Library Guide - Standards and Patents

Standards and patents are important sources of information in engineering, science, technology, business and medicine. There are a number of open access resources and databases that the library subscribes to that you can use to access standards and patents, many with full-text access.

Standards

What is a standard?

‘Standards are agreed ways of doing something, written down as a set of precise criteria so they can be used as rules, guidelines or definitions’ (BSI)

Standards cover many aspects of our lives and the environment in which we live, from food safety to construction, from IT security to nanotechnology, from cameras to coffee cups.  Many countries and companies have their own standard guidelines. BSI is the UK national standards body. ISO standards are agreed internationally and may be adopted by individual countries.

Find out more about standards from the BSI website. 

This videos show how standards are important for many aspects of our daily lives.

Standards Resources

British Standards online (BSOL) Contains British standards and international and European standards that have been adopted as British standards. It also includes ISO, EN, PAS, ASTM and IEC standards that haven't been adopted as British standards.

Browse or search for the specific standard you want from the search box. From the search results, click on the standard you want access to. If it is not currently in CCCU's subscription you will need to click on ‘Send a request to your account admin’ to request access.

BSI Reading Room British and International standards can be viewed online via CCCU’s subscription to BSOL. However, some standards are not included. It may be possible to view standards not included in BSOL at the BSI Members' Reading Room. This can be accessed by the public (free for up to 2 hours) and is located at their head office in London.

Engineering Village Engineering Village brings together and offers the ability to search across a range of trusted engineering sources (Compendex, Inspec and Knovel). Select engineering standards can be access via Compendex, and patents via Inspec.

IEL Online (IEEE Xplore) Covers engineering, computing, and technology. Full-text access to the entire IEEE and IET collection of journals, magazines, and conference proceedings, plus all active and historical IEEE standards.

Patents

What is a patent?

‘A patent is an exclusive right granted for an invention… to a product or a process that generally provides a new way of doing something or offers a new technical solution to a problem. To get a patent, technical information about the invention must be disclosed to the public in a patent application’ (World Intellectual Property Organization)

Patents protect inventions. Patents are granted by the UK Intellectual Property Office (UK IPO) and a grant of patent runs for a term of 20 years, provided the periodic renewal fees are paid.

Find out more about patents from the World Intellectual Property Organization website or watch this video.

Patents resources

The following resources are available via the Find Databases link in LibrarySearch or freely as open access resources (where indicated):

British Library Patents Information Service (open access) Some patents might only be available in print. The British Library is the UK’s national patent library and its collection can be consulted in the reading room. It has a comprehensive collection of British and foreign patent documentation and can provide guidance on searching for patents. 

Derwent Innovations Index (via Web of Science) Access to patents in areas such as chemical, electrical, electronic, and mechanical engineering. Cover over 14.3 million basic inventions (1963-present) from almost 60 worldwide patent-issuing authorities. Provides additional descriptive information and coding to allow users to effectively search and quickly grasp a patent’s significance and its relationship to other patents. Access Web of Science and choose to search in Derwent Innovations Index under DOCUMENTS.

Espacenet - European Patent Office (open access) Index to more than 140 million patent documents worldwide from 1836 onwards. Full-text access to British patents from 1859. Full-text access to patents from other countries including US from 1836 and various starting dates for EPO, WIPO, France, Germany and Switzerland.

Europe PMC (open access) Europe PMC is an open access repository, providing the ability to search across and access worldwide life sciences resources, including patents (Select Advanced Search and refine to ‘Patents’ in the source list.

Free Patents Online (open access) Patent data, search, and analytics.

Google Patents (open access) Search freely accessible patents and drawings from the United States Patent and Trademark Office.

Ipsum (open access) UK Patent Office resource which allows you to check the status of UK patents/patent applications.

Lens Patent Search (open access) Discovery and analytics tools on a comprehensive collection of patent literature with citation indexing.

Lexis+ UK (LexisNexis) Includes select resources covering law and procedure relating to patents in the UK and Europe, key precedents and recent and future developments in patent law. Also allows for searching across select patent cases from 1939. Once signed in to LexisLibrary, search for the word ‘patent’ in the Search sources search box. Relevant databases will display and can be browsed or searched for search terms using the keyword box.

Scopus The largest abstract and citation database of peer-reviewed literature covering international research output in the fields of science, technology, medicine, social sciences, and arts and humanities. Includes data from and allows searching across 13 million patents. Run a search for ‘patent’ from the main search box and then select the Patents tab to view patents.

UK Intellectual Property Office (IPO) UK (open access) Official UK government body responsible for intellectual property (IP) rights including patents, designs, trade marks and copyright.

US Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) (open access) Online database for the United States Patent and Trademark Office with guidance on the search process. Includes full text of all US patents 1976-present, and PDF images of US patents issued 1790-1975.

World Intellectual Property Organization - PATENTSCOPE (open access) WIPO is the world's most comprehensive source of data on intellectual property. Search 111 million patent documents including 4.6 million published international patent applications. Includes empirical studies, reports and factual information on IP.

Registered Designs

Designs can also be protected, to prove ownership in case others try to copy or use a design without the creator’s permission. The design of a product relates to its appearance (shape, configuration, decoration, pattern, packaging) rather than its technical construction or operation. A design registration lasts 5 years and can be renewed every 5 years (up to a maximum of 25 years).

The following page outlines the differences between the different types of intellectual property protection in the UK, including patenting inventions and registering designs.

The following tools enable you to search and view registered designs.

Design View (open access) Search designs registered with participating national offices, including the EUIPO and National Offices. Provides access to design applications and registrations and is updated daily. Allows users to check the novelty of a design and details such as legal status, owner, etc.

View Designs Journal (open access) View details of all the designs that the Intellectual Property Office have registered in the last 25 years.