Patents
What are patent documents?
Patent documents are published by national, regional or international Patent Offices. Patent documents contain information on inventions, for which a patent is requested or has already been granted, or for which a utility model has been registered. There are several kinds of documents: publications of the unexamined application, publications of the examined application, patent specification, utility model and translations of all these documents or parts of them. All these kinds of documents are frequently grouped together under the term "patent".
Why are patents filed?
A patent or utility model confers on its proprietor exclusive rights of use for the invention, though these rights are limited in time and limited in territorial scope. The rights can be sold, and licences can be conceded. A patent is often the only means of preventing imitations of products, which have been researched, developed and launched at significant cost to the product originator. There are a few essential differences between utility models and patents: utility models can only be used to protect products, not processes, a preclusive period to novelty of six months applies, and the duration of validity is shorter.
Patent documents as sources of technical information
Each year, more than one million patent documents are published, based on around half a million inventions. Investigations have shown that only a small proportion of inventions are described in other sources in addition to their appearance in the patent literature. This is why patent information is such an indispensable means of acquiring knowledge on the state of the art, and why it is so important for innovation processes. Unfortunately, the double nature of a patent document (i.e. the fact that it is both a technical document and a legal document) is frequently perceived as hindering the accessibility of its contents.
Which patent documents are included in the TIB's holdings?
The majority of the collection (approximately 13 million patent documents) is located in the PIN Reading Room. In addition, the patent documents in the electronic archive of the German Patent and Trade Mark Office may be considered as a virtual stock. Contractually-regulated access to this resource can be obtained via the DEPATISnet Premium system.
How can I get hold of the patent document I want?
Patent documents are not shown in GetInfo (the document delivery service). We therefore recommend you to choose the "Order without search" option in GetInfo and to insert bibliographic data into the provided Order Form. Alternatively, you can also send a fax or e-mail directly to the PIN Reading Room.
Where can I get more help?
If you have any questions on patent documents, please contact:
Mr. Hartwig Minnermann (Dipl.-Ing.)
German National Library of Science and Technology (TIB)
Postfach 6080, 30060 Hannover
Telephone: +49 (0)511 / 762 - 34 14
Fax: +49 (0)511 / 40 75
E-Mail: Hartwig.Minnermann(at)tib.uni-hannover.de
