The full text of US Patents are available on the Web from the US Patents and Trade Mark Office. They are available from 1976 to the most recent weekly issue date. As well as full specifications it also includes interesting information on the background of the Yo-Yo as a children's toy. The full text database is fairly new and as yet does not include all the graphics if there are any in the patent. Hopefully, from March 99 images and graphics will also be included.
Problems arise because of the different ways an article from a conference is referenced.
It may be referenced by quoting the Conference Name, Venue and Date of actual Conference. However, not all conferences end up as a hard copy publication, and if they do, sometimes, only selected papers are included in the final publication. To add to this, a conference may not be published until 6 months to a year later and with a slightly different title. The British Library require the full publishing details and frequently refer requests back for this information to be added. There are several ways of verifying conference details.