This database is freely available to the general public via the Internet.

​Over 102 million patent documents by 72 issuing authorities can be searched using this innovative interface created by the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO).

Simple, advanced, and field combination (expert) search modes are available in six different languages. Many of the patent documents have freely accessible full-text. For older documents, date range dependent on country, only the citation or the citation/abstract may be available.

Innovative features

• Analyze in tabular format and chart (bar or pie) search results by country, main International Patent Class (IPC), assignee, inventor, or publication tool. This is a wonderful visualization tool.
• The Cross-Lingual Information Retrieval (CLIR)/Expansion tool allows you to enter words and variants in English, French, German, Japanese, or Spanish. The system will suggest variants and translate the term(s) allowing you to execute a search across documents written in all those languages.
• A free Translation Assistant for Patent Titles and Abstracts is provided for 18 language pairs including Russian, Japanese, and Chinese.
• A browsable nucleotide and amino acid sequences disclosed in published PCT (World Patent) applications
• A browsable listing of green (environmentally sound) patents based on technologies listed by the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC).
• Search queries can be saved as an RSS feed so you can get updated results on a weekly basis for patents matching your query.

For more information see the PATENTSCOPE User's Guide, short video tutorials, and FAQs.

Please refer to the UB Libraries Patent Databases Research Guide for a detailed overview of searching both free and UB subscription patent databases.

Varies by patent country, oldest is United States (1790+)