Patent number
A patent number (also publication number) is a code assigned by the German Patent and Trademark Office for every application submitted, consisting of a combination of letters and numbers. In Germany, the patent office usually publishes the patent application document with a patent number 18 months after filing the application.
An example of a patent number is DE 10 2006 011 652 A1.
country code
The patent number begins with the country code . DE is used for Germany.
number
The (patent) number between the country code and the publication code has been the file number in German patents since 2004.
Publication code
A publication code is appended to the patent number in order to be able to distinguish whether a publication is only the unexamined application or the examined and granted patent. The German Patent and Trademark Office (DPMA) has been using the following so-called font type codes (selection) since 2004:
- A1 - first publication of the patent application
- A8 / A9 - Correction of the disclosure document
- B3 - first publication of the patent specification
- B4 - second publication of the patent specification
- B8 / B9 - Correction of the patent specification
- C5 - Amended specification
- T1 - Publication of international or European applications in German translation
- T8 / T9 - their corrections
- U1 - utility model font
- U8 / U9 - their corrections
Registration year and countries
Patent numbers prior to 2004 or from countries other than Germany may be structured differently.
source
Guide to patent research with STN EASY
Individual evidence
- ↑ Font type codes for patent documents - DPMA. Retrieved October 5, 2017 .
- ↑ Uwe Spadaccini, R&S Online Recherchen GmbH, 2011 ( Memento from March 12, 2014 in the Internet Archive )