United States Government Sites

U.S Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO)

The USPTO web homepage provides the text of notices, proposed and final rules, hearing transcripts, downloadable copies of USPTO publications, and pointers to the sites of other national intellectual propety offices.

The PTO maintains a free searchable database of U.S. patents. The database allows you to view full-text and images of U.S. patents issued since 1976 and patent applications published since 2001. The database also contains images of U.S. patents dating back to 1790. A database of U.S. trademarks, both pending and registered, is also available for free on the PTO site.

The U.S.Patent and Trademark Office is part of the U.S. Department of Commerce.

U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit (CAFC)

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit provides the text of its current opinions, court rules, calendars, deposition sheets, and press releases on its web site. Opinions are downloadable in self-extracting, compressed Wordｮ files from the CAFC's FTP directory.

CAFC decisions are also available from the Emory University School of Law Library's Court Publishing Project, in cooperation with the Court. Opinions on the Emory site are posted in both HTML and WordPerfectｮ formats and are searchable by party name and decision date, and by keywords using WAIS. The Edward Bennett Williams Library of the Georgetown University Law Center also provides access to recent decisions of the Federal Circuit. The opinions are available for downloading in HTML, Word Perfectｮ, Wordｮ, and ASCII formats.

U.S. Copyright Office

Part of the Library of Congress, the Copyright Office is charged with the registration of copyrights in the United States. Its web site includes search access to the Office's registration records.

U.S. International Trade Commission

The International Trade Commission (ITC) is an independent, quasi-judicial agency which studies the impact of imports on U.S. industries and directs actions against unfair trade practices, including infringement of intellectual property rights.

U.S. Customs Service

The Customs Service enforces customs laws, collects import duties, and interdicts contraband. It also prosecutes fraudulent trade practices circumventing intellectual property rights.

U.S. Government Printing Office

The U.S. Government Printing Office's GPO Access site offers searchable versions of the Federal Register, Congressional Record and many other government publications. Here you can follow developments in the USPTO's regulations and track Congressional debates on proposed changes in U.S. intellectual property laws.

U.S. Congress

The United States Senate and House of Representatives both provide sites which include information on members and on bills under consideration. Full text of proposed and enacted legislation and status information on pending legislation is available through the Library of Congress's Thomas service.

Organizations

World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO)

The World Intellectual Property Organization or "WIPO" is an international organization of over 161 member countries which promotes intellectual property protection and administers various IP-related multilateral treaties. Headquartered in Geneva, Switzerland, it is one of the United Nations' specialized agencies.

Association Internationale pour la Protection de la Propri騁・Industrielle (AIPPI)

The International Association for the Protection of Industrial Property (AIPPI) is an international, non-governmental, non-profit organization dedicated to improve and promote the protection of intellectual property. The AIPPI was founded in 1897 and has 7,650 members in 104 countries.

F馘駻ation Internationale des Conseils en Propri騁・Industrielle (FICPI)

The International Federation of Industrial Property Attorneys (FICPI) was founded in 1906 as an association of industrial property lawyers in private practice worldwide.

International Trademark Association (INTAｮ)

The International Trademark Association or "INTA" is made up of trademark owners, practitioners, and others from around the world. It provides information about trademarks to its members and the general public.

American Intellectual Property Law Association (AIPLA)

The AIPLA is a 6,000 member bar association of attorneys practicing in the field of intellectual property.

American Bar Association Section of Intellectual Property Law

Founded in 1894, this section of the ABA has over 12,000 members and is the largest intellectual property organization in the United States. The site provides updates on section activities, IP legislation, and information on section publications.

Other Sites

Esp@cenet

The European Patent Office's Esp@cenet service provides free access to English-language abstracts and full image copies of many U.S., European (both EPO and national offices), Japanese and PCT patent publications.

Franklin Pierce Law Center

The Franklin Pierce Law Center's Intellectual Property Mall provides a comprehensive, annotated listing of intellectual property Internet sites.