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I am currently looking into patent US20110202766. I am new to patent law and I would like to know if the given patent is US-only, or international. How can I find out about where does a given patent apply?

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Granted, enforceable patents are territorial limited. So a U.S. patent allows its owner to control the making, selling, using and importing into the U.S. In this case you are referencing an application that may or may not have resulted in one or more U.S. patents (looks like it hasn't as of March 2013). The inventor could have filed counterpart applications in other countries or with international bodies that can lead to patents elsewhere. One way to look into this is to look up the application it the EPO's database called Espacenet by the US application number. When you find it you will see a selection to the left called INPADOC family. Clicking on that brings up a list of all the related documents known to that international database. Besides the US application it shows one with a "WO" number. That is a PCT application. It is possible to go from a PCT application to "real" filings in 140+ locations. To look up PCT data and other international info go to WIPO's Patentscope search engine.

You might also search Patentscope for applications by the same inventor.

The application you are interested in got a non-final rejection in December 2012. You can look up the history in USPTO Public PAIR.

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Interesting. So that's what "Non Final Action Mailed" means? So that means that I should be asking the person claiming to hold the patent rights some more concrete proof that their patent is indeed enforceable? At any rate, thanks for the great answer! – ThePiachu Mar 4 at 17:53
Please look up that application yourself in Uspto public pair (google it). There may be some related application that resulted in a patent but the number you provided is an application NOT a patent. Applications have a number that the first 4 digits are a year. Like 2011. – George White Mar 4 at 19:52
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Non final rejection doesn't mean much. Most applications get rejected at first. – George White Mar 4 at 19:53

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