Research Resources: U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) Launches New Patent Public Search Tool and Web Page
From the USPTO:
The United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) today announced a new Patent Public Search tool that provides more convenient, remote, and robust full-text searching of all U.S. patents and published patent applications.
Based on the advanced Patents End-to-End (PE2E) search tool USPTO examiners use to identify prior art, this free, cloud-based platform combines the capabilities of four existing search tools scheduled to be retired in September 2022: Public-Examiner’s Automated Search Tool (PubEAST), Public-Web-based Examiner’s Search Tool (PubWEST), Patent Full-Text and Image Database (PatFT), and Patent Application Full-Text and Image Database (AppFT).
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In the past, users could only access legacy search tools PubEAST and PubWEST at a USPTO facility like the headquarters in Alexandria, a regional office, or a Patent and Trademark Resource Center. With the launch of the new tool, remote searching is now available to all users with internet access. Additional benefits include:
- Layouts: Multiple layouts with multiple tools to provide more data at once
- Highlighting: Multi-color highlighting that can be viewed across multiple gadgets and turned on or off
- Tagging: Ability to tag documents into multiple groups that can be renamed and color coordinated
- Notes: Ability to add notes to an image with options to include tags, relevant claims, and highlights
- Quality: Robust full-text searching of U.S. patents and published applications
- Familiar usability: Same searching syntax as PubEAST and PubWEST
In conjunction with the launch of Patent Public Search tool, the USPTO unveiled a new Patent Public Search webpage that includes FAQs, training resources, and other information to help users transition to the new tool. Upcoming public training sessions will be posted on the webpage as soon as they are scheduled.
Learn More, Read the Complete Announcement
Filed under: Data Files, News, Patrons and Users

About Gary Price
Gary Price (gprice@gmail.com) is a librarian, writer, consultant, and frequent conference speaker based in the Washington D.C. metro area. He earned his MLIS degree from Wayne State University in Detroit. Price has won several awards including the SLA Innovations in Technology Award and Alumnus of the Year from the Wayne St. University Library and Information Science Program. From 2006-2009 he was Director of Online Information Services at Ask.com.