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DATAMP FAQ's

Q: What is DATAMP?

A: DATAMP is an acronym for Directory of American Tool and Machinery Patents. Over the years DATAMP has expanded to include all of the early (pre-July 1836) U.S. patents that weren't originally numbered and were lost in a fire in December 1836. Of the approximately 10,000 of these patents, about 2,000 were restored from the original patent holders copies of their patents. The other 8,000 or so, we have only the name of the patent and that of the patentee, although we have found information about some of them from other sources. Of the 80,674 patents currently in DATAMP, 28,729 have links to Vintagemachinery.org containing information about the patent's manufacturer.

Q: Who contributes data to DATAMP?

A: The Patent Stewards are responsible for adding and updating patents in their areas of interest. Information about our stewards can be found here.

Q: How is DATAMP supported?

A: DATAMP is a non-profit volunteer endeavor supported by users via this link.

Q: What patents are included in DATAMP?

A: DATAMP originally started out with American tools and machinery patents. Over the years, we have expanded to include patents from other countries such as Canada, the United Kingdom, and some European countries. We also have all of the early (pre-July 1836) U.S. patents, all of the Confederate States of America patents, plus some patents that aren't tools or machinery, but are related to a tool or machinery inventor. You can see a list of these patents here.

Q: How do I search for a patent using DATAMP?

A: It depends on what information that your have.

If you have a patent number, enter it in the patent number box above and click on the Go button.
If you have a patent date, enter it in the Patent Date box above and press the Go button. It can be entered in a multitude of formats as explained here.
If you have a patent title, click on the Advanced link above, and fill in the title. Then click on the Search button.
If you have a patentee's name, click on the Person link above and fill in the name. Then click on the Search button.
If you have the company who made the article, click on the Company link above, and fill in the name. Then click on the Search button.
You can also look for a patent that might fall under a certain category of patents. You can use the Type link above to look at all of the categories and then search for the one that might fit the patent that you are looking for. A full listing of our categories is shown here.
The Class link above lets you search by the Patent Classification that the United States Patent Office assigned to all patents after July 1836. Should you find a patent that is similar to the one that you are looking for you can enter that patent classification and search for all other patents in our database with that same patent classification.

Q: If I can't find a patent in DATAMP, what can I do?

A: You can go to http://www.google.com/advanced_patent_search and enter the information you have.
These sites can also be used for non US patents:

European Patent Office for European patents. This site also has patents from other countries, including Canada and the USA, mostly from 1920 onwards. To restrict the search to a specific country, entry that country's two-letter code in the Publication number field, e.g., GB for Great Britain, DE for Germany.
Canadian Intellectual Property Office for Canadian patents from 1920 onwards.
Library and Archives Canada for Canadian patents issued from 1869 to 1919. This database includes only patents issued to Canadian residents and citizens.

If you still can't find a patent you may contact us for help.

Q: I would like to contribute patents to DATAMP. How do I proceed?

A: Contact us and tell us what your interests are.