You can create a customized subscription manually by entering the database query using the following rules. The query is one or more fields, connected with Boolean Not, And and Or operators. Every field consists of the field code, slash, and field value. If the field value consists of more than one word, it should be enclosed in double quotes. Parenthesis can be used to change the operator precedence. Here are some tips for making queries.

Currently you can trace patents using these field codes:

  • Abstract (ABST)
  • Application Type (APT)
  • Assignee City (AC)
  • Assignee Country (ACN)
  • Assignee Name (AN)
  • Assistant Examiner (EXA)
  • Attorney or Agent (LREP)
  • Claims (ACLM)
  • Description/Specification (SPEC)
  • Foreign Priority (PRIR)
  • Foreign References (FREF)
  • Government Interest (GOVT)
  • International Classification (ICL)
  • Inventor City (IC)
  • Inventor State (IS)
  • Inventor Country (ICN)
  • Inventor Name (IN)
  • Other References (OREF)
  • Patent Type (APT)
  • Primary Examiner (EXP)
  • Title (TTL)
  • Current US Classification (CCL)
  • US References (REF)

You can trace patent applications using these field codes:

  • Abstract (ABST)
  • Application Type (APT)
  • Assignee City (AC)
  • Assignee Country (ACN)
  • Assignee Name (AN)
  • Claims (ACLM)
  • Description/Specification (SPEC)
  • Foreign Priority (PRIR)
  • Government Interest (GOVT)
  • International Classification (ICL)
  • Inventor City (IC)
  • Inventor State (IS)
  • Inventor Country (ICN)
  • Inventor Name (IN)
  • Title (TTL)
  • Current US Classification (CCL)

U.S. Patent Classification:

To find the numeric codes of patent classes, use Manual of U.S. Patent Classification or its Simple Text Search functionality.

Tips:

Application Type (APT) is a number which can have following values: 1 = Utility, 2 = Reissue, 4 = Design, 5 = Defensive Publication, 6 = Plant, 7 = Statutory Invention Registration.

Assignee Name(AN), Inventor Name(IN), Primary Examiner(EXP) are in the form LastName-FirtsName-Initial (with dashes). Example: an/Castro-Mary-N. Attorney or Agent (LREP) name is in "LastName FirtsName Initial" format (no dashes). Exmaple: lrep/"Castro Mary N".

In International Classification (ICL) 0 substitutes a space. That is, in order to query patents of  G06F 19/00, you must specify G06F019/00.

To get patents of a specific class without specifying a particular subclass, use /$, as in ccl/395/$.

There must be no leading zeros in the subclass number. For example, for subclass 001 of class 705, you must specify ccl/705/1, not ccl/705/001.

Examples of queries:

  • Patents from Sun Microsystems and Microsoft:  
    an/"Sun Microsystems" or an/Microsoft
  • Information processing patents (any) from Sun Microsystems :  
    an/"Sun Microsystems" and ccl/395/$
  • Multimedia patents :  
    ccl/395.154
  • Patents containing "flexible strap" in claims:
    aclm/"flexible strap"

You can find an extencive description of search fields and formatting in US Patent and Trademark Office online page here.