2.4 Searching for patent title

Operator/wildcard

Function

AND

Using AND between terms will search for marks which contain both terms. It will be calculated before OR requests

OR/spaces

Using OR between terms will return results which contain either term. If only a space is left between the terms then the system will automatically default to OR.

AND NOT

Using AND NOT [term] after your search string will exclude words from your results which contain the term.

You can also use NOT [term], without the AND. However, this will produce results of all cases which do not contain that term, unrelated to your initial search, unless used in conjunction with a search in a field other than TITLE.

( ) brackets

Brackets override the rule that ANDs will be calculated before ORs. Enabling you to combine multiple searches in one.

?

This wildcard is used to represent a single character. It may be used in any part of a word.

*

This wildcard is used to represent several characters or no characters. To find cases where your term is the prefix use it at the end of the word, where your case is the suffix use it at the beginning of the word.

“SINGLEWORD” quotation marks

Placing quotation marks around a single word or letter will produce results where the entire case title consists of that single word or letter. This is especially beneficial where the single word or letter produces too many hits.

“MULTIPLE WORD PHRASE” quotation marks

Placing quotation marks around a group of words or phrases will return results where the case contains that phrase in the order written. Use this in combination with wild cards.