Improved Patent Searching at the EPO

Link: The European Patent Office (EPO) has released Version 3 of their patent searching website, esp@cenet. The new version is more user-friendly and had improved field-searching.

Version 3 is the culmination of a long process aimed at developing a new improved user interface for the esp@cenet service. During this time, we have consulted extensively with both current and potential users of esp@cenet, as well as specialists in the area of human computer interaction, in order to improve the usability of the service, with particular attention being paid to the needs of the non-specialist user.

According to David Orange at the University of Washington, the site provides “a title-abstract keyword search, along with various number options, [such as] applicant, inventor etc. You can retrieve PDFs of US patents (and published applications), [and patent documents from] WIPO, Japan, EPO, Great Britain, France and Germany.”

Finally, an on-line forum is provided for discussing search techniques.