ALEXANDRIA - As part of the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) ongoing efforts to modernize and streamline its systems, the Office is working closely with patent and trademark filers and website visitors to gather feedback and implement upgrades to several of USPTO search tools to make it easier for customers to find what they are looking for in a faster, more reliable way, a press release stated by USPTO.

Below are just a few examples of recent and upcoming product improvements

Web search

This past May, USPTO announced the beta release of the new www.USPTO.gov search tool, improving how visitors find information on USPTO website using the search bar that appears at the top of most webpages. In addition to new filtering options for search results, it also clearly directs customers to USPTO IP databases, which are separate search tools customers use to look up patent and trademark information.  

Patent search

Last year, Patent Public Search (PPUBS) replaced four previous legacy tools. PPUBS provides a streamlined and robust way to do full-text searching of all U.S. patents and U.S. pre-grant publications. Approximately 5,000 users conduct patent searches with PPUBS each day in the U.S. and internationally, and since it launched in February 2022, over 1.5 million have used PPUBS.

Trademark search

Soon, USPTO will be announcing more details on the beta launch of new trademark search tool that will be replacing the Trademark Electronic Search System (TESS) later this year. Demos and trainings will be provided on this new system, and look forward to hearing customer feedback.

“Thousands of customers use the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office website and online search tools each day to apply for intellectual protection, register for events, and search for patent and trademark information,” said Under Secretary of Commerce for Intellectual Property and Director of the USPTO Kathi Vidal. “Through these and other improvements, we are committed to enhancing our services to America’s innovators to provide a better user experience.”