PHARMSEARCH, a database produced by the French Patent and Trademark Office (INPI), covers pharmaceutical patents issued by the Europeans, French, and United States patent offices from November 1986 onward. PHARMSEARCH is composed of MPHARM, a structure file searchable using Markush DARC software, and PHARM, the companion bibliographic file. Markush structures claimed in the patent documents are entered into the database as variable generic structures. Specific structures are also included in the database, when they are not part of a Markush structure in the patent document. Chemical index terms describe all moieties of the structure. Indexing also describes the therapeutic activities and preparation processes for the compounds. The indexing policies used in the production of this database are described.