To further promote the free availability of patent information, the European Patent Office (EPO), the member states of the European Patent Organisation and the European Commission combined to launch the espacenet
service in 1998.
Esp@cenet is designed primarily for the general public and its main aim is to provide non-specialist users with a readily accessible source of free patent information published by patent offices around the world, in some cases dating back to 1920. Specifically, esp@cenet offers access to:
- Published patent applications of the EPO member states (including Ireland).
- EPO published patent applications.
- Published PCT (Patent Co-operation Treaty) applications from the World Intellectual Property Organisation(WIPO).
- "Worldwide" patent information (English language patent abstracts).
- Japanese patent documents.
It should be noted that a search carried out in the esp@cenet database cannot replace a professional search. The information furnished is indicative of published patents but is not exhaustive and the service cannot be considered as a complete and only source of patent information.