The USPTO site has only U.S. data, yet conducting a thorough search often requires review of foreign patent data as well. The USPTO site can also be very slow at times. The EPO site, while more comprehensive than the USPTO, only searches select fields of many documents. Without a text search capable of searching all fields, it is obvious how a search could miss crucial documents.
Students often do not have room in their budgets for expensive search services. FreePatentsOnline.com is the most complete, full-featured site on the web that provides advanced patent information at no expense. Document collections include U.S. and foreign patents, all fields are searchable, and the site provides portfolios for organizing documents, the ability to comment on and share documents, and the ability to set up alerts for automatic notifications of new patents of interest. For novice patent searchers, the help center also contains a comprehensive tutorial on the topic.
Note that the makers of FreePatentsOnline.com will be launching their own subscription-based site shortly, at www.sumobrain.com. This site will be a cost-effective alternative to other fee-based sites for those who really need the most advanced features.
James Ryley is the president of FreePatentsOnline.com, a patent data and analytics firm. James was responsible for the original design and programming of FreePatentsOnline.com and now directs its development and analytics teams.
Previously with Patent Complete, LLC, a patent-searching firm, James holds a B.S. in Cell Biology and Genetics and a Ph.D. in Molecular Biology and has extensive patent-searching, programming, and data-analysis experience.
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