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West e-lert Newsletter
September 2009

How do I retrieve European patents for a particular invention?

Q: I'm trying to identify all the European patents for antidepressants that are assigned to Eli Lilly and Company. If I access the European Patents and Applications database (EURO-PAT-ALL) and type antidepressant in the Abstract text box, my search misses documents in which the abstract doesn't contain the term antidepressant, e.g., the abstract uses chemical names or is in a foreign language. What else can I try?

A: If you know the current International Patent Classification (IPC) code, access EURO-PAT-ALL and choose the Advanced AND template. Then type "eli lilly" in the Assignees text box and the IPC code for antidepressants, a61p-25/24, in the Current IPC Classification text box and click Search Westlaw.

If you don't know the IPC code but are viewing a similar patent, copy the IPC codes listed under International Classes (Current) and paste them (up to 80 characters) in the Current IPC Classification text box at the EURO-PAT-ALL Advanced AND search template. (Be sure to add spaces between IPC codes before running your search.)


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