc.) in the original text are not searchable in this database and should not generally be used in constructing search terms. Characters other than letters and numbers should only be used for purposes described in these help files, to convey meanings specific to this search engine and database, such as right-truncation "wildcards" and date constructs.

There is a maximum length limitation to searches. This length is the length of the fully-expanded search after query parsing. This fully-expanded query is not what is shown at the top of the hit-list or error/status page, but can be estimated by looking at a resulting hit-list link using your browser's Right-click-Properties capability. Queries which fully expand to lengths of more than 256 characters are not supported, may not work at all, and may not return valid results even if they do appear to have worked.

The following is a list of all the searchable fields, followed by information about each one's contents and tips on their use.

Abstract (ABST): This field contains a brief summary of the patented invention.

TIP: The abstract contains many of the relevant words of a patent.

Application Date (APD)

This field contains the date when a complete application was received by the US Patent and Trademark Office, following receipt of all filing material requirements.

TIP: You can use one of three formats to search in any of the date fields :

<four digit year><two digit month><two digit day>. For example, use 19960103 to retrieve documents filed on January 3, 1996.
<Month>-<Day>-<Year>.

Month can be the number of the month, the full name of the month, or an abbreviation (i.e. 1, January or Jan).

Day must be a number between 1 and 31 or a $.

Year must be a four digit year (1996).

Example: Use 1-3-1996, Jan-3-1996 or January-3-1996 to retrieve documents filed on January 3,1996.
<Month>/<Day>/<Year>.

Month can be the number of the month, the full name of the month, or an abbreviation (i.e. 1, January or Jan).

Day must be a number between 1 and 31 or a $.

Year must be a four digit year (1996).

Example: Use 1/3/1996 or Jan/3/1996 to retrieve documents filed on January 3,1996.

You can search for a range of dates using the -> operator.

Example: To search for patents with application dates between January 1, 1995, and Feb 14, 1995, use APD/1/1/1995->2/14/1995.

If you want to search for all documents with application dates in January of 1995, it is simpler and quicker to use APD/1/$/1995 than to use APD/1/1/1995->1/31/1995, though both will return the same results.

Application Serial Number (APN)

This field contains the identification number assigned by the US Patent and Trademark Office to applications which have received a filing date.

TIP: Including commas is optional. Number must be entered as a six digit string with leading zeros, if needed. Series code is not included in this field, so more than one document may be retrieved based on a single serial number.

Example: Searching 000001 will retrieve multiple documents, each having been assigned serial number 1 within different series codes. Series codes are not searchable in this database, but correspond to the following time spans:

Series Codes:

2	Earlier than Jan. 1, 1948
3	Jan.1, 1948 - Dec. 31, 1959
4	Jan. 1, 1960 - Dec. 31, 1969
5	Jan. 1, 1970 - Dec. 31, 1978
6	Jan. 1, 1979 - Dec. 31, 1986
7	Jan. 1, 1987 - Dec. 31, 1992
8	Jan. 1, 1993 - Dec. 31, 1997
9	Jan. 1, 1998 - Dec. 2001
10	Dec. 2001 - Dec. 2004
11	Dec. 2004 -- present
29	Design applications (January 1993 on)

Application Type (APT)

This field contains a single-digit number which indicates the type of patent, as follows:

1 = Utility
2 = Reissue
4 = Design
5 = Defensive Publication
6 = Plant
7 = Statutory Invention Registration; TIP: To limit a search to Design Patents, search "4" in the APT field and AND with other criteria. E.g., APT/4 AND TTL/toy.

Assignee City (AC)

This field contains the city of the patent assignee at the time of patent issue.; TIP: If you are searching for a multiple-term city name, i.e., Los Angeles, on the Advanced Search Page, you must enclose the city name in quotes. This will alert the system to search for the two terms as a phrase. It is not necessary to to use quotes on the Quick Search Page.

Assignee Country (ACN)

This field contains the country of the patent assignee at the time of patent issue.

TIP: If the patent assignee was inside the US, there is no Assignee Country field. Instead, there is an Assignee State (AS) field. Currently, you must search for a country code in this field rather than the full name of the country. See the Country code table for a list of country codes.

Assignee Name (AN)

This field contains the name of the individual or entity to whom ownership of the patent was assigned at the time of patent issue.

TIP: If the assignee was a person, and you want to search for the full name, you should format your query as follows: last name-first name-initial. Using the Quick Search Page to search for an assignee named John E. Doe, you should enter Doe-John-E in the Term 1 text entry box and select the Assignee Name field from the drop-down menu. Using the Advanced Search Page, to search for a patent assigned to John E. Doe, enter AN/Doe-John-E in the Query box. If you are unsure of the exact name, you can truncate in the following ways: Doe-$ or Doe-John$ or Doe-J$. If the assignee was a company, and you were not sure of the exact name, you could truncate on a portion of the name.

Assignee State (AS)

This field contains the US state or territory of the patent assignee at the time of patent issue.

TIP: This refers to the state within the US If the assignee resides outside the US, there will be an Assignee Country (ACN) field instead of an Assignee State field. Currently, you must search for a state code in this field rather than the full name of the state. See the State code table for a list of state codes.

Assistant Examiner (EXA)

This field contains the name of the assistant examiner responsible for examining the patent application.

TIP: As with all other name fields, if you want to search for the full name of the assistant examiner, you should format your query as follows: last name-first name-initial. Using the Quick Search Page to search for an assistant examiner named John E. Doe, you should enter Doe-John-E in the Term 1 text entry box and select the Assistant Examiner field from the drop-down menu. Using the Advanced Search Page to search for an assistant examiner named John E. Doe, you should enter EXA/Doe-John-E in the Query box. If you are unsure of the exact name, you can truncate in the following ways: Doe-$ or Doe-John$ or Doe-J$. To search for the name as either an assistant examiner or primary examiner, you should submit your query as follows: Doe-John-E in the Term 1 text entry box, specify the Assistant Examiner field from the Field 1 menu , enter Doe-John-E in the Term 2 text entry box, specify the Primary Examiner field from the Field 2 menu, and select the OR operator.

Attorney or Agent (LREP)

This field contains the name of the legal representative of the patent applicant.

TIP: The Attorney or Agent field is searched differently than other name fields. To search for a full name, you should format your query as a phrase, enclosed in quotation marks and without dashes: "last name first name initial." Using the Quick Search Page to search for an attorney or agent named John E. Doe, you should enter "Doe John E" in the Term 1 text entry box and select the Attorney or Agent field from the drop-down menu. Using the Advanced Search Page, to search for an attorney or agent named John E. Doe, enter LREP/"Doe John E" in the Query box.

Note that you cannot truncate within a phrase enclosed in quotes.

Claim(s) (ACLM)

This field contains the text of the patent claims. Claims point out and distinctly claim the subject matter which the applicant regards as the invention and define the scope of the patent protection.

TIP: Claims from both utility and design patents are included.

Description/Specification (SPEC)

This field contains the patent description, including a brief summary and background of the invention, the detailed description, and a brief description of the drawing, if applicable.

Foreign Priority (PRIR)

This field contains data indicating in which foreign country an application claims priority.

Foreign References (FREF)

This field contains foreign patents cited as references.

Government Interest (GOVT)

This field contains data describing the US Government's Interest in the patent.

International Classification (ICL)

This field contains the International Classification(s) to which the patent has been assigned.

TIP: To search for International Classification G06F 19/00, you must enter the classification with a zero ("0") in place of the space -- i.e., without any embedded spaces -- as follows: ICL/G06F019/00. Formatting your search in this field in any other way will result in an error.

Inventor City (IC)

This field contains the city of residence of the inventor at the time of patent issue.; TIP: If you are searching for a multiple-term city name, i.e., Los Angeles, on the Advanced Search Page, you must enclose the city name in quotes. This will alert the system to search for the two terms as a phrase. It is not necessary to use quotes on the Quick Search Page.

Inventor Country (ICN)

This field contains the country of residence of the inventor at the time of patent issue.

TIP: If the inventor resides in the US, there is no Inventor Country field. Instead, there is an Inventor State (IS) field. Currently, you must search for a country code in this field rather than the full name of the country. See the Country code table for a list of country codes.

Inventor Name (IN)

Definition: The inventor(s) of patented item.

Tips: As with all other name fields, if you want to search for the full name, you should format your query as follows: last name-first name-initial. Using the Quick Search Page to search for an attorney named John E. Doe, you should enter Doe-John-E in the Term 1 text entry box and select the Inventor Name field from the drop-down menu. Using the Advanced Search Page, to search for an inventor named John E. Doe, enter IN/Doe-John-E in the Query box. If you are unsure of the exact name, you can truncate in the following ways: Doe-$ or Doe-John$ or Doe-J$.

Inventor State (IS)

This field contains the US state of residence of the inventor at the time of patent issue.

TIP: If the inventor resides outside the US, there is no Inventor State field. Instead, there is an Inventor Country (ICN) field. Currently, you must search for a state code in this field rather than the full name of the state. See the State code table for a list of state codes.

Issue Date (ISD)

This field contains the date the patent was officially issued by the US Patent and Trademark Office.

TIP: You can use one of three formats to search in any of the date fields :

<four digit year><two digit month><two digit day>. For example, use 19960103 to retrieve documents issued on January 3, 1996.
<Month>-<Day>-<Year>.

Month can be the number of the month, the full name of the month, or an abbreviation (i.e. 1, January or Jan).

Day must be a number between 1 and 31 or a $.

Year must be a four digit year (1996).

Example: Use 1-3-1996 or January-3-1996 to retrieve documents issued on January 3, 1996.
<Month>/<Day>/<Year>.

Month can be the number of the month, the full name of the month, or an abbreviation (i.e. 1, January or Jan).

Day must be a number between 1 and 31 or a $.

Year must be a four digit year (1996).

Example: Use 1/3/1996, Jan/3/1996 or January/3/1996 to retrieve documents issued on January 3, 1996.

You can search for a range of dates using the -> operator.

Example: To search for patents with issue dates between January 1, 1995, and Feb 14, 1995, use ISD/1/1/1995->2/14/1995.

If you want to search for all documents with issue dates in January of 1995, it is simpler to use ISD/1/$/1995 than to use ISD/1/1/1995->1/31/1995, though both will return the same results.

Other References (OREF)

This field contains other references cited as prior art, including books, journals, and conference proceedings.

Parent Case Information (PARN)

This field contains data describing prior applications related to the patent. This data appears in the specifications of the patent.

Patent Number (PN)

This field contains the unique number assigned to applications that have issued as patents.

TIP: There are several things to remember about patent number searches:

To search for a particular type of patent, enter 'D' for design patents, 'PP' for plant patents, 'R' for reissue patents, 'T' for defensive publications, 'H' for SIRs, 'X' for the early X-patents, or 'AI' for the early Additional Improvements without the numeric portion of the number.
Non-utility patents have prefixes. For example, design patent #123,456 is actually D123,456. The prefixes are as described in the previous paragraph.
Including commas in patent number is optional.

Note: You must be searching the correct year to retrieve the patent you are looking for. If you are unsure of what year a patent was issued, see the Database Status page to look up the year, or just search all the years at once by selecting the entire range of years in the Select years to search drop-down menu.

PCT Information (PCT)

This field contains PCT Information related to the patent, including PCT Number, PCT 371 Date, PCT 102(e) Date, PCT Filing Date, PCT Publication Number, PCT Publication Date.

Primary Examiner (EXP)

This field contains the name of the primary examiner responsible for examining the patent application.

TIP: Like all other name fields, if you want to search for the full name of the primary examiner, you should format your query as follows: last name-first name-initial. Using the Quick Search Page to search for a primary examiner named John E. Doe, you should enter Doe-John-E in the Term 1 text entry box and select the Primary Examiner field from the drop-down menu. Using the Advanced Search Page to search for a primary examiner named John E. Doe, you should enter EXP/Doe-John-E in the Query box. If you are unsure of the exact name, you can truncate in the following ways: Doe-$ or Doe-John$ or Doe-J$. To search for the name as either an assistant examiner or primary examiner, you should submit your query as follows: Doe-John-Ein the Term 1 text entry box, specify the Assistant Examiner field from the Field 1 menu , enter Doe-John-E in the Term 2 text entry box, specify the Primary Examiner field from the Field 2 menu, and select the OR operator.

Reissue Data (REIS)

This field contains data describing the reissue of a patent, including Application Number, Application Filing Date, Patent Number, Issue Date.

Related US Application Data (RLAP)

This field contains data describing prior applications related to the patent. This data appears on the front page of the patent.

Title (TTL)

This field contains the title of the patent.

Current US Classification (CCL)

This field contains the original and cross-reference classes in which the patent was classified at the time of the most recent PTO Master Classification File.; TIP: If you are searching for a specific class and subclass, you should phrase your query as ccl/class/subclass, for example, ccl/2/5. Some subclasses can contain decimal and alpha modifiers (for example, 427/2.31 or 427/3A).; TIP: If you are searching for the entire contents of a specific class without specifying a particular subclass, you should use right truncation, as in ccl/427/$.

Referenced By (REF)

This is not an actual data field, but is a built-in retrieval tool. Searching in the REF field or clicking on this link in a patent will retrieve a list of other patents which contain this patent number in their full-text. This list will include those other patents which cite the subject patent as prior art on their front pages.

TIP: To search for a document citing a particular patent as prior art, you should search for the patent number in this field. A search for 5096294 in the Referenced By field will retrieve all patents citing patent number 5,096,294 as prior art as well as all other patents containing this patent number.

If you are looking at a patent and would like to see later patents that cite it, click on the 'Referenced By' link to automatically retrieve those patents.