It’s not as interesting (to me) as trademark search (in my past life, I was a private investigator specializing in trademark research), but Google’s search reach is still expanding (and hopefully trademark search is coming next). Today, Google announced its new patent search service. The patent search engine, still in beta, boasts more than 7 million searchable patents. Results are displayed in a nice little layout featuring images of the original patent, critical patent information (patent number, filing date, inventor, etc.), citations (references to other related patents), claims, and other additional information.

Having used the US Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) search on a religious basis in the past, there’s a lot of promise for Google’s more user-friendly results. I’d keep an eye on this and see how Google plans to expand their coverage over time in the future.

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