Big Changes for Searching Technical Disclosures: The New IP.com

The IP.com portal is an important source of both patent and non-patent prior art, and it can be especially useful for locating technical disclosures.  The Prior Art Database on IP.com includes a regularly updated journal of technical disclosures, as well as corporate and institutional back files of non-patent prior art documents (such as the IBM Technical Disclosure Bulletin). The Intellectual Property Library on IP.com covers INPADOC data and full-text patent documents from US, EP, WO, AU, CA, and CN. The site is free to search and view the bibliographic data and abstracts for patent (US patent documents only for non-registered users) and non-patent literature search results, but users must purchase vouchers to view the full text or PDF versions of Prior Art Database documents. In 2011, the IP.com portal underwent some major changes when it integrated nearly all the features of the of the Prior Art Database into the Intellectual Property Library. The IP.com portal has recently undergone another major overhaul in November 2012, with a new layout for the website and a consolidation of search forms for both the patent and non-patent literature collections.

Continue reading for a quick guide to the recent changes on the IP.com portal!

Changes to the Prior Art Database at IP.com

Users who subscribe to the Prior Art Database at IP.com may have noticed some major changes to the available search interfaces in the past few months.  IP.com provides access to the Intellectual Property Library, a freely searchable database with patent, patent application, and non-patent literature collections.  Users can also access the Prior Art Database  at IP.com, which contains collections of technical disclosures.  Both databases are freely searchable without accounts or subscriptions, but users must register and pay to download full documents.  Read on to learn how the Prior Art Database at IP.com has changed!