# paten #'s

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/paten-s/34499>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [September 25, 2000, 7:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/paten-s/34499 "2000-09-25T19:31:01Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 2\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![Ruggles](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/4491bb/32.png) [@Ruggles](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ruggles)\
**Post date:** [September 25, 2000, 7:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/paten-s/34499/1 "2000-09-25T19:31:01Z")

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Any idea how I can look up a paten # and see what purpose the object in question is supposed to serve? I found this tool in Colorado and I can’t figure out what it could possibly be. It does have a paten number on the side of it so I’m trying to identify it that way.

Thanks

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**Author:** ![BobT](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/8e8cbc/32.png) [@BobT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BobT)\
**Post date:** [September 25, 2000, 7:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/paten-s/34499/2 "2000-09-25T19:38:18Z")

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> **[United States Patent and Trademark Office](https://www.uspto.gov)**

[http://www.patents.ibm.com](http://www.patents.ibm.com)  
When I was an altar boy, the patens I used didn’t have numbers on them. 🙂