Selected Internet Resources - Inventions

Unless otherwise noted, the sites listed in this directory are provided by organizations other than the Library of Congress. These links are being offered as a convenience and for informational purposes only; they do not constitute an endorsement or an approval by the Library of Congress of any of the products, services, or opinions of the corporation, organization or individual. The Library of Congress bears no responsibility for the accuracy, legality, or content of the external site or for that of subsequent links. Contact the external site for answers to questions regarding its content.

GOVERNMENT SITES | INSTITUTIONS | OTHER

GOVERNMENT SITES

U.S. Patent and Trademark Office
   URL: http://www.uspto.gov
   The USPTO site has searchable databases for patent and trademark information, for the last 20 years. Also information on registration of Internet domain names.

INSTITUTIONS

African American Inventors: Louisiana State University Libraries
   URL: http://www.princeton.edu/~mcbrown/display/profession/i2.html#Inventors
   This site offers images and biographical information, most with bibliographies. It includes a useful section on historical inventors and on African American women inventors.

Exploring Leonardo - Museum of Science, Boston
   URL: http://www.mos.org/sln/Leonardo/
   Focusing on Leonardo da Vinci, this is a useful site for teachers and students in grades 4-8. Areas covered include a helpful section on the elements of machines, (the lever, gears), and a discussion of perspective.

Inventure Place, National Inventors Hall of Fame (USPTO)
   URL: http://www.invent.org
   The inventors Hall of Fame is searchable for biographical material on American inventors; entries inlcude an image of the inventor and patent numbers. There is also information on the actual museum in Akron, Ohio, and on invention camps and other programs.

The Lemelson Center for the Study of Invention and Innovation
   URL: http://www.si.edu/lemelson
   This Smithsonian site provides exhibits, programs, educational outreach, references on the history of invention, and links to other websites

MIT Invention Dimension
   URL: http://web.mit.edu/invent/
   This site provides links to many R&D sites, and other resources for inventors. There is a searchable archive of American inventors, with fairly substantial biographical information.

Spotlight: Biography: Invention (Smithsonian Institution)
   URL: http://educate.si.edu/spotlight/inventors1.html
   Limited to a small number of well known American inventors, including Franklin, Jefferson, Howe, Fulton, Morse, Whitney and Bell. The text is generally short, but often hyperlinked to high quality images of the inventions.

OTHER

Inventors Online Museum (The Alliance for American Innovation)
   URL: http://www.inventorsmuseum.com/
   This virtual museum has "rooms" for colonial invention, women, transportation, space, communications, and etc.

InventNET: Inventors Network
   URL: http://www.inventnet.com
   This site hosts a forum for inventors and offers a great selection of related links and resources in all areas of interest to inventors.

Chemical Patents Plus
   URL: http://casweb.cas.org/
   Registration is required, but searching and display of titles and abstracts for chemical patents is free; additional information is available for a fee. Coverage from 1975.

Delphion Research Intellectual Property Network
   URL: http://www.delphion.com/
   "A premier site for searching, viewing, and analyzing patent collections worldwide."