How to Use WIPO PATENTSCOPE for International Prior Art

WIPO's PATENTSCOPE database provides free access to over 100 million patent documents from national and regional patent offices worldwide — including the complete collection of PCT international applications. It is the best free tool for searching international prior art, particularly for PCT applications that may not yet appear in national databases.

Getting Started

Go to patentscope.wipo.int. No account is required. The home page offers Simple, Advanced, Field Combination, and Cross-Lingual Expansion (CLIR) search modes.

Simple Search

Enter keywords in the search bar. PATENTSCOPE searches across the full text of patent documents — titles, abstracts, descriptions, and claims. Results are sorted by relevance.

The default searches the "PCT full collection." To search national collections, use the "Collection" dropdown — you can select individual offices (USPTO, EPO, CNIPA, JPO, KIPO) or search all collections simultaneously.

Advanced Search

Click "Advanced Search" for field-specific queries:

• Front Page (FP): Searches title, abstract, and bibliographic data
• English Claims (EC): Searches only the claims — useful for finding patents with specific claim language
• Description (DE): Searches the full specification text
• International Classification (IC): Search by IPC code
• Applicant Name (AN): Search by company or inventor name
• Priority Date (PRD): Filter by date range

Combine fields with Boolean operators (AND, OR, NOT). Example:

FP:(capillary AND planter) AND IC:(A01G27*) AND PRD:[2020 TO 2026]

This finds patents mentioning "capillary" and "planter" in the front page, classified under A01G27, with a priority date from 2020 onwards.

Cross-Lingual Search (CLIR)

PATENTSCOPE's most unique feature. CLIR automatically translates your English search terms into 13 languages (including Chinese, Japanese, Korean, German, French, Russian, and Spanish) and searches all language collections simultaneously.

Enter your English keywords, select "Cross-Lingual Expansion" mode, and PATENTSCOPE finds patents in every language — even when no English translation exists. This catches prior art that is invisible on English-only databases.

Viewing PCT Applications

PATENTSCOPE is the primary source for PCT application documents. For any PCT application, you can view the published international application, the International Search Report (ISR) and Written Opinion, any Chapter II examination reports, and the national phase entry status — which countries the applicant entered and when.

This national phase information is commercially valuable — it reveals which markets the applicant considers important enough to invest in national prosecution.

Monitoring and Alerts

Create a free WIPO account to save searches and set up email alerts for new publications matching your criteria. PCT applications are published every Thursday — weekly alerts keep you current on new filings in your technology area.

Sources

1. WIPO PATENTSCOPE — WIPO's free patent database with over 100 million documents including all PCT applications
2. WIPO — PCT International Patent System — Overview of the Patent Cooperation Treaty system
3. WIPO — International Patent Classification (IPC) — Classification system used in PATENTSCOPE searches