Westlaw has many of their patent resources compiled on a their intuitively named “Patent Resources” page. Most of the Westlaw resources listed below can also be accessed from this page. Lexis has also compiled many patent materials on their “Patent Law” page. Most of the Lexis resources listed below can also be accessed from this page. Bloomberg’s patent materials are linked to from their “Patents & Trade Secrets” page.
Westlaw, Lexis, and Bloomberg have sections that include searchable sets of laws related to patents. You can find them on the pages linked to in the previous paragraph. Additionally, you can consult the USPTO's list of laws, regulations, and related materials.
Public PAIR — contains file histories; helpful for researching a specific patent.
USPTO — offers several options for searching existing patents and patent applications. The linked page gives summaries of the offerings.
Official Gazette for Patents — a weekly summary of each patent issued for the prior week. Published every Tuesday in electronic form only.
TotalPatent One (Lexis)
U.S. Patents & Applications (Westlaw)
Patent Assignments — records of assignments of patents from one party to another.
Note: There are reporters covering cases by subject matter across multiple jurisdictions. Bloomberg's United States Patents Quarterly is one example, covering cases on patents, copyrights, trademarks, and trade secrets. When you see a citation to U.S.P.Q. it refers to this reporter.
Patent Trial & Appeal Board (PTAB) — offers applicants a chance to appeal an examiner’s rejection of their patent application. The PTAB replaced the Board of Patent Appeals and Interferences (BPAI) on September 16, 2012, so older decisions will be from the BPAI. The appeals process is complex and beyond the scope of this guide, for additional details consult one of the study aids or treatises listed elsewhere in this guide, or, for a shorter overview, see JUSTIA’s discussion. Below are some resources for PTAB decisions.
Decisions (Westlaw)
Filings (Westlaw)
Dockets (Westlaw)
Decisions (Lexis)
Decisions (Bloomberg)
Dockets (Bloomberg)
Decisions (USTPO's website)
Appeals to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit — if the PTAB rules against an applicant, they can appeal to the Federal Circuit or file a civil action against the Director of the PTO in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia. As mentioned previously, the details of the appeals process are beyond the scope of this guide. For additional information consult one of the study aids or treatises listed elsewhere in this guide, or, for a shorter overview, see JUSTIA’s discussion. Additionally, the appeal options vary based on the type of proceeding, see Table 90.1 on this Lexis helpful resource ("CAFC" stands for Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit). Below are some resources for patent cases in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit.
U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit (Lexis) — Note the option to post-search filter to Patent Law under the Practice Area & Topics.
