| | Your Legal Companion | p. 1 |
| | The Basics | |
| | Patents and Patent Searching | p. 5 |
| | What Is a Patent and What Does It Do for Me? | p. 6 |
| | What Is Prior Art? | p. 7 |
| | What Is the PTO Patent Database? | p. 9 |
| | Patent Searching and Patent Eligibility | p. 10 |
| | The Easy Part: Statutory Subject Matter and Usefulness | p. 10 |
| | Novelty: Is Your Invention New? | p. 11 |
| | Nonobviousness: Is Your Invention Obvious? | p. 15 |
| | The Patent Document | p. 19 |
| | Understanding Patent Databases | p. 27 |
| | How Information Is Entered Into the Database | p. 28 |
| | Understanding Keyword Searching | p. 29 |
| | What You Need to Search Patent Databases | p. 40 |
| | Simple and Advanced Searching | |
| | Patent Searching at the PTO Website | p. 45 |
| | Simple Keyword Searches at the PTO's Website | p. 46 |
| | Searching the Manual of Classification | p. 58 |
| | Search by Patent Number | p. 70 |
| | Working With Patent Images | p. 72 |
| | An Effective Strategy for Basic Patent Searches | p. 79 |
| | Advanced Search Techniques | p. 85 |
| | How to Accomplish an Advanced Patent Search at the PTO Website | p. 86 |
| | Searching Published Patent Applications at the PTO's Website | p. 104 |
| | Patent Searching at the EPO Website | p. 111 |
| | Patent Searching at the EPO | p. 112 |
| | Other Patent Search Websites | p. 129 |
| | SurfIP | p. 130 |
| | Google Patent Search | p. 137 |
| | Fee-Based Patent-Searching Websites | p. 144 |
| | Additional Sources of Prior Art | p. 147 |
| | Google | p. 148 |
| | The Thomas Register | p. 154 |
| | Government Websites | p. 157 |
| | Usenet Newsgroups | p. 161 |
| | Trade Magazines, Books, and Stores | p. 165 |
| | Resources | |
| | Hitting the Books | p. 169 |
| | Index to the U.S. Patent Classification System | p. 170 |
| | Manual of Classification | p. 175 |
| | Classification Definitions | p. 177 |
| | Using Cassis | p. 187 |
| | The Cassis DVD Database | p. 188 |
| | Welcome to Cassis2 | p. 188 |
| | Additional Cassis Features | p. 199 |
| | East Meets West | p. 201 |
| | Web-based Examiner Search Tool (West) | p. 203 |
| | Examiner Automated Search Tool (East) | p. 209 |
| | Additional East/West Features | p. 214 |
| | Glossary | p. 215 |
| | Appendixes | |
| | Reference Collection of U.S. Patents Available for Public Use in Patent and Trademark Depository Libraries | p. 223 |
| | Forms | p. 229 |
| | Index | |