navigating the patent maze

When you have found a patent document of interest and want to know in which other countries it may have been filed or granted, the information is not always that easy to come by. Short of searching individual patent office databases (assuming that the patent office has one on the internet and in a language you understand), most searchers use the INPADOC database.

INPADOC collates information from over 70 patent offices around the world. The information is mainly bibliometric (e.g., name of inventor, name of assignee or applicant, priority documents, file number), but legal information (e.g., has the patent gone abandoned) is provided from some about 40 of the patent offices.

Until now, there have been very few free or low-cost sites for obtaining the information. And even the pay sites typically do a very poor job at displaying the information in a form that can be comprehended. Now however, there are two free sites, and both do a credible job at display. Check them out:

IP Newsflash: search page. This site is easier to negotiate.
National Informatics Centre in India: search page.