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Resources for alumni (Physical Sciences & Engineering): Find patents

Find patents

  • Canadian Patents Database - search for Canadian patent applications and granted patents
  • Espacenet - European Patent Office
  • Google Patents - search patent applications and granted patents submitted to different organizations around the world
  • Patentscope - search international patent documents; produced by the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO)
  • USPTO - United States Patent and Trademark Office

For more patent resources, visit the library's Patents guide.

About patents

In Canada, you can apply for a patent, i.e., a legal right that the government gives you “to stop others from making, using, or selling your invention from the day the patent is granted to a maximum of 20 years after the day on which you filed your patent application,” on the following inventions:

  • “a product (for example, a door lock),
  • a composition (for example, a chemical composition used in lubricants for door locks),
  • an apparatus (for example, a machine for making door locks),
  • a process (for example, a method for making door locks),
  • or an improvement on any of these” (from A Guide to Patents by the Canadian Intellectual Property Office).

In order to be patented, your invention must demonstrate novelty (be unique in the world), utility (be in working condition and serve a useful purpose), and inventive ingenuity (not be apparent).

Fun with patents

Download this free coloring book from the National Archives of the United States:

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