Derwent World Patents Index

The Derwent World Patents Index (or World Patents Index ) is a database that patent applications and granted patents from 44 patent- issuing authorities contains worldwide.

The entries are in English and are created by an editor team. The database entries contain a brief summary of the structure and benefits of the present invention from the relevant patents and are indexed as easy to make in alphanumeric technology categories to search for relevant patent documents for the user.

Each entry in the database describes a patent family, the grouping of the various patent documents that are held evident in the various patent offices for the protection of an invention around the world. Each patent family is arranged around a basic patent, usually the first published example of the invention. All following entries are based on this basic patent and considered using this as equivalent. On this basis, the database has around 20 million " inventions " based on tens of millions of patents, with nearly one million new inventions that are reported each year. In 2008, the number format of the basic patent identifier ( accession number ) has changed to allow up to 3.6 million entries per year, while the previous format which only allowed a maximum of about one million entries per year. This is the result of the steady increase of patent applications per year.