Google updated patent search

Google is doing what the US Patent Office was supposed to do a long time ago. Search for patents with enhanced functionality, displaying similar patents, non-patent prior art objects, etc. If the patent office had such a tool or even used Google in their work (obviously, they do not), then it would be possible avoid many problems with patent trolls.

Google rolled out a new patent search version on patents.google.com yesterday . The interface is now made in the style of material design, on the main page there is a checkbox for searching the database with the exception of the text of patents (Google Scholar).

Advanced search options are placed on the sidebar.



Search results are now conveniently grouped by topic, and prior art search engine is integrated into the main SERP and no longer uses a separate interface.

At the top of the page there are arrows for navigating the results, but it is much more convenient to use the "hot" keys, arrows on the keyboard.



“The new Google Patents helps users find non-patented prior art by cataloging such information in the same way that it applies to patents,” Google’s lawyers wrote on the official blog. - We trained a machine model to classify everything found on Google Scholar using Cooperative Patent Classification codes. Now users can search for [autonomous cars] or [email encryption] and find prior art in patents, technical journals, scientific books, and other sources. ”

Cooperative Patent Classification codes are jointly developed by the US and European Patent Offices to better standardize patent descriptions and patent information.

Search works on foreign patents. Those are automatically translated into English using Google Translate. Of course, the translation is inaccurate, but that’s enough for a keyword search. Patents from the European Patent Office in French, German, Spanish, Italian, Portuguese, Swedish, etc. are available for English search .

This is not the first time Google has transformed patent searches. In 2012, it was integrated into the main SERP and even closed a separate page patents.google.com. Instead, a separate patent search was available through https://www.google.com/?tbm=pts . By the way, this option has been preserved now. In a sense, restarting patents.google.com is a step backward. But a good, progressive step back.