Yes, a patent application is generally "examined" prior to being issued by the patent office in the country where it is filed.
Thomas Kallard has written: 'Liquid crystal devices' -- subject(s): Liquid crystal devices, Patents 'Commodity spreads' -- subject(s): Commodity exchanges 'Holography; state of the art review ... 1970' -- subject(s): Bibliography, Holography, Optical instruments, Patents 'Holography; state of the art review ... 1971-72' 'Holography; state of the art review ... 1969' -- subject(s): Bibliography, Holography, Optical instruments, Patents
Yes, there are quite a few sites that will let you browse patents. One of the best i know is legal zoom dot com. Uspto dot gov is another good site to review as well.
99,220, including utility patents, plant patents, design patents, and reissues.
The USPTO granted a total of 247,727 patents from 1 January 2011 to 31 December 2011, including Reissue Patents, Plant Patents, Design Patents, and Utility Patents.
The US Patent Office issued 99,200 total patents from 1 January 1990 to 31 December 1990, including 9 reissue patents, 6 plant patents, 194 design patents, and 98,991 utility patents.
43 patents
Charles Kettering had 104 patents.
The website Free Patents Online provides descriptions of patents, with downloadable PDFs of their schematics. Alternatively, the website Patents provides text descriptions but no images.
As of 2010, General Electric (GE) has 1,222 patents. Aside from this, they have filed 37, 268 patents in the US.
What Companies hold MEMS patents
As with other property rights, patents can be sold or licensed
Spyderco has 54 patents and 36 trademarks.