The European Patent Office's extensive list of patent resources with links to individual countries' patent offices, databases, patent providers, and other useful international patent information. Contains information on patenting an idea, doing a patent search and locating the nearest patent depository library for hard copies. United States Patent and Trademark Office produced database of U.S. patents. Free TIFF viewer links. Good for viewing known US patents in PDF format.
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Use the 'View Patent' button at top of screen to see patent. Japanese Patent Office 1993- present. Search the Patents Abstracts of Japan by keyword, publication number, inventor. Includes legal status information. Database search page is in English, but you must use Emperor's year for years prior to 1999.