The present Guide is a detailed technical paper aimed at industrial property office examiners and users in general to assist them in identifying the correct database and using the possible functionalities and tools offered by specific databases. The current Guide examines a selection of commercial and non-commercial database services considered representative of the broader population of existing services in order to illustrate types and combinations of features available through these services.

Searchable electronic version of print product with fully hyperlinked cross-references.

This Guide aims to assist users in searching for technology information using patent documents, a rich source of technical, legal and business information presented in a generally standardized format and often not reproduced anywhere else. Though the Guide focuses on patent information, many of the search techniques described here can also be applied in searching other non-patent sources of technology information.