Help on Patents Search

You can perform a search on any single field.

You can enter text in either upper or lower case.

The 'Title of Invention', 'Abstract', 'Applicant', 'Proprietor' and 'Inventor' fields are searched using a full text indexing system. Under this system a number of words and characters are reserved for internal system use only. If you use any of these reserved words or characters as part of your search criteria the system will ignore them. To view a full list of the reserved words and characters click on the following link: Reserved Words

Title of Invention/Abstract: Enter the text you wish to search in either the 'Title of Invention' or 'Abstract' fields.

  • If you search on 'bicycle seat' the system will return any patents that contains the exact words 'bicycle seat' where it appears in that order.

  • You can use the operators 'AND', 'OR' and 'NOT' as part of your search.

  • If you search on 'bicycle and seat' the system will return any patent that contains the exact words 'bicycle' and 'seat' in any order.

  • If you search on 'bicycle or seat' the system will return any patent that contains the exact word 'bicycle' or the exact word 'seat' where they appear in any order.

  • If you search on 'bicycle and seat not wheel' the system will return any patent that contains the exact word 'bicycle' and the exact word 'seat' but does not contain the word 'wheel'.

Application Number: You can enter either the

  • Irish Patent Application Number e.g. 1990/1139.

  • Irish Short Term Patent Application Number e.g. S1999/0122

  • European Patent Application Number assigned by the European Patents Office, e.g. 95250091.6


Grant Number: You can enter either the:

  • Irish Patent Grant Number e.g. 55555

  • Irish Short Term Patent Grant Number e.g. S81161

  • European Patent Grant Number i.e. 0678348.


Priority Number or Date: Enter the Priority Number in the format as assigned by the country in which priority is claimed. You may also search by Priority Date in the format dd/mm/yyyy.


Date of Application/Date of Grant: The Dates in these fields must be entered in the format dd/mm/yyyy. The 'to date' must be greater or equal to the 'from date'.

Status of Patent: The system will automatically default to searching 'ALL' statuses

OR

You can select one of the following from the drop down box:

Pending: Application at pending stage
Deemed Withdrawn: An application withdrawn by the Controller .
Refused: Patent application refused by the Office
Withdrawn: An application withdrawn by the agent/applicant
Granted: Patent application has been granted
Lapsed: Patent lapsed (usually due to non-payment of renewal fee)
Surrendered: Patent surrendered by agent or proprietor
Expired: Patent has expired (10/20 year lifespan has expired)
Void: Long Term patent voided when the short term application has been granted.
Abandoned: Patent application abandoned by agent/proprietor
EP Deemed Void: European patent deemed void (usually due to the non -receipt of an English translation of the spec)
Revoked: Patent revoked after being granted (after court hearing) Section 57 & 58.
Revoked by EPO: As revoked, but would be carried out by EPO rather than Controller

Classification (IPC): The system will automatically return all patents whose Classifications include the code entered.

  • To view the current IPC, click here.

  • A quick guide to using the IPC can be found here.

Applicant/ Proprietor/Inventor:

  • This field is searched using a full text indexing system. Under this system, a number of words and characters are reserved for internal system use only. If you use any of these reserved words or characters as part of your search criteria, the system will ignore them. To view a full list of the reserved words and characters, click on the following link: Reserved Words.

  • If you are searching on the word 'Guinness' the system will automatically return Patents where the searched field contains the exact word 'Guinness'.

  • You can use the operators 'AND', 'OR' and 'NOT' as part of your search.

  • If you search on 'Guinness and Sons' the system will return Patents where the searched field contains the exact words 'Guinness' and 'Sons' in any order, e.g. 'Guinness & Sons Limited', 'Arthur Guinness and Sons'

  • If you search on 'Guinness or Sons' the system will return patents where the searched field contains the exact word 'Guinness' or the exact word 'Sons'.

  • If you search on 'Guinness and Sons not Limited' the system will return Patents where the searched field contains the exact word 'Guinness' and the exact word 'Sons' but does not contain the word 'Limited'.

  • Please be aware that the results of your search my be affected by variations in spelling of different names.

Representative:

  • This field is searched using a full text indexing system. Under this system, a number of words and characters are reserved for internal system use only. If you use any of these reserved words or characters as part of your search criteria, the system will ignore them. To view a full list of the reserved words and characters, click on the following link: Reserved Words.

  • If you are searching on the word 'Guinness' the system will automatically return Patents with Representative where the searched field contains the exact word 'Guinness'.

  • You can use the operators 'AND', 'OR' and 'NOT' as part of your search.

  • If you search on 'Guinness and Sons' the system will return any Representative where the searched field contains the exact words 'Guinness' and 'Sons' in any order, e.g. 'Guinness & Sons Limited', 'Arthur Guinness and Sons'

  • If you search on 'Guinness or Sons' the system will return any Representative where the searched field contains the exact word 'Guinness' or the exact word 'Sons'.

  • If you search on 'Guinness and Sons not Limited' the system will return any Representative where the searched field contains the exact word 'Guinness' and the exact word 'Sons' but does not contain the word 'Limited'.

  • Please be aware that the results of your search my be affected by variations in spelling of different names.