Intellectual Property Research Guide

⚖️U.S. IP Primary Sources

This section provides access to the foundational legal texts of U.S. IP law, including:

  • Federal statutes like the Patent Act, Lanham Act, and Copyright Act
  • Key regulations from the USPTO and U.S. Copyright Office
  • Landmark judicial decisions from the Supreme Court, Federal Circuit, and other courts

Use these materials to support legal arguments, cite authority, or trace the development of IP doctrines.

Copyright Primary Sources

 

Statutory law: Title 17 of the United States Code contains the Copyright Act of 1976 and all subsequent amendments to copyright law, the Semiconductor Chip Protection Act of 1984, as amended, and the Vessel Hull Design Protection Act, as amended. The code is available online at the U.S. Copyright Office website, and at many other locations, including on Lexis and Westlaw.

Proposed Legislation:

  • Congress.gov is the Library of Congress free legislative research service, and the website allows searches of all legislation from 1973 to the current legislative session.
  • GovTrack.us maintains records of federal legislation and legislators going back to 1972. The platform supports searches, tracking, and alerts.
  • Lexis and Westlaw also provide bill searching and tracking features. On Westlaw, the database is Federal Proposed and Enacted Legislation, and on Lexis, it is Bill Text.

Regulations: Copyright regulations are codified in the Code of Federal Regulations Title 37, Parts 201-384. Access these on the U.S. Copyright Office Website (parts 201-212 only) or through the e-CFR, or obtain annotated versions on Lexis or Westlaw. The Copyright Office Practices Manuals are available on the U.S. Copyright Office website.

Case Law: 

  • The best way to find relevant case law is to start with a secondary source. Alternatively, if you have a citation to a statute, use the annotations or Shepardize (Lexis) or KeyCite (Westlaw) to find relevant cases on the issue.
  • If you do not have a statute or known case, searching in specific headnotes (Lexis) and Key Numbers (Westlaw) can be highly efficient.
  • Keyword searching is often least efficient because it depends on matching the terms used in the decisions you are looking for. We recommend contacting a UC Law SF librarian or the Westlaw and Lexis reference attorneys for assistance in building your searches.

Trademark Primary Sources


Statutory law: The Lanham Act, Title 15 of the United States Code, was enacted to provide for a national system of trademark registration and protection. The official version of Title 15  is on the U.S. Government Publishing Office Website. Lexis and Westlaw maintain updated, annotated versions of the code with features for accessing related primary law, legislative history, secondary sources, and more.

Proposed Legislation:

  • Congress.gov is the Library of Congress free legislative research service, and the website allows searches of all legislation from 1973 to the current legislative session.
  • GovTrack.us maintains records of federal legislation and legislators going back to 1972. The platform supports searches, tracking, and alerts.
  • Lexis and Westlaw also provide bill searching and tracking features. On Westlaw, the database is Federal Proposed and Enacted Legislation, and on Lexis, it is Bill Text.
     

Regulations:

Trademark regulations are codified in the Code of Federal Regulations Title 37, Parts 2-7. This version of the regs, from the Cornell LII website, is user-friendly, but not the official version. Access the official version on the U.S. Government Publishing Office website. Lexis or Westlaw maintain up-to-date, annotated versions of the CFR with features for linking to relevant regulatory history, code sections, case law, administrative law, and more.

Case Law: 

  • The best way to find relevant case law is to start with a secondary source. Alternatively, if you have a citation to a statute, use the annotations or Shepardize (Lexis) or KeyCite (Westlaw) to find relevant cases.
  • If you do not have a statute or known case or code section, searching in specific headnotes (Lexis) and Key Numbers (Westlaw) can be highly efficient.
  • Keyword searching is often least efficient because it depends on matching the terms used in the decisions you are looking for. We recommend contacting a UC Law SF  librarian or the Westlaw and Lexis reference attorneys for assistance in building your searches.

Patent Law Primary Sources


Statutory law: The Patent Act, Title 35 of the United States Code, was enacted in accordance with article I, section 8, clause 8 of the U.S. Constitution. The official version of Title 35  is on the U.S. Government Publishing Office Website. Lexis and Westlaw maintain updated, annotated versions of the code with features for accessing related primary law, legislative history, secondary sources, and more.

Proposed Legislation:

  • Congress.gov is the Library of Congress free legislative research service, and the website allows searches of all legislation from 1973 to the current legislative session.
  • GovTrack.us maintains records of federal legislation and legislators going back to 1972. The platform supports searches, tracking, and alerts.
  • Lexis and Westlaw also provide bill searching and tracking features. On Westlaw, the database is Federal Proposed and Enacted Legislation, and on Lexis, it is Bill Text.
     

Regulations: Patent regulations are codified in the Code of Federal Regulations, Title 37, Part I. This version of the regulations from the Cornell LII website, is user-friendly, but not the official version. Access the official version on the U.S. Government Publishing Office website. Lexis or Westlaw maintain up-to-date, annotated versions of the CFR with features for linking to relevant regulatory history, code sections, case law, administrative law, and more.

Case Law: The best way to find relevant case law is to start with a secondary source. Alternatively, if you have a citation to a statute, use the annotations or Shepardize (Lexis) or KeyCite (Westlaw) the statute to find relevant cases.

Patent Searches:

  • Search full-text and image databases on the USPTO website.​
  • Free Patents Online provides user-friendly navigation and searching, with linked categories to assist. 
  • Google Patents provides searcing using the familiar Google interface.
Subjects: Federal Research