Resources and Tools
U. S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) Website Home Page: http://www.uspto.gov/
Inventors are encouraged to search the USPTO's patent database to see if a patent has already been filed or granted that is similar to your patent.
USPTO provides the public access to patent and trademark information in a variety of formats.
Patents and trademarks may be searched in the Public Search Facility located within USPTO or in the Patent and Trademark Depository Library (PTDL). USPTO also provides Online Patent and Trademark searches. The USPTO patent database includes granted U.S. patents, published U.S. patent applications, and the abstracts of foreign patents.
Other online search engines are also available.