Usability
The following section contains subjective comments about the system that represent our editor's opinions, and should not be viewed as fact. Editor's opinions include positive and negative judgments about the product written in consideration of wider context, including related products and the industry at large.
Espacenet was designed to entice individuals and small entities to make use of free patent information on the web. As a consequence, it is highly user-friendly, with a simple interface and an abundance of quick help topics available right from every page. Any user who does not immediately understand how to use the system can get on track by using the interactive assistant feature to take the online help courses, although these interactive help tools became outdated after the 2011 upgrade to Espacenet version 5. The 2011 update to the Espacenet interface may cause some confusion for users, since the layout of the search forms, hit lists, and results pages were changed. The upgrade did add many useful features though, such as the RSS feed, saved queries, and bread crumb navigation. The quick help sections and full help files are also completely up to date. Despite these changes to the interface, Espacenet can still be said to have made it as easy as possible for a new user to grasp the fundamentals.
