Search Tools for Patents and Trademarks

The following search tools are provided by national and international patent and trademark offices and can be used free of charge for searching of patents, designs and trademarks:

1. Search Tools for Patents

The following search tools can be used for prior art searches (invalidity searches) and – with limitations – for freedom to operate searches (FTO searches):

• DEPATISnet (database of the German Patent and Trademark Office)
• Esp@cenet (database of the European Patent Office)
• DPMAregister (patent register of the German Patent and Trademark Office)
• PAIR (patent register of the US Patent and Trademark Office)
• EPOLINE Register (patent register of the European Patent Office)
• PATENTSCOPE (patent register of the World Intellectual Property Organization)

2. Search Tools for Trademarks

The following search tools may be used for trademark identity searches:

• DPMAregister (trademark register of the German Patent and Trademark Office)
• TESS (trademark register of the US Patent and Trademark Office)
• TMview (trademarks of all trademark offices participating at national, international and EU level)
• eSearch plus (trademark and design register of the European Union Intellectual Property Office)
• ROMARIN (international registrations of trademarks of the World Intellectual Property Organization)
• Global Brand Database (brand-related searches across multiple collections provided by the WIPO)

Recommendations for the classification of goods and services of trademark applications can be found using the following search tools:

• TMclass (classification database of the Office for Harmonization in the Internal Market)

3. Search Tools for Designs

The following search tools can be used for design searches:

• DPMAregister (design register of the German Patent and Trademark Office)
• DesignView (centralized access point to registered designs information held by any of the participating national offices in the EU)
• eSearch plus (design and design register of the European Union Intellectual Property Office)
• Hague Express (international registrations of industrial designs of the World Intellectual Property Organization)

Update (as of June 17, 2026)

Several of the tools listed above have since been renamed or retired. The most important changes: the US register Public PAIR was replaced by Patent Center on July 31, 2022; the US trademark database TESS was replaced by Trademark Search on November 30, 2023; WIPO’s ROMARIN was superseded by the Madrid Monitor on January 1, 2018; the classic Esp@cenet was replaced by the new Espacenet; the EPOLINE Register is now the European Patent Register; Hague Express has been folded into the Global Design Database; and the OHIM became the EUIPO in 2016. The current, still free-of-charge search tools are listed below.

1. Patents and patent applications

• DEPATISnet – patent database of the German Patent and Trade Mark Office (DPMA)
• DPMAregister – official patent, trade mark and design register of the DPMA
• Espacenet (new) – worldwide patent database of the European Patent Office (EPO)
• European Patent Register – procedural status of European applications (formerly the “EPOLINE Register”)
• PATENTSCOPE – PCT and national/regional collections of the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO)
• Patent Center – register of the US Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO; successor to Public PAIR)
• Google Patents – free, full-text tool that is useful as a supplementary prior-art resource

2. Trademarks

• DPMAregister – trade mark register of the DPMA
• TMview – joint trade mark database of numerous national offices, the EUIPO and WIPO
• eSearch plus – trade mark and design register of the EUIPO (via the EUIPO website)
• WIPO Global Brand Database – brand searches across many collections worldwide
• Madrid Monitor – international registrations under the Madrid System (successor to ROMARIN)
• USPTO Trademark Search – US trade mark searches (successor to TESS)
• TMclass – tool for classifying goods and services (Nice classification)

3. Designs

• DPMAregister – design register of the DPMA
• Designview – joint design database of the participating offices
• eSearch plus – design register of the EUIPO
• WIPO Global Design Database – international designs under the Hague System plus national collections (incorporates the former “Hague Express”)

New since the original post: the Unitary Patent

With the launch of the European unitary patent and the Unified Patent Court (UPC) on June 1, 2023, two further sources have become relevant: the European Patent Register indicates unitary effect, and the Unified Patent Court (UPC) provides information on pending proceedings through its register.

Please note: the offices’ databases and URLs change from time to time; if in doubt, navigate from the relevant office’s home page (dpma.de, epo.org, euipo.europa.eu, wipo.int, uspto.gov).