Did you know... Espacenet has special field operators for keywords?

https://www.epo.org/fr/searching-for-patents/helpful-resources/patent-knowledge-news/did-you-know-espacenet-has-special

Did you know... Espacenet has special field operators for keywords?

02.06.2025

Information

Désolé. Actuellement, cette page n'existe pas en français.

Learn about field operators in Espacenet and how to use them effectively

Espacenet offers a wide range of operators to make your searches more precise and effective. You are certainly familiar with Boolean operators, such as AND, OR and NOT. But did you know that Espacenet also supports field-specific operators that further tailor your search? Let’s explore what these operators do—and how they can enhance your results.

Let’s illustrate field operators by using the Advanced search mode. When you select Advanced search after launching Espacenet, the predefined search template will appear. Each search criterion (e.g., Title) includes a dropdown menu listing all the field operators applicable to this field (see Fig. 1).

Fig. 1. Dropdown menu with an overview on available field operators for the related search criterion.

To better understand these, let’s look at the operators available for keyword-based search fields, such as Title, Abstract, Description, Claims or a combination thereof. These operators are any, all, proximity and =.

All

When using the all operator, your results will include all your search terms. For example, entering the keywords brain stimulation in the Title search field with the operator set to all will retrieve documents that include both brain and stimulation in the title.

Fig. 2. Use of the field operator “all”.

This query will have the same effect as placing the Boolean operator AND between two search fields (one containing brain, the other stimulation).

Fig. 3. Comparison with the Boolean operator “AND”.

Any

The any operator will retrieve documents that contain “any” of the keywords in the title i.e., either brain or stimulation. It has the same effect as placing the Boolean operator OR between two search fields (one with brain, the other with stimulation).

Equal

The = operator is used when you want to find an exact phrase. If you search for brain stimulation using =, only documents with that precise expression, in that exact order, will be returned.

Proximity

Proximity operators will allow you to retrieve documents in which the search terms appear within a certain distance from each other, either in any order or in a specified one. This allows you to tailor results based on how closely terms are related in context.

When using these operators, you can enter as many keywords as you like in a same search field, provided you stay within Espacenet’s search limits (see “Further information” below). Please note, that you cannot use Boolean operators (AND, OR, NOT) within search fields.

Fig. 4. Boolean operators should not be used within search fields.

Would you like to know more about the range of field operators and how they can improve your searches? Take a look at our help files for comparison operators, proximity operators and the /low operator.

Keywords: Espacenet, patent search, operators