Computer patent databases as the source of scientific and technical information

The article presents the specificity and the content of patent literature. It describes the structure of the patent documentation, possibilities of access to the scientific and technical, legal and economics information which that literature contains, and possibilities of using this information. The article mentions the most important international standards used in patent publications, recommended by the World Intellectual Property Organization. It also presents the types of computer patent databases and the most important bibliographic and full text databases accessible on CD-ROM and online, and also the specialistic publishers and commercial operators accessing patent information.