Anne Harding | Sep 26, 2004 | 2 min read
Searching through US patent applications previously required a trip to the US Patent and Trademark Organization (USPTO) in Washington, DC, followed by a dig through mountains of files. Today, all it takes is an Internet connection http://www.uspto.gov/patft/index.html. All patent applications not covered by confidentiality laws, or about 90%, are now fully accessible online 18 months after being filed, the USPTO announced in August. This innovation will give inventors a much better sense of the