Espacenet offers free access to more than 90 million patent documents worldwide, containing information about inventions and technical developments from 1836 to today. Most of them are patent applications rather than granted patents. Patent applications normally represent the first publication of a new idea, appearing ahead of journal articles and before new products reach the market. Espacenet also includes patent family information, legal status information, references, - citations and links to the European Patent Register and to selected national patent registers