Patent, Trademark Data Go Online

Text and images of 2 million patents and more than 1 million registered and pending trademarks now are available on a fully searchable database launched by the Commerce Dept.'s U.S. Patent & Trademark Office (PTO). The free database is available at www.uspto.gov, the PTO's Web site. The patent information covers all patents dating back to 1976; the trademark data goes back to the mid-1800s. More than 20 million documents of modern-day science and technology information and more than 100 years of marketing creativity comprise the database, noted Commerce Secretary William M. Daley in unveiling the new resource.