A Multitude of Free IP Search Options from the Hungarian Intellectual Property Office

Most intellectual property authority websites offer some type of online IP search portal, ranging from the basic bibliographic patent search tool on the Syrian Patent Office website to the multiple patent, trademark, design, and caselaw databases available from the French Patent Office. Occasionally I run across an IP office website which impresses me with the thorough coverage and advanced features offered through their online search portal, but I’ve never been more surprised than when I tested the Hungarian Intellectual Property Office IP Search platform. IP Search is the official search platform for the Hungarian Intellectual Property Office (HIPO) and provides a free English-language search interface for all “data of the electronic register of HIPO, as well as […] data of the international and Community industrial property titles of protection effective on the territory of Hungary.” The portal provides an intuitive central interface where users can search through all imaginable types of Hungarian intellectual property: patents, SPCs, plant patents, utility models, trademarks, geographical indications, designs, topography, and even copyright records. The hit list provides easy filtering options through a flexible grid view, and users can download and display a wide range of data and full-text sections of Hungarian patent documents in the full record view.

After the jump, learn about the numerous search and viewing options available on this broad and sophisticated search portal for Hungarian intellectual property!

Search Options

The IP Search platform created by HIPO provides a number of search options, including:

• Simple Search – Search through all titles of protection in the database. This fielded search form allows users to search within a number of fields (identifier, title/mark name, names, dates, or quick search (across all fields)). Select the question mark beside each field to view the correct query formation for that field.

The simple search form on the IP Search portal.

• Advanced Search – These fielded forms search through specific types of intellectual property. Select question marks beside fields to view instructions on correct query formation.
  • Patent – Search by application type, kind, origin, title, keywords (occurring in specific sections of the document), IPC class, names (select type of name), dates, and priority date.
  • Supplementary Protection Certificate – Search by product type, identifier, title, names (select type of name), and dates.
  • Plant varieties – Search by type, identifier, title, IPC class/UPOV code, names (select type of name), and dates.
  • Utility models – Search by application type, origin, title, keywords (occurring in specific sections of the document), IPC class, names (select type of name), dates, and priority date.
  • Trademarks – Search by trademark type, identifier, dates, Nice classification, Vienna classification, trademark name, owners/applicants, and other parties.
  • Geographical Indications – Search by GI type, identifier, dates, Nice classes, list of products, denomination, names, and category.
  • Design protection – Search by design type, identifiers, indication of product, dates, Locarno classification, owner/applicant, designer, representative, and person submitting observation.
  • Topography – Full list of topographies appears directly in the hit list.

The advanced patent search form on the IP Search portal.

• Copyright Research
  • Voluntary register of works – Search by identifier, text, and names.
  • Orphan works – View a list of orphan works (in Hungarian).

Viewing Options

Search results for all search forms will appear in a separate tab of the website. Users can view results in a row, picture, or grid hit list, sorted by various date and number options in ascending or descending order. The grid format provides further filtering options, since users can select specific criteria from column drop-down menus or enter keywords for specific columns to further narrow the result set. Select the title or number of the record (depending on the hit list format) to view the full record view in another tab on the web page.

Filtering options in the grid view of the hit list.

The full record view for a patent document may include:

• A link to the e-register data (Hungarian only).
• Links to download/view sections of the patent document and search report (i.e. abstract as published (in Hungarian or English), search report, patent specification, abstract as granted (Hungarian or English), and claims in Hungarian).
• Legal status of the patent record.
• Bibliographic data.
• Representative drawings.
• Abstract and claims in Hungarian.

Download options, legal status, and bibliographic data in the full patent record view.

Full records for designs, utility models, trademarks, and other IP types may include information like legal status, bibliographic data, representative image, etc.

Conclusion

The Hungarian Intellectual Property Office offers a simple and centralized search platform for all intellectual property types issued through the Office, and results can be flexibly sorted and viewed, with a number of download options for full-text sections of the patent record.  Although the service offers a number of fielded search forms, the lack of a command line interface where the user can directly search using field operators, Boolean operators, truncation operators, parentheses, etc. is a minor disappointment, especially for professional patent searchers who often need to create complex queries to quickly scope out relevant record sets. Despite the lack of a command line, the centralized coverage and flexible filtering options make the HIPO IP Search tool one of the best national IP office search portals that I’ve come across.

Which IP office search portal do you think has the best coverage and search features?  Let us know in the comments!

This post was contributed by Joelle Mornini. The Intellogist blog is provided for free by Intellogist’s parent company Landon IP, a major provider of patent searches, trademark searches, technical translations, and information retrieval services.