Google Launches Patent Search

As mentioned in the morning reboot, Google has unveiled a beta version of its new tool for searching the full text of US patent applications.

Patent Search uses the same technology as Book Search, which means you can scroll through pages and zoom in and out on text and illustrations. So far you are limited to viewing the original documents but the Google Blog says that saving and printing features will be coming soon.

There’s also an Advanced search feature that allows for additional criteria in your searches such as specific patent numbers, inventor name and filing dates. The advanced operators can also be used from the main search by entering the appropriate keywords like ininventor: or intitle:.

Google says there are currently 7 million patents in the database and many more will be added in the future. At the moment the patents stop around the middle of 2006, but the records go back over 200 years.