Finding patent information: SciFinder-n

SciFinder-n is an index to the literature in chemistry and chemistry-related subjects such as biochemistry, medicinal chemistry and chemical engineering.  In addition to journal articles it indexes the patent literature.

SciFinder-n indexes patents from 63 patent authorities including:

• Canadian Intellectual Property Office (CIPO)
• European Patent Office (EPO)
• French Patent Office (INPI - Institut National de la Propriete Industrielle)
• German Patent Office (DPMA)
• Japanese Patent Office (JPO)
• Russian Patent Office (ROSPATENT - Russian Agency for Patents and Trademarks)
• United Kingdom Intellectual Property Office (UK-IPO)
• United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO)
• World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO)

Dates of coverage vary but a full list is available:

if you are interested in finding chemistry-related patents, these are the advantages of using SciFinder:

• It indexes substance names, molecular formulas and registry numbers
• You can search by structure, substructure or reaction, not just text
• The PatentPak feature provides easy access to substances in patents

But you cannot search by patent classification code.

PatentPak is a feature of SciFinder-n which presents information from 46 of the patent authorities in a format which is designed to provide quicker and easier access.  For example it extracts chemical structures and links directly to the patent PDF.  For more information there is a video from CAS. Click on the image below to open the video in a new window: