How can I work with patent search results?
Last updated on September 24, 2025
Patents Plus is an integrated patents database in Engineering Village currently including documents from the following patent authorities: [China (CN), Europe (EP), Germany (DE), Japan (JP), the United Kingdom (GB), the United States (US), and the World Intellectual Property Organization - WIPO (WO)]. This patent database has unique features and functions:
- Patents cited by other patents
- Patents issued to the inventor
- Preview of a patent
This page covers all these topics and describes how best to work with patent search results.
- Search for the desired patent document using the Quick or Expert search forms.
- In a search result (citation), click ‘Cited by.’ The number in parentheses is the number of other references Engineering Village found that cite some aspect of the patent record.
- The search query bar at the top of the Results list shows other records that cite the patent:
Example:
22 patents found in Patents Plus for 1790-2024: that cite ((US20040090132) WN PCI)
Note: Clicking ‘Cited by’ in the Results list creates an entry in the Search history, such as ((US20040090132) WN PCI), a search query for all patents in Engineering Village that cite this patent. At this point, there will be an entry in Search history for both the original search query and the cited by search query.
- Search for the desired patent using the Quick or Expert search forms.
- In a particular search result (citation), click the patent title to open the record page to view the patent.
- Click the linked name(s) of the inventor(s). The Patent document results page displays all patents issued to the inventor. This search appears in the Search history.
Note: You can also click the inventor's name in the patent document result (citation) to search for other patents issued to the inventor.
Most records in a patent search results set contain the option to view a text description of the record's content.
If a record has a preview:
- Click ‘Show preview’ to open a brief description of the record's content from the abstract field.
- If available, click the link at the end of the brief description to display the entire abstract field inline. The link will show how many additional times the search term(s) will be displayed in the expanded description. Example: (7 more search terms)
- Click ‘Hide preview’ to close the preview.
Note: You can change the default to always show the preview by selecting ‘Show all’ from the ‘Show preview’ dropdown menu, which is available from the ‘Results’ tab of the ‘My preferences’ page.
- Click ‘Search history’ at the top of the page to view your five most recent search results.
- Click ‘View all results’ to access your Search history. The ‘Search history on Engineering Village’ page opens and displays your entire Search history for this search session.
Refer to ‘How do I use email alerts?’ to create and use email alerts.
Refer to ‘How do I create and manage saved searches?’ to create and use saved searches.
Refer to ‘How can I work with search results?’ to share your search queries with others.
Refer to ‘How can I set up RSS feeds?’ to create and use RSS feeds.
The ‘Refine results’ feature appears in the left pane of the search results page. Each category (‘Year,’ ‘Assignee,’ ‘Inventor,’ etc.) is called a facet. You can use these facets to refine your patent document results.
The facets appearing in the ‘Refine’ results pane vary with the database(s) you selected on the Quick or Expert document results pages. When searching for documents from Patents Plus, you may see the facets listed in the following chart.
Facet fields and descriptions
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|---|---|
Authority code | Refine your results with the individual patent offices. Note: You will see this facet if you have refined your results to only Patents Plus documents. |
Database | Refine your results with the individual databases. Note: You will see this facet if you search Patents Plus and other database(s). |
Patent type | This facet may include both patent applications and granted patents. Note: If you search for documents in the Patents Plus Patents database only, the label for this facet is ‘Patent type.’ However, if you search for documents in additional databases other than Patents Plus, the label for this facet is ‘Document type.’ |
Inventor | Select one or more inventors to refine your results. The number of records found for each inventor is displayed to the right of the inventor's name. |
Assignee | Refine your results by the assignee. The number of records found for each assignee is displayed to the right of the assignee's name. |
CPC Codes | Refine your results by selecting a CPC (Cooperative Patent Classification) code. For more information, see the Cooperative Patent Classification website. Note: Usually, the CPC codes facet displays even when conducting patent searches with other non-patent databases. |
Controlled vocabulary | Refine your results by selecting subject terms used to describe the content of the patents. |
IPC Code | Refine your results by selecting an IPC (International Patent Classification) code.
Note: Usually, the IPC codes facet displays even when conducting patent searches with other non-patent databases. |
Country/Region | Refine your results by country or region. The number in parentheses specifies how many related patents were issued in a certain country or region. |
Year | Refine your results by year of publication to see how many related patents were granted or applied in a certain year. The number in parentheses specifies how many related patents were issued in that year. |
Note: To run a new search with selected facets, (with other types of records other than patents), see Refining Quick, Expert, and Thesaurus search results.
- After running a search, if necessary, click the facet name (e.g., ‘Inventor,’ ‘Assignee,’ ‘Patent type,’ ‘Year’) or the up or down arrows to open or close a facet.
- Facets that you open or close remain in that state during your current session. If you end your session and sign back in, the facets appear as they did before you opened or closed any of them.
The facets display the first 5 items most relevant to your search. Click ‘View more’ to see up to 60 items display in a pop-up window for the facet.
- Click ‘Max’ in the pop-up window to display a maximum of 160 items.
- Select specific items in the pop-up window by clicking the checkbox(es).
- Click ‘Limit to’ to limit your results to only items you have selected.
- Click ‘Exclude’ to exclude items from your results that you have selected.
- Click ‘10’ to decrease the number of items displayed.
- Click ‘60’ to return to the original display of items.
The number in parentheses to the right of each facet reflects the instances of the item.
Note: If a facet contains only one item (meaning all records in the results are included in a particular category), then the display will only show the name and total records for that facet. The checkbox option will be grayed out as your search cannot be further refined from that facet.
- Type search term(s) into the Filter results text box to focus on specific results for that facet.
- Click the Chart icon to see a bar chart of the results available for that facet.
- Click the Download icon to download and export the data available for that facet.
- From one or more facets, select the checkbox(es) of items you want to use to refine your search.
- Multiple search terms can be added to the same search. For example, you can combine ‘Inventor,’ ‘Patent type,’ and ‘Country/Region,’ or any other combination most appropriate to the search. If you select terms from different facets, these are treated as the Boolean operator AND.
- In the ‘Add a term’ box, you may enter term(s) to include or exclude in your patent search results.
- Click ‘Limit to’ so your search results include only the items you selected, or click ‘Exclude’ so the selected items are excluded from your results.
Your search is rerun, and the items you selected now appear in the query string at the top of the results page.
Note: When you select ‘Limit to’ after selecting terms, they appear with a plus (+) sign in the query string at the top of the page. When you exclude terms from the facets, these are shown in query string with a minus (-) sign.
- If you want to remove any term(s) from your search query, select the red ‘x’ mark next to a term. Your search is automatically rerun as soon you select the ‘x.’
- To run a new search with selected facets, (with other types of records other than patents), see How do I refine Quick, Expert, and Thesaurus search results?.
For further information about how to work with components of the facets, refer to
You can sort your patent records on the Document results list by the following methods:
- Relevance
- Date (Oldest)
- Date (Newest)
- Author (A-Z)
- Author (Z-A)
- Cited by Patents (Least)
- Cited by Patents (Most)
After you perform a search for a patent, the Document results display a list of patents that match your search terms. Click a patent title on the Patent Document results list to open the record page for the patent. The fields that you see at the top of the record page and in the ‘Patent Information’ section vary with the database(s) you selected in your search query.
Record page fields
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Title | Patent title |
Publication number | This is the number assigned to the patent application upon publication. It usually contains the appropriate patent authority (e.g., United States - US, European - EP, or WIPO - World Intellectual Property Organization-WO) along with a number that varies in length. |
Priority information | The Priority information for the patent |
Patent number | Patent publication number excluding the country code |
Patent country | The country in which the patent application was filed or granted |
Patent authority | The country that has authority over the patent |
Kind | Codes indicate the version or the level of examination of a patent. Kind codes are issued by different patent authorities and are country-specific. The bibliographic information provides the kind code and description (e.g., A1- Patent application (publication) or B2 - Patent with a pre-grant publication). |
Inventors | Presents the name(s) of the person(s) who invented the patent. All the names are linked. Click an inventor's name to perform a search for an inventor. |
Assignee | Person or entity to which the patent was issued. Click the ‘Assignee’ name to search for the assignee to discover other patents issued to the assignee. |
Primary examiner | The patent office official who is appointed to determine the ‘patentability’ of applications. |
Attorney, agent, or firm | An individual who is a member in good standing of the bar of any United States court or the highest court of any State and who is registered to practice before the Office. This individual may be called a practitioner or representative. An agent (may be called a practitioner or representative) is not an attorney, but he/she is authorized to act for or in place of the applicant(s) before the Office; that is, an individual registered to practice before the Office. |
Publication date | Patent publication date |
Publication year | Patent publication year |
Application date | The date of the patent application |
Application number | The unique number assigned to a patent application when it is filed |
Unstandardized application number | Application serial number |
Abstract | Abstract as it appears on the patent's cover sheet |
Filing date | The date the patent was filed |
Field of search | Technological field(s) that were searched by the examiner when checking application ‘patentability’ |
Patent type | Type of patent (e.g., patent application or granted patent) |
IPC Codes | The IPC (International Patent Classification) is a hierarchical system in which the whole area of technology is divided into a range of sections, classes, subclasses, and groups. This system is indispensable for the retrieval of patent documents in the search for establishing the novelty of an invention or determining the state of the art in a particular area of technology. For further information, refer to the following websites: |
CPC Codes | Cooperative classification codes. The classification scheme applied jointly by the European Patent Office and the United States Patent and Trademark Office. For more information, refer to the Cooperative Patent Classification website. |
Database | Database from which the patent was retrieved (e.g., Patents Plus, Compendex, etc.) |
Most patent records contain references to other patents. A patent reference may include the following information: patent title, inventor(s), assignee(s), publication (patent) number, publication date, kind code, and Engineering Village database name. These patent references display in the ‘Patent references’ section of the record page.
Notes:
- These references are considered a part of the ‘prior art’ that the inventor must refer to when applying for a patent grant.
- ‘Prior art’ is a broad term that describes all information that has been disclosed to the public in any form before a given date.
- Under United States patent law, secret prior art, such as secret sales, qualifies as prior art in certain circumstances. In Europe, prior art does not include information kept secret, whether from trade secrecy or just a simple lack of interest in publication.
How
Follow these steps to view patent references:
- Conduct a patent search using either the Quick or Expert search forms.
- Within the Patent result list, click a record title to view the record page. The patent record page opens.
- From the left side of the page, click ‘Patent references.’ The total number of patent references contained in the patent record displays next to the link. The ‘Patent references’ accordion section opens.
- Review chart below for various actions that you may complete while reviewing the ‘Patent references’ section of the record page.
Patent references actions
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View record page of a reference | Click the title of the reference to view the patent reference record page. |
View bibliographic information of a reference | Bibliographic information about the patent (as available) displays for each patent reference:
|
View abstract of a reference | Click ‘View abstract’ within the reference to view the abstract of a patent reference.
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View the Cited by count for a reference | If a patent reference is cited by one or more patents within Engineering Village, the ‘Cited by’ link is available, along with the number of documents (in parentheses) that cite the reference. Click ‘Cited by’ to open a Result list of documents within Engineering Village which reference the patent reference. |
View the Full-text version of a reference | Click ‘Full text’ to open the full-text version of the reference from the patent publisher's web site. |
Sometimes a patent cites documents that are not patents, such as conference proceedings or articles. These other references may include the authors, source title, document title, volume, publication date, and page information. These other references display on the ‘Other references’ tab on the left side of the record page.
Follow these steps to view other references:
- Conduct a patent search using either the Quick or Expert search forms.
- Within the patent document result list, click a patent's title to view the record. The patent record page opens.
- From the left side of the page, click ‘Other references.’ The total number of other references displays next to the link. The ‘Other references’ accordion section of the record page opens.
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