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Patents and Standards

Patent Basics

Canadian Patents cover

"New inventions (process, machine, manufacture, composition of matter) or any new and usefull improvement of an existing invention.

To qualify for a Canadian patent, an invention must show novelty, utility and ingenuity

Novelty - The item or process must be the first of it's kind in the world

Utility - must work

Ingenuity - must be a development or improvement that would not have been obvious to workers of average skill in the technology involved'

Source:  A Guide To Patents.  Canadian Intellectual Property office

General information about Patents

Patent Databases

Standards

What are Standards and Patents?

Patents - A certificate of grant by a government of an exclusive right with respect to an invention for a limited period of time. Also known as letters patent. (from AccessScience, ©McGraw-Hil)

Standards - An authoritative or recognized exemplar of correctness, perfection, or some definite degree of any quality. (from OED)

How can they help you?

Patents protect the rights of the inventor of an item, but can also be searched to determine viable areas for research.

Standards are used by scientists and engineers, architects and designers to create, invent and build in a stable and safe environment

Google Patents

Google Patent Search

Standards listed online

Many agencies produce and charge for existing standards.  Sites listed below may provide lists for applicable standards available for purchase and are posted here for reference purposes.

Patent research and trends

Best Practices from Chemistry Patent Searching experts

Not for the faint of heart!  Searching chemistry patent information poses specific challenges due to our ability to describe in words, what is represented by chemical notations, molecular structures etc.  The Intellogist Blog hosts a number of solutions for patent searching in Chemistry.   NOTE: Access to commercial databases referenced here is limited.