Google Patent Search Upgrade Adds Prior Art & Scholar Results

Google announced they have upgraded the Google Patent Search algorithm, interfaces and features to help with the ever-growing number of patent applications and the growing number of litigations around patents.

Google’s Allen Lo, Deputy General Counsel for Patents, and Ian Wetherbee, Software Engineer for Google Patents, said, “Bad patents drive up costs for innovative companies that must choose between paying undeserved license fees or staggering litigation costs.” “Patent filings have steadily increased with 600,000 applications filed and 300,000 patents issued in 2014 alone. At the same time, litigation rates are continuing their dramatic climb, with patent trolls bringing the majority of cases, hitting companies of every size in industries from high-tech to main street,” they added.

This is why Google updated their Patent Search database to include Prior Art and Google Scholar citations. Google Patent Search uses non-patent prior art by cataloguing it, while using the same scheme that applies to patents. Also Google simplified the interface by providing one location for all patent-related searching and “intuitive search fields,” Google said.

Google added, “We hope this tool will make patent examination more efficient and help stop bad patents from issuing which would be good for innovation and benefit the public.”

Here are screen shots of the new home page and search results: