How to figure out of a product is patented?

[CTJ91]

Hi EPO discussion board,

I am investigating a new product that has been launched which I am interested in knowing if they are protected by a patent. We have patents on our products which are clearly showcased with patent number etc on our homepages see as examples: parasolfod & sonnenschirmständer I thought that was mandatory?

I am not able to find any patent claims or numbers on the homepage of the reseller or manufacturer. So how would I be able to find the patent because searching for the keyword "parasol/patio Umbrella" gives me + 13.000 possible patents - could I contact the manufacture directly?

Best regards
Christian from Baser

[EPO / Innovation Networks]

Hi Christian,

Entering umbrella or patio or parasol* will indeed retrieve an awful lot of noise as the database is retrieving all those documents that contain these words in them and not necessarily patent publications on "umbrella" inventions.

We suggest you use the Classification search search in Espacenet. Here you can enter umbrella and or patio / parasol etc... and you will retrieve a list of patent classification symbols. You should then read through the list and select the class or classes most relevant to what you are looking for, eg., umbrellas and stands for support etc.... When you then click on "Find patents" on the right hand side of the screen, you will retrieve the patent publications classified in that area.

If there are too many, you can use the filters to refine your search by date, country and or applicant or inventor name etc.

We hope this helps you.