Derwent World Patent Index
The Derwent World Patents Index (or DWPI ) is a database of patent applications and grants from 48 patent issuing agencies worldwide.
The entries are in English and are created by a team of editors. The database entries contain a brief summary of the structure and use of the invention contained in the relevant patents and are indexed into alphanumeric technology categories in order to make a search for relevant patent documents as easy as possible for the user.
Each entry in the patent index describes the patent family , the grouping of the various patent documents that are kept on record in the various patent offices for the protection of an invention around the world. Each patent family is organized around a basic patent, usually the first patent publication on the invention. All the following entries refer to this basic patent and are considered equivalent to it. On this basis, the database currently (March 2018) has over 35.6 million data records, that is more than 23 million "inventions", based on tens of millions of patents with over a million new entries per year. In 2008, the number format of the accession number (basic patent identifier) changed to allow up to 3.6 million entries per year; with the previous format only a maximum of about one million entries per year was possible. This is the result of the steady increase in patent registrations each year.
Individual evidence
- ↑ Clarivate Homepage, Clarivate Analytics: Derwent Innovation
- ^ STN International Homepage, STN International: DWPI - Derwent World Patents Index
- ^ STN International Homepage, DWPI - Derwent World Patents Index on STN database summary