Most sources of information on the Internet permit the user to access and download the information at no charge. These articles, which cover a wide variety of intellectual property subjects, are identified by author, title, and date of publication. Patents can be accessed by patent number or through text searching that, apart from subject matter, permits access on the basis of the name of the inventor, the name of assignee, title of the patent, the name of the patent attorney or agent who handled the case, abstract, or claims or combinations thereof. Detailed instructions are contained within the database. It provides patent searching capabilities in the same categories as the IBM database and access to the classification manual that provides the technical breakdown identify ing what classes cover what technical subject matter.
Patents are also accessible by classes.
The site provides news updates, access to order copies of patents, and details regarding Patent and Trademark Office fees. One may also obtain access to U.S. patent and trademark laws and rules of practice, as well as the examining procedures employed by patent and trademark examiners. Other features include cross references to other web sites that are linked to provide direct access by merely clicking on the site of interest. Other U.S. government web sites and intellectual property offices in many countries outside of the United States may be accessed in this manner. There is also information regarding various treaties with other countries and information regarding related Internet resources dealing with copyright subjects.