1. USPTO and SIPO offer free patent search tools, but they are not user-friendly.
2. Fee-based websites such as Thomson Innovation and Innography offer more robust search capabilities.
3. SooIP is a new patent search tool that offers free searching without login and has a friendly interface.
The article provides an overview of the different types of patent search tools available online, including both free and fee-based options. The author provides some practical advice on which tools to use for specific purposes, such as Thomson Innovation for precise Boolean queries and Innography for fuzzy searches. The article also introduces SooIP as a new patent search tool with many similar capabilities to the other options, but with the added benefit of being able to search without logging in.
The article appears to be reliable overall, as it provides detailed information about the various types of patent search tools available online and their respective features. However, there are some potential biases in the article that should be noted. For example, the author does not mention any potential drawbacks or risks associated with using any of these tools, nor does he provide any counterarguments or explore alternative perspectives on the topic. Additionally, while the author does mention some fee-based options, he does not provide any information about their cost or how they compare to other fee-based services in terms of price or features. Furthermore, while the author does mention SooIP as a new option for searching patents online, he does not provide any evidence to support his claims about its features or advantages over other services. As such, readers should take this information with a grain of salt until further evidence is provided to support these claims.