Free Patent Search Online

With the Internet, performing free patent searches online is easier than ever.  Below are some websites that you can use to perform a free patent search:

• USPTO.  The U.S. Patent & Trademark Office provides free patent searching of its public databases.
   
  
• Google Patents.  A relatively easy database to search which PDF images available.  Limited to U.S. patents and U.S. published applications.

Commercial Patent Search Tool - PatentHunter^®

While the free patent search databases are relatively easy to use, they still lack some basic features that can be useful when patent searching (e.g. saving patent search queries, managing patents, viewing patent images).  PatentHunter^® is a software product developed by Michael Neustel and sold by Neustel Software.  There is a 60 day free trial of PatentHunter available to help you determine if PatentHunter is a good match for what you need.