Introduction to Auspat searching
Hello, I am Laura. I will be your guide to using AusPat. AusPat is a free online tool where you can search for Australian patents. You can also view bibliographic details for each application in your search results, as well as download the specification and other documents of interest.
This video gives an overview of how to conduct simple searches using our quick and structured interfaces. It will also show you how to navigate through your search results and download any documents you may be interested in. For help using the Advanced Search interface and constructing search queries, I recommend you view the Advanced Search video tutorial.
CHAPTER 1 - QUICK SEARCH
AusPat has three search interfaces – this is the Quick Search interface. This is the screen you see when you first enter the AusPat site. Click on the "Hide Announcement" link to remove the announcement from view. This box will appear again if there is important information about AusPat that you need to know like outages to the service or new features.
You can use Quick Search to find the record for specific applications by searching for the number, applicant or inventor name, or keywords from the title or abstract.
For help using Quick Search, you can show prompts by clicking on the "Show help prompts" link. You can also access help information by clicking on the "Help" link at the bottom of the page, or by reading the User Guide. The "About" link also provides extra information on the Quick Search interface.
To search using Quick Search, enter a word or number into the box and click Search. In this example I am going to search for "wheel". I want to include the text of the abstracts, so I need to tick the "Include abstract text" box. Now that I'm finished, I can press Search. I’ll talk about the search results page a little later in this video.
If I want to open a new Quick Search, or move to the Structured Search interface, I can easily do this by clicking on the links found at the top right-hand side of the screen.
CHAPTER 2 - STRUCTURED SEARCH
This is the Structured Search interface. Structured Search provides a user-friendly interface to search across all the fields on offer in AusPat. You can combine multiple fields to create a more complex search query.
To search, select a search field from the drop-down menu and enter a word or number into the text box. In this example I am going to search for "wheel" in the Invention Title field.
I also want to add the search term "axle" and search for it in the abstract field. To add an additional search term, I click on the "Add search term" link. Because the abstract field is a full text field I need to tick this box before I can select Abstract from the drop down menu. Now I can type my keyword axle in the box. I want to search for "wheel" or "axle", so I select the OR operator from the drop down menu. Now that I am happy with my query, I click the Search button .
CHAPTER 3 - SEARCH RESULTS
This is the Search Results page. This page displays basic information for each application retrieved in your search. It also provides a summary of your search query and the number of results the search returned.
You can customise the displayed results columns by clicking on "Customise columns/data" and dragging and dropping labels from the Unused box into the Current box or vice versa. I am going to add the "Agent name" to my columns by dragging it into the Current box and clicking on the "Save changes" button. I can now see the Agent name for each of my applications.
You can sort results according to the data available in the displayed columns. If you want to see those applications with the oldest filing dates first you would click on the "Filing date" heading to re-order the results.
The default in AusPat is to only display 10 results per page. You can show more by selecting another option from the "Results per page" drop down menu. If you want to view the next page of results, click on the "Next" link.
From the Search Results screen you have the option to search within the current set of results to narrow your search, refine your current query by adding or removing search terms, or start a brand new search by clicking on the links found in the top right-hand side of the screen.
CHAPTER 3.1 - SEARCH WITHIN RESULTS
Clicking the "Search Within Results" link takes you back to the search interface of your original search, in this case the Structured Search interface. You can now add more terms to your search in the same way you constructed your initial search. AusPat will always link old and new terms with the AND operator.
CHAPTER 3.2 - REFINE YOUR QUERY
Clicking the "Refine Your Query" link takes you back to the search interface where you did your original search, in this case the Structured Search interface. You can now add terms to your search, delete terms, modify existing terms and change the linking operators.
CHAPTER 3.3 - ACCESSING APPLICATIONS
If you want to open an application from the search results to view details of the application, click on the underlined application number in the search results list.
CHAPTER 4 - APPLICATION DETAILS AND SPECIFICATIONS
This is the application details page. This page provides information on the application including bibliographic data, a copy of the specification, access to the case file for 2006 cases onwards, and information regarding oppositions.
To display this information you can either click on the 'twist down' button at the beginning of each section, or click on the 'Expand all' link at the top of the page.
The specification of an application provides a description of the invention and also contains the legally binding 'claims'. It can be found by scrolling down the page until you get to the Specification/e-Register heading. The specification can be downloaded or viewed by clicking on the AU-A1 or similar link. If there is more then one published specification, they will appear in chronological order down the page. The most recent specification will appear last. If you click on this link, the specification will open in a separate window as a PDF document.
CHAPTER 5 - EDOSSIER
This is the eDossier record for this application. Applications from 2006 onwards which have been made public, such as this one, will have an eDossier record. eDossier is a list of documents relating to the patent application. This includes the claims, reports sent out by IP Australia's patent examiners and responses and amendments made by the applicant.
To open or download a document from eDossier, you can either click on the document title, or tick the box at the end of the document row and click Retrieve Documents. This is useful if you want to download more then one document at a time. The document will open as a PDF in a separate window. You may be asked to prove, using a CAPTCHA test, that you are a person before downloading a document.
To download all the documents tick the box in the heading bar and then click on Retrieve Documents.
Documents which do not have a blue, underlined document title are not able to be downloaded or viewed because they may contain sensitive personal information or information that is restricted under copyright or licensing conditions.
Once you have finished viewing the details of an application and want to return to your search results, click on the link at the top right of the page.
Thank you for watching this presentation. If you would like help using the Advanced Search interface and constructing search queries, I recommended you view the Advanced Search video tutorial. You can also check out the User Guide found on our website and at the bottom of each page in AusPat. We would also love to hear from you. You can provide feedback using the form located at the bottom of each page in AusPat, emailing us at assist@ipaustralia.gov.au or by calling 1300 65 1010.
Last Updated: 11/12/2012
