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International Inventor's Guild

Patents

Patent and Trademark Depository Libraries (PTDL)

• Fogler Library, University of Maine.

• PTDL Libraries in all 50 states.

• Patent and Trademark Depository Library Program Office.  U.S. Patent and Trademark Office.

• Patent and Trademark Depository Library Association.  

Disclaimer: PTDLs are neither required nor encouraged to conduct patent and trademark searches for their patrons as that activity may be interpreted as rendering a judgment or opinion. PTDLs are required to instruct patrons in the use of the search tools available at the PTDLs for patrons conducting their own patent and trademark searches.

U.S. and international patent offices and patent databases on the internet

• U.S. Patent and Trademark Office. Inventors Assistance Center.

• U.S. Patent Database. Full page image of patents from 1790 to the present. Keyword searching available for only 1976 to present. Must also use the Classification System.  USPTO News.  Archive of news announcements.

• UK Patent Office. ESP@cenet database. Includes British, European, Japanese and World Intellectual Property Organization patents for 1977 to present.

• Canadian Intellectual Property Office. Canadian patent database. Coverage is 1920 to present.

• DEPATISnet. German Patent and Trademark Office. Includes many foreign patents. Offers 5 search modes including Assisted Search.  Through this method you can request assistance from the experts at the Patent Information Center and receive via email suggested search strategies.

• European Patent Office. esp@cenet Search EP, PCT, Japanese, and other worldwide patents.  Esp@cenet contains inventor/date/title for U.S. patents back to 1920.  Search the European Classification System.

• SurfIP - The Intellectual Property Office of Singapore. Provides access to world-wide patent databases.

• World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO). PCT Full Text Database. Coverage is 1997 to present.   International Patent Classification system.

Maine Statewide Databases or Free Internet Databases

These databases are useful for checking for journal articles, technical reports, and news announcements about similar products and technology.  If an idea has been published anywhere, it cannot be granted a patent.

• Academic Search Premier. Provides full text for over 3,200 scholarly publications.

• AGRICOLA. Produced by the National Agricultural Library. Resources encompassing all aspects of agriculture and allied disciplines, including animal and veterinary sciences, plant sciences, forestry, etc.

• AGRIS. Sponsored by the United Nations. Food and Agriculture Organization. 1965 to present.

• Aquatic Sciences and Fisheries Abstracts

• ASCE Civil Engineering Database. Coverage is 1970 to present.

• BIOSIS Previews. 1969 - present. Indexes over 5,200 scholarly journals. Most comprehensive database for biochemistry and bioresources. 

• Business Source Premier. Provides full text for over 2500 business journals.

• Citeseer.com. Scientific Literature Digital Library. NEC Corp. Indexes Postscript and PDF research articles on the Web. Has citation searching component.

• CogPrints. CogPrints is an electronic archive for papers in many areas of Computer Science. Full text of the cited references is available.

• Collection of Computer Science Bibliographies. Some links to the online fulltext.

• Computing Research Respository (CoRR). Preprints in computer science. Mechanisms for searching, downloading and submitting preprints are provided.

• Cooperative Forestry Research Unit Publications Database

• DTIC (Defense Technical Information Center) Scientific and Technical Information Network.   PARTIAL FULL TEXT DATABASE.   Access to all unclassified, unlimited citations to documents added from late December 1974 to present, many from 1998 to present in full text.

• Energy Citations Database. U.S. Department of Energy database. Coverage is 1948 to present.

• Energy Portal Search. Provides access to government and research society databases and evaluated web sites.

• Electric Power R & D. Sponsored by U.S. Department of Energy

• Entrez Search and Retrieval System. National Library of Medicine sponsored databases including protein and nucleotide databases and PubMed.

• Fire Research Information Services (FRIS). FIREDOC database. Made available by the Building and Fire Research Laboratory BFRL), National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST). 

• Fossil Energy R & D Project Database.  U.S. Dept. of Energy.

• GrayLIT Network. Provides searchable access to over 100,000 full-text reports from DOE, EPA and NASA.

• Ingenta (Formerly UnCover). Coverage is 1988 - Present.

• MasterFILE Premier.  Provides full text for over 1,830 general reference, business, consumer health, general science.  Full text extends back to January, 1990.  Indexing and abstracts is available for an additional 1,000 journals.

• MEDLINE

• National Environmental Publications Internet Site (NEPIS) Index to over 9,500 full-text EPA reports.

• National Technical Information Service (NTIS) Database. 1990 to present.

• Networked Computer Science Technical Reference Library. (NCSTRL) Computer science technical reports from over 100 institutions worldwide. Over 20,000 reports are available in full text.

• NSSN: National Standards Systems Network

• NTRS: NASA Technical Report Server.  This database collects, archives, and disseminates aerospace information produced by NASA and other relevant worldwide research.

• OSHLINE with NIOSHTIC Database. Occupational safety and health resources.

• Paperloop.com Provides search of over 5 years of back issues of Pulp and Paper Magazine, Pulp and Paper International Magazine, Pulp and Paper Europe Magazine, Pulp and Paper Asia Magazine. Full text is included.

• Recent Advances in Manufacturing.   Covers over 500 journals.

• Regional Business News

• Scitechresources.gov - a catalog of U.S. government science and technology web sites.

• TRIS Online. 1960's to present. Produced by the Transportation Research Board and other organizations.

• U.S. Dept. of Energy. Scientific and Technical Information

• U.S. EPA Web Search. Provides advanced searching of the EPA web site.

• U.S. Forest Service.  Publications database.

• American Intellectual Property Law Association. (AIPLA).

• Center for Entrepreneurship and Small Business.  University of Southern Maine. School of Business.

• Inventors' Association of New England. 

• Maine Inventors Forum. Part of the Maine Patent Program

• National Association of Patent Practitioners. (NAPP)

• National Collegiate Inventors & Innovators Alliance.  (NCIIA)

• National Congress of Inventor Organizations. (NCIO).

• National Inventors Hall of Fame. Workshop on how to patent.

• Patent Information Users Group. (PIUG)

• United Inventors Association (UIA) Helpful Inventor's Connection/Resources page.

• World Intellectual Property Organization. (WIPO)

Patent Guides

• General Information Concerning Patents. Learn about patents and the patenting process from this fact-packed guide published by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office.

• Entrepreneur Network.  See the For Inventors Section

• FindLaw for Legal Professionals.  Good sections on small business and intellectual property law.

• From Patent to Profit

• How to Protect and Benefit from your Ideas.  by the AIPLA

• Independent Inventors Resources. from the USPTO.

• Inventors' Alliance.  San Francisco.  Marketing and licensing resources.

• Inventors Digest Online.

• Inventors Handbook. Published by the Lemelson - MIT Program.

• Inventors Toolbox.  by the Minnesota Inventors Resource Center.

• Ironman Inventing.  Articles on the invention process by Andy Gibbs.

• Kuester Law: The Technology Law Resource.

• Mayall's IP Links.  Comprehensive site including international laws, patent offices and advice on a multitude of international databases.  Also discusses prior art searching in non-patent databases.

• MegaLaw.Com Patents Page

• National Inventor Fraud Center.  Avoid invention fraud. 

• PatentCafe.com

• U.S. Patent and Trademark Office. Patents Guidance, Tools and Manuals.

• Workshop on how to patent.

Attorneys Registered with the USPTO

• Maine Directory

Invention Promotion Firms

• U.S. Federal Trade Commission. Consumer Alert.  Spotting Sweet-Sounding Promises of Fraudulent Invention Promotion Firms.    Facts for Consumers.  Invention Promotion Firms.

• U.S. Patent Office. Independent Inventors.   Scam Prevention. Includes 10 questions to ask a promotion firm - get answers in writing.   Invention Promotors.  Includes published complaints.

• Better Business Bureau.

• Inventors Awareness Center. from the United Inventors Association.

• National Congress of Inventor Organizations. Scambusters.

• Office of the Maine Attorney General. Consumer Protection.

Directories of Products and Companies:  Search to see if a similar product is already being sold.

• GlobalSpec.com 

• Hoover' Online. The business information authority.

• ManufacuringNet  The manufacturing marketplace

• Sweet's Search   Construction industry marketplace that lists close to 60,000 products.

• Thomas  Register  Lists over 173,000 U.S. and Canadian manufacturers.

• Thomas Register of European Manufacturers

• Yahoo Business directories and yellow pages 

Small Business Resources 

• Bizoffice.  Small and home-based business resources.

• BUZGate.org.  Business Utility Zone Gateway.  Provides access to a multitude of Maine resources for small businesses. Chose "Maine" from the state listing.

• Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance. Searchable database of federal grant programs.

• Center for Entrepreneurship and Small Business.  University of Southern Maine. School of Business.

• Coastal Enterprises Inc. (CEI)

• Entrepreneur.com

• Finance Authority of Maine.  

• Launch Momentum.  "Propel your technology to market."  Maine firm offering services to the independent inventor or small company.  

• Maine Business Resource Guide. Augusta, Me. : Maine Dept. of Economic and Community Development, 2001.

• Maine Business Works.  This web site brings together  business development resources for Maine.

• Maine Department of Economic and Community Development.

• Maine Investment Exchange.

• Maine Manufacturing Extension Partnership

• Maine Patent Program

• Maine Science and Technology Foundation.

• Maine Technology Institute.

• Maine's Applied Technology Development Centers. 

• Morebusiness.com

• National Association of Small Business Investment Companies (NASBIC). America's Small Business Partners.

• Penquis Community Action Program. Penquis CAP. Economic Development Programs.

• SCORE (Service Corps of Retired Executives) Association.  Maine Offices

• SCORE (Service Corps of Retired Executives) Association.  Chapter 53, Portland Maine.  Counselors to Americas small business.

• Small Business Development Centers, Regional Offices. of Maine.

• Small Enterprise Growth Fund. Maine's Venture Capital Fund. 

• U.S. Department of Defense. Small Business Innovation Research/Small Business Technology Transfer. Fast Track.  Provides funding directly to small technology companies.

• U.S. Small Business Administration. Provides information on starting a business, writing a business plan and securing financing. Many online legal and business resources are provided. They also sponsor the Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Program which provides funding to entrepreneurs working on innovations.   Maine District Office.   

• Women's Business Center of Maine.

Inventor and Entrepreneur Education Opportunities in Maine

• Maine Business Works.  Workshops, Seminars and Events.

• Maine Patent Program

• MaineToday.com

• Maine Technology Institute. Calendar.

• Maine's Applied Technology Development Centers. Calendar.

• University of Maine. Science and Engineering News. Calendar.

Trade Shows and Inventors Congresses

See TSSN.com: The Ultimate Trade Show Resource.  Searchable index of trade shows by state, city and industry.  

• Inventors' Digest.  Trade Shows and Workshops

• INPEX Invention and New Product Exposition.  May 12-15, 2004. Pittsburgh.

• Maine Industrial Show.  Bangor, Maine.

• Minnesota Inventors Congress.  Expo 2004 - June 11-13.

• New England Products Trade Show  (NEPTS):  March 7 - 9, 2004, Cumberland County Civic Center, Portland, Maine.  Best of New England - business to business show.

• Yankee Invention Exposition. (YIE)

Internet Directories

• British Library. Patents page.

• Exxnet - Cincinnati Network for Product Development. Helpful links for Patents.

• Inventor's Connection/Resources page.

• Lemelson - MIT Program: Links and Resources.