MPEP § 901 — MPEP § 901
Current through: 2022-07-01

901-Prior Art 
 
 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

 

 
 
 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

 
 
 
 
 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

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 Chapter 0900 

 Section 901 
 

 
 
 
 
 
 901 Prior Art [R-08.2012]

 Note 37
 CFR 1.104(a)(1) in MPEP § 707 . See also MPEP § 2121 -
 §
 2129 . 
 

 
 901.01 Canceled Matter in U.S. Patent Files [R-08.2017]

 Canceled matter in the application file of a U.S. patent or U.S.
 application publication is not a proper reference as of the filing date under
 35 U.S.C.
 102(a)(2) or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 102(e) . See
 Ex parte Stalego, 154 USPQ 52, 53 (Bd. App. 1966). However, matter
 canceled from the application file wrapper of a U.S. patent or U.S. application
 publication may be used as prior art as of the patent or publication date, respectively,
 in that it then constitutes prior public knowledge or prior public availability under
 35 U.S.C.
 102(a)(1) or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 102(a) . See, e.g.,
 In re Lund, 376 F.2d 982, 153 USPQ 625 (CCPA 1967). See also
 MPEP §
 2127 and § 2136.02 .
 

 
 901.01(a) Ordering of Patented and Abandoned Provisional
 and Nonprovisional Application Files [R-07.2022]
 

 In the examination of an application, it is sometimes
 necessary to inspect the application papers of some previously abandoned application
 (provisional or nonprovisional) or granted patent. This is always true in the case of
 a reissue application and reexamination proceeding.
 

 If the patented or abandoned file is an Image File
 Wrapper (IFW) file, examiners can view the application papers from their desktop via
 the Patent Examiner’s Toolkit. Patented and abandoned files that are not available in
 IFW are stored at the Files Repository. Older files are housed in remote warehouses
 located in Maryland and Virginia.
 

 Patented and abandoned files that are stored in paper
 are ordered by means of the File Ordering System (FOS). To place such an order, the
 system requires the examiner's delivery organization (i.e. art unit), employee
 number, and patent number(s) and/or application number(s) of the file(s) that are
 needed. After transmission of the request transaction by the examiner, a “response”
 screen appears which informs the examiner of the status of the request for each file.
 The examiner is informed that the request:
 

 
 (A) is accepted; 

 (B) is accepted, but the file is located at a remote
 warehouse (in which case delivery time is increased);
 

 (C) is not accepted because the file is not located
 at the repository or warehouse;
 

 (D) is not accepted because a previous request for the
 file has not yet been filled; or
 

 (E) is not accepted because the patent or application
 number inputted is not valid.
 

 
 Personnel at the Files Repository periodically retrieve
 the requested files and deliveries of files are made to the requesters’ interoffice
 mailing address. Upon delivery of files at the various locations, Files Repository
 personnel also retrieve files that are ready to be returned to the repository.
 

 

 

 
 901.02 Abandoned Applications [R-07.2015]

 If an abandoned application was previously published under
 35 U.S.C.
 122(b) , that patent application publication is available as prior
 art under pre-AIA 35
 U.S.C. 102(a) and 102(b) and 35 U.S.C.
 102(a)(1) as of its patent application publication date because
 the patent application publication is considered to be a “printed” publication within
 the meaning of pre-AIA
 35 U.S.C. 102(a) and 102(b) and 35 U.S.C.
 102(a)(1) , even though the patent application publication is
 disseminated by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (Office) using only electronic
 media. See MPEP §
 2128 . Additionally, as described in MPEP § 901.03 , a
 patent application publication published under 35 U.S.C. 122(b) of an application
 that has become abandoned may be available as prior art under pre-AIA 35 U.S.C.
 102(e) as of the earliest effective U.S. filing date of the
 published application and may be available under 35 U.S.C.
 102(a)(2) as of the date it was effectively filed. As provided in
 37 CFR
 1.11(a), unless a redacted copy of the application was used for
 the patent application publication, the specification, drawings, and all papers relating
 to the file of an abandoned published application are open to inspection by the public,
 and copies may be obtained from the Office. The information that is available to the
 public under 37 CFR
 1.11(a) may be used as prior art under pre-AIA 35 U.S.C.
 102(a) or 102(b) or 35 U.S.C.
 102(a)(1) as of the date the information became publicly
 available.
 

 Where an unpublished abandoned application is identified or whose
 benefit is claimed in a U.S. patent, a statutory invention registration, a U.S. patent
 application publication, or an international patent application publication of an
 international application that was published in accordance with PCT Article 21(2) ,
 the file contents of the unpublished abandoned application may be made available to the
 public. See 37 CFR
 1.14(a)(1)(iv) . Subject matter from abandoned applications which
 is available to the public under 37 CFR 1.14 may be used as prior art
 against a pending U.S. application under pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 102(a) or
 102(b) or 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as of the date
 the subject matter became publicly available.
 

 In re Heritage, 182 F.2d 639, 86 USPQ 160 (CCPA 1950), holds that
 where a patent refers to and relies on the disclosure of a previously copending but
 subsequently abandoned application, such disclosure is available as a reference. See
 also In re Lund, 376 F.2d 982, 153 USPQ 625 (CCPA 1967).
 

 It has also been held that where the reference patent refers to a
 previously copending but subsequently abandoned application which discloses subject
 matter in common with the patent, the effective date of the reference as to the common
 subject matter is the filing date of the abandoned application. See In re
 Switzer, 166 F.2d 827, 77 USPQ 156 (CCPA 1948); Ex parte
 Peterson, 63 USPQ 99 (Bd. App. 1944); and Ex parte
 Clifford, 49 USPQ 152 (Bd. App. 1940). See MPEP § 2127 ,
 subsection I.
 

 Published abstracts, abbreviatures, defensive publications
 ( MPEP §
 901.06(d) ), and statutory invention registrations
 ( MPEP Chapter
 1100 ) are references.
 

 

 
 901.03 Pending Applications [R-07.2015]

 Except as provided in 37 CFR 1.11(b) , 37 CFR 1.14(a)(1)(v) and 37 CFR 1.14(a)(1)(vi) , pending U.S.
 applications which have not been published are generally preserved in confidence
 ( 37 CFR
 1.14(a) ) and are not available as references. However, claims in
 one nonprovisional application may be rejected on the claimed subject matter of a
 copending nonprovisional application of the same inventive entity. See
 MPEP
 § 804 . For applications having a common assignee or applicant
 and different inventive entities claiming a single inventive concept, see
 MPEP § 804.03 . See also MPEP § 2127 ,
 subsection IV.
 

 The American Inventors Protection Act of 1999 (AIPA) was enacted into
 law on November 29, 1999. The AIPA amended 35 U.S.C. 122 to provide that, with
 certain exceptions, applications for patent filed on or after November 29, 2000 shall be
 published promptly after the expiration of a period of eighteen (18) months from the
 earliest filing date for which a benefit is sought under title 35, United States Code,
 and that an application may be published earlier at the request of the applicant. See
 35 U.S.C. 122(b)
 and 37 CFR 1.215 and 1.219 . In
 addition, applications filed prior to November 29, 2000, but pending on November 29,
 2000, may be published if a request for voluntary publication is filed. See
 37 CFR
 1.221 . Patent applications filed on or after November 29, 2000,
 and those including a request for voluntary publication shall be published except for
 the following enumerated exceptions. 
 

 First, an application shall not be published if it is:

 
 (A) no longer pending;

 (B) subject to a secrecy order under 35 U.S.C.
 181 , that is, publication or disclosure of the application
 would be detrimental to national security; 
 

 (C) a provisional application filed under 35 U.S.C.
 111(b) ;
 

 (D) an application for a design patent filed under 35 U.S.C.
 171 ;
 

 (E) an application for an International design application filed
 under 35 U.S.C. 382 ; or
 

 (F) a reissue application filed under 35 U.S.C.
 251 . 
 

 
 Second, an application shall not be published if an applicant submits
 at the time of filing of the application a request for nonpublication. See
 MPEP
 § 1122 .
 

 U.S. patent application publications are prior art under
 pre-AIA 35 U.S.C.
 102(a) and 102(b) and 35 U.S.C.
 102(a)(1) as of the publication date. Under pre-AIA 35 U.S.C.
 102(e)(1) and 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) , a U.S. patent
 application publication under 35 U.S.C. 122(b) is considered to be
 prior art as of the earliest effective U.S. filing date of the published application.
 Additionally, a U.S. patent application publication of a National Stage application and
 a WIPO publication of an international application under PCT Article 21(2) 
 are considered to be prior art under pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 102(e) as of the
 international filing date, or an earlier effective U.S. filing date,
 only if the international application was filed on or after
 November 29, 2000, designated the United States, and was published under
 PCT Article
 21(2) in English. Similarly, a U.S. patent application publication
 of a National Stage application and a WIPO publication of an international application
 under PCT Article
 21(2) are considered to be prior art under 35 U.S.C.
 102(a)(2) as of the international filing date, or an earlier
 effective U.S. filing date.
 

 

 
 901.04 U.S. Patents [R-10.2019]
 I. U.S. PATENT SERIES The following different series of U.S. patents are being or in the
 past have been issued. The date of patenting given on the face of each copy is the
 publication date and is the one usually cited. The filing date, in most instances
 also given on the face of the patent, is ordinarily the effective date as a
 reference. See MPEP §§
 2127, subsection II , 2136 and
 2154 . The pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 102(e) date of
 a U.S. patent can be an earlier effective U.S. filing date. See MPEP § 2136 et
 seq. The 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) prior art date of a U.S. patent issued
 from a nonprovisional application claiming the benefit of a prior domestic
 application or priority to a foreign filed application may be the filing date of the
 prior filed application. See MPEP § 2154.01(b) .
 

 X-Series. These are the approximately 10,000 patents issued
 between 1790 and July 4, 1836. They were not originally numbered, but have since been
 assigned numbers in the sequence in which they were issued. The number should
 not be cited. When copies are ordered, the patentee’s name and
 date of issue suffice for identification.
 

 1836 Series. The mechanical, electrical, and chemical patents
 issued since 1836 and frequently designated as “utility” patents are included in this
 series. A citation by number only is understood to refer to this series. This series
 comprises the bulk of all U.S. patents issued. Some U.S. patents issued in 1861 bear
 two numbers but only the larger number should be cited.
 

 Reissue Series. Reissue patents (see MPEP § 1401 ) have
 been given a separate series of numbers preceded by “Re.” In citing, the letters and
 the number must be given, e.g., Re. 1776. The date that it is effective as a
 reference is the effective date of the original patent application, not the filing
 date of the reissue application.
 

 Design reissue patents are numbered with the same number series as
 “utility” reissue patents. The letter prefix does, however, indicate them to be
 design reissues.
 

 A.I. Series. From 1838 to 1861, patents covering an inventor’s
 improvement on their own patented device were given a separate series of numbers
 preceded by “A.I.” to indicate Additional Improvement. In citing, the letters and the
 number must be given, e.g., A.I. 113. About 300 such patents were issued.
 

 Plant Patent Series. When the statutes were amended to provide for
 patenting certain types of plants (see MPEP Chapter 1600 ) these patents
 were given a separate series of numbers. In citing, the letters “P.P.” and the number
 must be given, e.g., P.P. 13.
 

 Design Patents. Patents for designs (see MPEP Chapter 1500 )
 are issued under a separate series of numbers preceded by “D.” In citing, the letter
 “D” and the number must be given, e.g., D. 140,000.
 

 II. CERTIFICATES AFTER THE ISSUANCE OF A
 U.S. PATENT Following the issuance of a U.S. patent, the patent
 may be amended through a variety of Office proceedings. Each of these proceedings
 concludes with the issuance of a certificate which identifies the manner in which the
 patent was amended. 
 

 Reexamination Certificates. A
 reexamination proceeding is concluded by the issuance and publication of a
 reexamination certificate, which indicates all changes to the specification,
 including the claims, and drawings. Any changes made during the reexamination
 proceeding may not enlarge the scope of the claims or introduce new matter. Upon
 publication of the reexamination certificate, all changes are incorporated into the
 patent. Accordingly, the prior art date for subject matter in the reexamination
 certificate is the same as the prior art date for the patent that was reexamined. See
 35 U.S.C.
 307 and pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 316 .
 

 Certificates of Correction. A
 certificate of correction corrects errors in the patent and is considered as part of
 the original patent. A patent, together with its certificate of correction, will have
 the same prior art effect as if the original patent was issued in the corrected form.
 See 35 U.S.C.
 254 and 255 .
 

 Post-Grant Review Certificates. 
 Once the Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB) issues a final decision on post grant
 review proceeding and the time for appeal has expired or any appeal has terminated,
 the Office will issue and publish a post grant review certificate canceling any claim
 of the patent finally determined to be unpatentable, confirming any claim of the
 patent determined to be patentable, and incorporating in the patent any new or
 amended claim determined to be patentable.
 

 Inter Partes Review Certificates. 
 Once the PTAB issues a final decision in an Inter Partes Review
 proceeding and the time for appeal has expired or any appeal has terminated, the
 Office will issue and publish an inter partes review certificate canceling any claim
 of the patent finally determined to be unpatentable, confirming any claim of the
 patent determined to be patentable, and incorporating in the patent any new or
 amended claim determined to be patentable.
 

 Derivation Certificates. At the
 conclusion of a derivation proceeding, if the final decision of the PTAB is adverse
 to claims in a patent, and the time for appeal has expired or any appeal or other
 review of the decision has terminated, the Office will issue and publish a derivation
 certificate canceling those claims of the patent. Inventorship of a patent may also
 be corrected via a derivation proceeding.
 

 III. NUMBERS FOR IDENTIFICATION OF BIBLIOGRAPHIC DATA ON THE FIRST PAGE OF PATENT
 AND LIKE DOCUMENTS (INID NUMBERS) The purpose of INID Codes (“INID” is an acronym for
 “ I nternationally agreed N umbers for
 the I dentification of (bibliographic)
 D ata”) is to provide a means whereby the various data
 appearing on the first page of patent and like documents can be identified without
 knowledge of the language used and the laws applied. They are now used by most patent
 offices and have been applied to U.S. patents since August 4, 1970. Some of the codes
 are not pertinent to the documents of a particular country and some which are may, in
 fact, not be used. For a list of INID Codes, see MPEP
 § 901.05(b) .
 

 
 901.04(a) Kind Codes [R-08.2017]

 On January 2, 2001, the United States Patent and Trademark Office
 (USPTO) began printing the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) Standard
 ST.16 code on each of its published patent documents. WIPO Standard ST.16 codes (kind
 codes) include a letter, and in many cases a number, used to distinguish the kind of
 patent document (e.g., publication of an application for a utility patent (patent
 application publication), utility patent, plant patent application publication, plant
 patent, or design patent) and the level of publication (e.g., first publication,
 second publication, or corrected publication). Detailed information on Standard ST.16
 and the use of kind codes by patent offices throughout the world is available on the
 WIPO website at www.wipo.int/scit/en under the links for WIPO standards and other
 documentation.
 

 In addition, some kind codes assigned to existing USPTO patent
 documents were changed because, beginning on March 15, 2001, patent application
 publications began to be published weekly on Thursdays.
 

 The tables below give a summary of the kind codes which are no
 longer being used on certain published patent documents as well as a summary of the
 kind codes which will be used on published patent documents after January 2, 2001. It
 is recommended that USPTO documents be identified by the following three elements:
 (A) the two-character country code (US for United States of America); (B) the patent
 or publication number; and (C) the WIPO ST.16 kind code. For example, “US 7,654,321
 B1” for U.S. Patent No. 7,654,321 where there was no previously published patent
 application publication, and “US 2003/1234567 A1” for U.S. Patent Application
 Publication No. 2003/1234567, in 2003. Each year the numbering of published patent
 applications will begin again with the new four-digit year and the number 0000001, so
 the number of a patent application publication must include an associated year.
 

 
 
 
 
 Summary of USPTO Kind Codes No Longer Used as of January 2,
 2001* 
 

 
 WIPO ST.16 Kind Codes 
 Kind of document 
 Comments 
 

 
 
 
 A 
 Patent 
 Kind code replaced by B1 or B2 
 

 
 P 
 Plant Patent 
 Kind code replaced by P2 or P3 
 

 
 B1, B2, B3... 
 Reexamination Certificate 
 Kind code replaced by C1, C2,
 C3...
 
 

 
 
 *See the table below for the new uses for codes B1 and B2 beginning
 January 2, 2001.
 

 
 
 
 
 Summary of USPTO Kind Codes Used on Documents Published Beginning
 January 2, 2001 
 

 
 WIPO ST.16 Kind Codes 
 Kind of document 
 Comments 
 

 
 
 
 A1 
 Patent Application Publication 
 Pre-grant publication available March
 2001
 
 

 
 A2 
 Patent Application Publication
 (Republication)
 
 Pre-grant publication available March
 2001
 
 

 
 A9 
 Patent Application Publication
 (Corrected Publication)
 
 Pre-grant publication available March
 2001
 
 

 
 B1 
 Patent 
 No previously published pre-grant
 publication
 
 

 
 B2 
 Patent 
 Having a previously published pre-grant
 publication and available March 2001
 
 

 
 C1, C2, C3, ... 
 Reexamination Certificate 
 Previously used codes B1 and B2 are now
 used for granted Patents
 
 

 
 E 
 Reissue Patent 
 No change 
 

 
 H 
 Statutory Invention Registration
 (SIR)
 
 No change 
 

 
 P1 
 Plant Patent Publication
 Application
 
 Pre-grant publication available March
 2001
 
 

 
 P2 
 Plant Patent 
 No previously published pre-grant
 publication
 
 

 
 P3 
 Plant Patent 
 Having a previously published pre-grant
 publication and available March 2001
 
 

 
 P4 
 Plant Patent Application Publication
 (Republication)
 
 Pre-grant publication available after
 March 2001
 
 

 
 P9 
 Plant Patent Application Publication
 (Corrected Publication)
 
 Pre-grant publication available March
 2001
 
 

 
 S 
 Design Patent 
 No change 
 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 Summary of USPTO
 Kind Codes Associated with AIA Trials 
 

 
 
 
 WIPO ST.16 Kind
 Code 
 Kind of
 Document 
 

 
 J 
 Post-Grant Review
 Certificate
 
 

 
 K 
 Inter Partes Review
 Certificate
 
 

 
 O 
 Derivation
 Certificate
 
 

 
 
 

 

 
 901.05 Foreign Patent Documents [R-08.2017]

 All foreign patents, published applications, and any other published
 derivative material containing portions or summaries of the contents of published or
 unpublished patents (e.g., abstracts) which have been disseminated to the public are
 available to U.S. examiners. See MPEP §§ 901.06(a) , paragraphs I.C. and
 IV.C and 901.08 . In general, a foreign patent, the contents of its
 application, or segments of its content should not be cited as a reference until its
 date of patenting or its public availability date (e.g., publication date) can be
 confirmed by an examiner’s review of a copy of the document. Examiners should remember
 that in some countries, there is a delay between the date of the patent grant and the
 date of publication.
 

 Information pertaining to those countries from which the most patent
 publications are received is given in the following sections and in
 MPEP
 § 901.05(a) . Additional information can be obtained from the
 Scientific and Technical Information Center (STIC).
 

 See MPEP
 § 707.05(e) for data used in citing foreign references.
 

 I. OVERVIEW OF FOREIGN PATENT LAWS This section includes some general information on foreign patent
 laws and summarizes particular features and their terminology. Some additional
 details on the most commonly cited foreign patent publications may be found under the
 individual country in paragraph V., below. Examiners should recall that, in contrast
 to the practice in many other countries, under U.S. patent law a number of different
 events all occur on the issue date of a U.S. patent. These events include the
 following: 
 

 
 (A) a patent document, the “letters patent'' which grants and
 thereby creates the legal rights conferred by a patent, is executed and sent to
 the applicant; 
 

 (B) the patent rights come into existence;

 (C) the patent rights can be exercised;

 (D) the specification of the patent becomes available to the
 public;
 

 (E) the patented file becomes available to the public; 

 (F) the specification is published in printed form; and

 (G) an issue of an official journal, the Official
 Gazette, containing an announcement of the patent and a claim, is
 published. 
 

 
 In most foreign countries, various ones of these events occur on
 different days and some of them may never occur at all.
 

 The following list catalogs some of the most significant foreign
 variations from U.S. practices:
 

 A. Applicant In most countries, the owner of the prospective rights, derived
 from the inventor, may also apply for a patent in the owner’s name as applicant;
 in a few, other persons may apply as well or be joined as coapplicants. Hence,
 applicant is not synonymous with inventor, and the applicant may be a company.
 Some countries require the inventors’ names to be given and regularly print them
 on the published copies. Other countries may sometimes print the inventors’ names
 only when available or when requested to do so.
 

 B. Application The word “application” is commonly used in the U.S. to refer to
 the entire set of papers filed when seeking a patent. However, in many countries
 and in PCT cases, the word application refers only to the paper, usually a printed
 form, which is to be “accompanied by” or have “attached” to it certain other
 papers, namely a specification, drawings when necessary, claims, and perhaps other
 papers. Unless it is otherwise noted in the following portions of this section,
 the term “application” refers to the entire set of papers filed.
 

 C. Publication of Contents of Pending Applications In general, pending applications are confidential until a certain
 stage in the proceedings (e.g., upon patent grant), or until a certain date (e.g.,
 18 months after filing), as may be specified in a particular law. 
 

 Many countries have adopted the practice of publishing the
 specification, drawing, or claims of pending applications. In these countries, the
 publication of the contents of the application occurs at a certain time, usually
 18 months after filing. The applicant is given certain provisional rights upon
 publication even though examination has not been completed or in some cases has
 not even begun at the time of publication.
 

 This publication may take either of two forms. In the first form,
 some countries publish a notice giving certain particulars in their official
 journal, and thereafter, any one may see the papers at the patent office or order
 copies. This procedure is referred to as “laying open for public inspection.”
 There is no printed publication of the specification, although an abstract may be
 published in printed form. If anyone can inspect or obtain copies of the laid open
 application, then it is sufficiently accessible to the public to constitute a
 “publication” within the meaning of pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 102(a) and
 102(b) and 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) . The full
 application is thus available as prior art as of either the date of publication of
 its notice or its laying open to public inspection if this is a later date. See
 In re Wyer, 655 F.2d 221, 210 USPQ 790 (CCPA 1981). See
 MPEP §
 2127 , paragraph III.
 

 In the second form, several other countries publish the
 specifications of pending applications in printed form at a specified time,
 usually 18 months after filing. These documents, of course, constitute references
 as printed publications.
 

 D. Administrative Systems Patent law administration varies from country to country. In some
 countries, all that is undertaken is an inspection of the papers to determine if
 they are in proper form. Other countries perform an examination of the merits on
 the basis of an extensive search of the prior art, as is done in the U.S. The
 former are referred to as nonexamining or registration countries, although some
 systems allow for a rejection on matters apparent on the face of the papers, such
 as matters of form or statutory subject matter.
 

 Of the examining countries, the extent of the material searched
 prior to issue varies greatly. Only a few countries include both their own patents
 and a substantial amount of foreign patent material and nonpatent publications in
 their search files. Some countries specifically limit the search by rule, or lack
 of facilities, to their own patents with very little or no additional material. An
 increasing number of countries are requiring applicants to give information
 concerning references cited in corresponding applications filed in other
 countries.
 

 E. Opposition Some examining countries consider participation by the public an
 inherent feature of their examining system. When an application is found to be
 allowable by the examiner, it is “published” for opposition. Then there is a
 period, usually 3 or 4 months, within which members of the public can oppose the
 grant of the patent. In some countries, the opposing party can be any person or
 company. In other countries, only those parties who are affected by the outcome
 can participate in the opposition. The opposition is an inter
 partes proceeding and the opposing party can ordinarily raise any
 ground on the basis of which a patent would be refused or held invalid, including
 any applicable references.
 

 The publication for opposition may take the form of a laying open
 of the application by the publication of a notice in the official journal with the
 application being then open to public inspection and the obtaining of copies.
 Otherwise, publication occurs by the issue of the applications in printed form.
 Either way, these published documents constitute printed publications which are
 available as references under pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 102(a) and
 102(b) and 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) .
 

 F. The Patent Practices and terminology vary worldwide regarding patents. In
 some countries, there is no “letters patent” document which creates and grants the
 rights. In other countries, the examiner grants the patent by signing the required
 paper. In a few countries, the patent is granted by operation of law after certain
 events have occurred. The term “granting the patent” is used here for convenience,
 but it should be noted that 35 U.S.C. 102(a) and
 102(b) or 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) do not use
 this terminology.
 

 A list of granted patents is ordinarily published in each
 country’s official journal and some of these countries also print an abstract or
 claims at or after the granting date. Not all countries publish the granted
 patent. Where the specifications of granted patents are issued in printed form,
 publication seldom occurs simultaneously with the day of grant; instead,
 publication occurs a short time thereafter. There also are a few countries in
 which publication does not take place until several years after the grant.
 

 The length of time for which the patent is enforceable (the
 patent term) varies from country to country. The term of the patent may start as
 of the grant of the patent, or as of the filing date of the application.
 

 Most countries require the payment of periodic fees to maintain a
 patent in force. These fees often start a few years after filing and increase
 progressively during the term of the patent. If these fees are not paid within the
 time allowed, the patent lapses and is no longer in force. This lapsing does not
 affect the use of the patent as a reference.
 

 G. Patents of Addition Some countries issue patents of addition, which should be
 identified as such, and when separately numbered as in France, the number of the
 addition patent should be cited. “Patents of addition” generally cover
 improvements of a patented parent invention and can be obtained by the owner of
 the parent invention. Inventiveness in relation to the parent invention need not
 be demonstrated and the term is governed by the term of the parent patent.
 

 II. CORRESPONDING SPECIFICATIONS IN A FAMILY OF PATENTS Since a separate patent must be obtained in each country in which
 patent rights are desired (except for EP, the European Patent Convention, AP, the
 African Regional Industrial Property Organization, OA, African Intellectual Property
 Organization, GC, Patent Office of the Cooperation Council for the Arab States of the
 Gulf, and EA, Eurasian Patent Office, whose members issue a common patent), there may
 be a large number of patents issued in different countries for the same invention.
 This group of patents is referred to as a family of patents. 
 

 All of the countries listed in paragraph V. below are parties to the
 Paris Convention for the Protection of Industrial Property and provide for the right
 of priority. If an application is filed in one of these countries, an application for
 the same invention thereafter filed in another country, within 1 year of the filing
 of the first application, will be entitled to the benefit of the filing date of the
 first application on fulfilling various conditions. See MPEP §
 213 . The patents or published specifications of the
 countries of later filing are required to specify that priority has been claimed and
 to give the country, date, and number of the priority application. This data serves
 the purpose, among others, of enabling any patent based on the priority application
 to be easily located.
 

 In general, the specification of the second application is identical
 in substance to the specification of the first. In many instances, the second, if in
 another language, is simply a translation of the first with perhaps some variation in
 purely formal parts. But in a minority of cases, the two may not be identical. For
 instance, sometimes two applications filed in one country are combined into one
 second application which is filed in another country. Alternatively, a second
 application could be filed for only part of the disclosure of the priority
 application. The second application may have the relationship to the first which we
 refer to as a continuation-in-part (e.g., the second application includes additional
 subject matter discovered after the first was filed). In some instances, the second
 application could have its disclosure diminished or increased, to meet the
 requirements or practices of the second country.
 

 Duplicate or substantially duplicate versions of a foreign language
 specification, in English or some other language known to the examiner, can sometimes
 be found. It is possible to cite a foreign language specification as a reference,
 while at the same time citing an English language version of the specification with a
 later date as a convenient translation if the latter is in fact a translation.
 Questions as to content in such cases must be settled based on the specification
 which was used as the reference.
 

 If a U.S. patent or U.S. published application being considered as a
 reference in an application subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 claims the
 priority of a previously filed foreign application, it may be desirable to determine
 if the foreign application has issued or has been published, to see if there is an
 earlier date. For example, it has occurred that an examiner rejected claims on the
 basis of a U.S. patent and the applicant filed affidavits to overcome the filing date
 of the reference; the affidavits were controversial and the case went to appeal, with
 an extensive brief and an examiner’s answer having been filed. After all this work,
 somebody noticed that the U.S. patent reference claimed the priority of a foreign
 application filed in a country in which patents were issued fairly soon, checked the
 foreign application, and discovered that the foreign patent had not only been issued,
 but also published in printed form, more than 1 year prior to the filing date of the
 application on appeal. If a U.S. patent or U.S. published application is being
 considered as a reference in an application subject to 35 U.S.C.
 102 , whether the filing date of the foreign priority
 application claimed in the reference can be used as the “effectively filed date”
 under 35
 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) is determined by 35 U.S.C.
 102(d) . See MPEP § 2154.01(b) .
 

 If a foreign patent or specification claims the priority of a U.S.
 application, it can be determined whether the latter is abandoned, still pending, or
 patented. Even if the U.S. case is or becomes patented, however, the foreign
 documents may still be useful as supplying an earlier printed publication date.
 

 If a foreign patent or specification claims the priority of an
 application in another foreign country, it may sometimes be desirable to check the
 latter to determine if the subject matter was patented or published at an earlier
 date. As an example, if a British specification being considered as a reference
 claims the priority of an application filed in Belgium, it is known at once that a
 considerably earlier effective date can be established, if needed, because Belgian
 patents issue soon after filing. In addition, if the application referred to was
 filed in one of the countries which publish applications in printed form 18 months
 after filing, the subject matter of the application will be available as a printed
 publication as of the 18 month publishing date.
 

 The determination of whether a foreign patent has been issued or the
 application published is a comparatively simple matter for some countries, but for
 some it is quite laborious and time-consuming. Sources for this data which are not
 maintained by the Office do exist and can be utilized for locating corresponding
 patents. Two possible sources are the Derwent World Patents Index (DWPI) produced by
 Thomson Reuters, and the International Patent Documentation Center (INPADOC), which
 is produced by the European Patent Office. Additionally, Chemical Abstracts Service
 (CAS) publishes abstracts of patents in the chemical arts from a large number of
 countries. Only one patent or published specification from a family is abstracted in
 full and any related family members issued or published are cross-referenced.
 Chemical Abstracts are available online via commercial databases or via
 Microfilm/CD-ROM in the Main Scientific and Technical Information Center (STIC). To
 get access to Chemical Abstracts online, examiners should contact their SPE for
 approval and email the STIC-ERC mailbox. The microfilm collection is available from
 1907-1987; and the CD-ROM collection is available from 1987-2011. The coverage is for
 approximately 83 journals, with the oldest content dating from 1859. Examiners may
 also utilize the Global Dossier Public Access which provides online access to the
 file histories of related applications from participating IP Offices. This includes
 all international applications filed under the Patent Cooperation Treaty (PCT) as
 well as patent applications from World Intellectual Property Organization-Centralized
 Access to Search and Examination (WIPO-CASE) participating offices. See
 MPEP §
 901.08 for additional information. See also www.wipo.int/case/en/ for
 additional information regarding WIPO-CASE.
 

 When an application is filed outside the Paris Convention year from
 an earlier application, the later application may not refer to the first application.
 It is hence possible that there will be duplicate specifications published without
 any indication revealing the fact. These may be detected when the two copies come
 together in the same subclass. Because the later application is filed outside the
 convention year, the earlier application may be prior art to the latter if it has
 been published or issued.
 

 III. VALIDITY OF DATES DISPLAYED ON FACE OF FOREIGN PATENT DOCUMENTS The examiner is not required to prove either the date or the
 occurrence of events specified on specifications of patents or applications, or in
 official journals, of foreign patent offices which the Office has in its possession.
 In a court action, certified copies of the Office copies of these documents
 constitute prima facie evidence in view of 28 U.S.C. 1745. An
 applicant is entitled to show the contrary by competent evidence, but this question
 seldom arises.
 

 The date of receipt of copies by the Office, as shown by Office
 records or stamped on the copies, need only to be stated by the examiner, when
 necessary.
 

 IV. NOTES ON INDIVIDUAL COUNTRIES The following table gives some data concerning the published patent
 material of a number of countries to assist in their use and citation as references.
 This table reflects only the most current patent office practice for each foreign
 country specified and is not applicable for many older foreign patent documents. The
 STIC staff can help examiners obtain data related to any documents not covered by
 this table. The citation dates listed in the following table are not necessarily the
 oldest possible dates. Sometimes an earlier effective date, which is not readily
 apparent from the face of the document, is available. If an earlier date is important
 to a rejection, the examiner should consult STIC staff, who will attempt to obtain
 further information regarding the earliest possible effective date. 
 

How To Use Table
 Each horizontal row of boxes contains information on one or more
 distinct patent documents from a specified country available as a reference under
 pre-AIA 35
 U.S.C. 102(a) and 102(b) or 35 U.S.C.
 102(a)(1) . If several distinct patent documents are included
 within a common box of a row, these documents are related to each other and are
 merely separate documents published at different stages of the same invention’s
 patenting process. Usually, this related group of documents includes a published
 application which ripens into an issued patent. Within each box of the second
 column of each row, the top listed document of a related group is the one that is
 “published” first (e.g., made available for public inspection by laying open
 application, or application printed and disseminated to the public). Once an
 examiner determines the country or organization publishing the documents, the name
 of the document can be located in the second column of the table and the examiner
 can determine if a document from the related group containing the same or similar
 disclosure having an earlier date is available as a reference. Usually, the
 documents within a related group have identical disclosures; sometimes, however,
 there are differences in the claims or minor differences in the specification.
 Therefore, examiners should always verify that the earlier related document also
 includes the subject matter necessary for the rejection. Some countries issue more
 than one type of patent and for clarity, in these situations, separate rows are
 provided for each type.
 

 
 
 
 
 ISSUING/ PUBLISHING COUNTRY OR ORGANIZATION 
 DOCUMENT NAME IN LANGUAGE OF ISSUING COUNTRY (TYPE OF
 DOCUMENT) 
 FOREIGN LANGUAGE NAME DESIGNATING THE DATE USED FOR CITATION
 PURPOSES (TYPE OF DATE) 
 GENERAL COMMENTS 
 

 
 
 
 EP 
 
 
 
 

 
 European Patent Office 
 European patent
 application
 
 Date application made
 available to public
 
 Printing of application
 occurs 18 months after priority date.
 
 

 
 
 European patent
 specification 
 
 Date published 
 EP dates are in
 day/month/year order.
 
 

 
 
 New European patent specification
 (above specification amended)
 
 Date published 
 
 

 
 FR 
 
 
 
 

 
 France 
 Demande de brevet
 d’invention (patent application)
 
 Disposition du public de
 la demande (date of laying open application)/date published 
 
 Date of
 laying open the application is the earliest possible date. This
 usually occurs 18 months after the filing or priority date but can
 occur earlier at applicant’s request. The application is printed a
 short time after being laid open. 
 
 

 
 
 Brevet d’invention
 (patent)
 
 Disposition du public du
 brevet d’invention (date of publication of the notice of patent
 grant)
 
 

 
 
 
 
 FR dates are in day/month/year
 order
 
 

 
 FR 
 
 
 
 

 
 France 
 Demande de certificat
 d’utilite (utility certificate application 1st level publication) 
 
 Disposition du public de
 la demande (date published)
 
 
 

 
 
 Certificat d’utilite (utility
 certificate, 2nd publication)
 
 Disposition du public du certificat
 d’utilite (date published)
 
 
 

 
 DE Germany
 
 Offenlegungschrift
 (unexamined patent application)
 
 Offenlegungstag (date
 application printed)
 
 Patentschrift are printed
 (up to four different times) after examination and at various stages
 of opposition.
 
 

 
 
 Patentschrift (examined
 patent)
 
 Veræfentlichungstag der
 patenterteilung (date printed)
 
 DE dates are in day/month/year
 order
 
 

 
 DE 
 
 
 
 

 
 Germany 
 Patentschrift (Ausschließungspatent)
 (exclusive type patent based on former East German application and
 published in accordance with E. German laws)
 
 First printing coded “DD” (date of
 first publication before examination as to novelty)
 
 Several more printings (up to four)
 occur as examination proceeds and patent is granted. Separate DD
 numbering series is used.
 
 

 
 DE 
 
 
 
 

 
 Germany 
 Patentschrift (Wirtschaft-patent)
 (economic type patent published in accordance with East German
 laws)
 
 First printing coded “DD” (date of
 first printing before examination as to novelty)
 
 Another printing occurs after
 examination. Separate DD numbering series is used.
 
 

 
 DE 
 
 
 
 

 
 Germany 
 Gebrauchsmuster (utility
 model or petty patent)
 
 Eintragungstag (date laid
 open after registration as a patent) 
 
 Copy is supplied only on
 request.
 
 

 
 
 
 Bekanntmachung im
 patentblatt (date published for public) 
 
 Published from No. DE-GM 1
 186 500J.
 
 

 
 
 
 
 
 

 
 JP Japan
 
 Kôkai Tokkyo kôhô
 (unexamined patent application) Kôhyo Tokkyo kôhô (unexamined patent
 application based on international application)
 
 Upper right corner beneath
 number (date laid open and printed)
 
 INID codes (41)-(47)
 include first date listed in terms of the year of the Emperor. To
 convert yrs. prior 1989, add 1925. To convert yrs. after 1988, add
 1988.
 
 

 
 
 Tokkyo kôhô (examined
 patent application)
 
 Upper right corner beneath
 number (date laid open and printed; 1st publication when Kôkai Tokkyo
 kôhô or Kôhyo Tokkyo kôhô not published)
 
 Newer documents also
 include second date following the first given in OUR Gregorian
 Calendar in year/month/day sequence in Arabic numerals intermixed with
 their equivalent JP characters. 
 
 

 
 
 
 
 
 

 
 JP Japan 
 
 Tokkyo shinpan seikyû kôkoku
 (corrected patent specification)
 
 Upper right corner beneath number
 (date laid open and printed)
 
 
 

 
 JP Japan
 
 Kôkai jitsuyô shin-an kôhô
 (unexamined utility model application) or Kôhyo jitsuyô shin-an kôhô
 (unexamined utility model application based on international)
 
 Upper right corner beneath
 number (date laid open and printed)
 
 
 

 
 
 Jitsuyô shin-an kôhô
 (examined utility model application)
 
 Upper right corner beneath
 number (date laid open and printed; 1st publication when Kôkai or
 Kôhyo not published) 
 
 
 

 
 JP Japan 
 
 Tôroku jitsuyô shin-an shinpan seikyû
 kôkoku (corrected registered utility model)
 
 
 
 

 
 JP Japan
 
 Isyô kôhô (registered design
 application)
 
 
 
 

 
 RU Russian Federation
 
 Zayavka Na Izobretenie (unexamined
 application for invention) Patent Na Izobreteniye (Patent)
 
 Date application printed (1st
 publication) Date printed (normally 2nd publication, but 1st
 publication when application not published)
 
 
 

 
 RU Russian Federation
 
 Svidetelstvo Na Poleznuyu Model
 (utility model)
 
 
 Supplied upon request only 
 

 
 RU Russian Federation
 
 Patent Na Promishlenniy Obrazec
 (design patent)
 
 
 Supplied upon request only 
 

 
 GB United Kingdom
 
 Published patent application
 (searched, but unexamined) Patent Specification (granted examined
 patent)
 
 (date of printing the application)
 (date of printing) 
 
 
 

 
 GB 
 
 
 
 

 
 United Kingdom 
 Amended or Corrected Patent
 Specification (amended granted patent) 
 
 (date of printing) 
 
 

 
 WO 
 
 
 
 

 
 World Intellectual
 Property Organization 
 
 International application
 (PCT patent application)
 
 (date of printing the
 application)
 
 
 

 
 
 
 
 
 

 
 
 
 901.05(a) Citation Data [R-07.2015]

 Foreign patent publications that use Arabic and Roman numerals in
 lieu of names to indicate the date show in order the day, month, and year, or
 alternatively, the year, month, and day. Roman numerals always refer to the
 month.
 

 Japanese patent application publications show the date in Arabic
 numerals by indicating in order the year of the reign of the Emperor, the month, and
 the day. To convert the Japanese year of the Emperor to the Western calendar year,
 for years prior to 1989, add 1925 to the JAPANESE YEAR. For example: 40.3.6 = March
 6, 1965. For years after 1988, add 1988 to the JAPANESE YEAR.
 

 

 
 901.05(b) Other Significant Data [R-01.2024]
 I. NUMBERS FOR IDENTIFICATION OF BIBLIOGRAPHIC DATA ON THE FIRST PAGE OF
 PATENT AND LIKE DOCUMENTS INCLUDING INDUSTRIAL DESIGNS (INID NUMBERS) The purpose of INID Codes (“INID” is an acronym for
 “ I nternationally agreed N umbers
 for the I dentification of (bibliographic)
 D ata”) is to provide a means whereby the various data
 appearing on the first page of patent and like documents or in patent gazettes can
 be identified without knowledge of the language used and the laws applied. They
 are now used by most patent offices and have been applied to U.S. patents since
 August 4, 1970. Some of the codes are not pertinent to the documents of a
 particular country and some which are pertinent may, in fact, not be used. INID
 codes for industrial designs are similar to, but not identical to, those used for
 patents and like documents. INID codes for industrial designs are provided
 separately below.
 

INID Codes and Minimum Required for the Identification
 of Bibliographic Data for Patent and Like Documents (based on WIPO Standard
 ST.9)
 
 (10) Identification of the patent, SPC or patent
 document 

 °(11) Number of the patent, SPC or patent document

 °(12) Plain language designation of the kind of
 document
 

 °(13) Kind of document code according to WIPO Standard
 ST.16
 

 °(15) Patent correction information

 °°(19) WIPO Standard ST.3 code, or other identification, of
 the office or organization publishing the document
 

 Notes :
 

 (i) For an SPC, data regarding the basic patent should be
 coded by using code (68).
 

 (ii) °° Minimum data element for patent documents only.

 (iii) With the proviso that when data coded (11) and (13),
 or (19), (11) and (13), are used together and on a single line, category
 (10) can be used, if so desired.
 

 (20) Data concerning the application for a
 patent or SPC 

 °(21) Number(s) assigned to the application(s), e.g.,
 “Numéro d’enregistrement national,” “Aktenzeichen”
 

 °(22) Date(s) of filing the application(s)

 °(23) Other date(s), including date of filing complete
 specification following provisional specification and date of exhibition
 

 (24) Date from which industrial property rights may have
 effect
 

 (25) Language in which the published application was
 originally filed
 

 (26) Language in which the application is published

 Notes: 

 (i) Attention is drawn to the Appendix 3 of WIPO Standard
 ST. 9 which contains information on the term of protection and on the date
 from which industrial property rights referred to under code (24) may have
 effect.
 

 (ii) The language under code (25) and (26) should be
 indicated by using the two-letter language symbol according to International
 Standard ISO 639:1988.
 

 (30) Data relating to priority under the Paris
 Convention and other agreement not specifically provided for
 elsewhere 

 °(31) Number(s) assigned to priority application(s)

 °(32) Date(s) of filing of priority application(s)

 °(33) WIPO Standard ST.3 code identifying the national
 industrial property office allotting the priority application number or the
 organization allotting the regional priority application number; for
 international applications filed under the PCT, the code “WO” is to be
 used
 

 (34) For priority filings under regional or international
 arrangements, the WIPO Standard ST.3 code identifying at least one country
 party to the Paris Convention for which the regional or international
 application was made
 

 Notes :
 

 (i) With the proviso that when data coded (31), (32), and
 (33) are presented together, category (30) can be used, if so desired. If an
 ST.3 code identifying a country for which a regional or international
 application was made is published, it should be identified as such using
 INID Code (34) and should be presented separately from elements coded (31),
 (32) and (33) or (30).
 

 (ii) The presentation of priority application numbers
 should be as recommended in WIPO Standards ST.10/C and in ST.34.
 

 (40) Date(s) of making available to the
 public 

 °°(41) Date of making available to the public by viewing,
 or copying on request, an unexamined patent document, on which no grant has
 taken place on or before the said date
 

 °°(42) Date of making available to the public by viewing,
 or copying on request, an examined patent document, on which no grant has
 taken place on or before the said date
 

 °°(43) Date of making available to the public by printing
 or similar process of an unexamined patent document, on which no grant has
 taken place on or before the said date
 

 °°(44) Date of making available to the public by printing
 or similar process of an examined patent document, on which no grant or only
 a provisional grant has taken place on or before the said date
 

 °°(45) Date of making available to the public by printing
 or similar process of a patent document on which grant has taken place on or
 before the said date
 

 (46) Date of making available to the public the claim(s)
 only of a patent document
 

 °°(47) Date of making available to the public by viewing,
 or copying on request, a patent document on which grant has taken place on
 or before the said date
 

 °(48) Date of issuance of a corrected patent document

 Note :
 

 °°Minimum data element for patent documents only, the
 minimum data requirement being met by indicating the date of making
 available to the public the patent document concerned.
 

 (50) Technical information 

 °(51) International Patent Classification or, in the case
 of a design patent, as referred to in subparagraph 4(c) of WIPO Standard
 ST.9, International Classification for Industrial Designs
 

 (52) Domestic or national classification

 °(54) Title of the invention

 (56) List of prior art documents, if separate from
 descriptive text
 

 (57) Abstract or claim

 (58) Field of search

 Notes :
 

 (i) The presentation of the classification symbols of the
 International Classification for Industrial Designs should be made in
 accordance with paragraph 4 of WIPO Standard ST.10/C.
 

 (ii) With regard to code (56) attention is drawn to WIPO
 Standard ST.14 in connection with the citation of references on the front
 page of patent documents and in search reports attached to patent
 documents.
 

 (60) References to other legally or procedurally
 related domestic or previously domestic patent documents including
 unpublished applications therefor 

 °(61) Number and, if possible, filing date of the earlier
 application, or number of the earlier publication, or number of earlier
 granted patent, inventor's certificate, utility model or the like to which
 the present document is an addition
 

 °(62) Number and, if possible, filing date of the earlier
 application from which the present patent document has been divided up
 

 °(63) Number and filing date of the earlier application of
 which the present patent document is a continuation
 

 °(64) Number of the earlier publication which is
 “reissued”
 

 (65) Number of a previously published patent document
 concerning the same application
 

 (66) Number and filing date of the earlier application of
 which the present patent document is a substitute, i.e., a later application
 filed after the abandonment of an earlier application for the same
 invention
 

 (67) Number and filing date of a patent application, or
 number of a granted patent, on which the present utility model application
 or registration (or a similar industrial property right, such as a utility
 certificate or utility innovation) is based
 

 (68) For an SPC, number of the basic patent and/or, where
 appropriate, the publication number of the patent document
 

 Notes :
 

 (i) Priority data should be coded in category (30).

 (ii) Code (65) is intended primarily for use by countries
 in which the national laws require that republication occur at various
 procedural stages under different publication numbers and these numbers
 differ from the basic application numbers.
 

 (iii) Category code (60) should be used by countries which
 were previously part of another entity for identifying bibliographic data
 elements relating to applications or grants of patents which data had
 initially been announced by the industrial property office of that
 entity.
 

 (70) Identification of parties concerned with
 the patent or SPC 

 °°(71) Name(s) of applicant(s)

 (72) Name(s) of inventor(s) if known to be such

 °°(73) Name(s) of grantee(s), holder(s), assignee(s) or
 owner(s)
 

 (74) Name(s) of attorney(s) or agent(s)

 °°(75) Name(s) of inventor(s) who is (are) also
 applicant(s)
 

 °°(76) Names(s) of inventor(s) who is (are) also
 applicant(s) and grantee(s)
 

 Notes :
 

 (i) °°For patent documents for which grant has taken place
 on or before the date of making available to the public, and gazette entries
 relating thereto, the minimum data requirement is met by indicating the
 grantee, and for other documents by indication of the applicant.
 

 (ii) (75) and (76) are intended primarily for use by
 countries in which the national laws require that the inventor and applicant
 be normally the same. In other cases (71) or (72) or (71), (72) and (73)
 should generally be used.
 

 (80) Identification of data related to
 International Conventions other than the Paris Convention and to
 legislation 

 (90) with respect to SPC’s 

 (81) Designated State(s) according to the PCT

 (83) Information concerning the deposit of microorganisms,
 e.g., under the Budapest Treaty
 

 (84) Designated Contracting States under regional patent
 conventions
 

 (85) Date of commencement of the national phase pursuant to
 PCT
 Article 23(l) or 40(l) 

 (86) Filing data of the PCT international application,
 i.e., international filing date, international application number, and,
 optionally, the language in which the published international application
 was originally filed; or in the case of design patents, registration data of
 the Hague Agreement international application, i.e., international
 registration date and international registration number
 

 (87) Publication data of the PCT international application,
 i.e., international publication date, international publication number, and,
 optionally, the language in which the application is published
 

 (88) Date of deferred publication of the search report

 (91) Date on which an international application filed under
 the PCT no longer has an effect in one or several designated or elected
 States due to failure to enter the national or regional phase or the date on
 which it has been determined that it had failed to enter the national or
 regional phase
 

 (92) For an SPC, number and date of the first national
 authorization to place the product on the market as a medicinal product or
 plant protection product
 

 (93) For an SPC, number, date and, where applicable,
 country of origin, of the first authorization to place the product on the
 market as a medicinal product or plant protection product within a regional
 economic community
 

 (94) Calculated date of expiry of the SPC or the duration
 of the SPC
 

 (95) Name of the product protected by the basic patent and
 in respect of which the SPC or the extension of the SPC has been applied for
 or granted
 

 (96) Filing date of the regional application, i.e.,
 application filing date, application number, and, optionally, the language
 in which the published application was originally filed
 

 (97) Publication data of the regional application (or of
 the regional patent, if already granted), i.e., publication date,
 publication number, and, optionally, the language in which the application
 (or, where applicable, the patent) is published
 

 (98) For an SPC, data concerning the
 application for an extension of the duration, the revocation of an extension
 of the duration and the correction of the duration 
 

 Notes :
 

 (i) The codes (86), (87), (96), and (97) are intended to be
 used:
 

 • on national documents when identifying one or more of the
 relevant filing data or publication data of a PCT international application,
 or of the regional application (or of the regional patent, if already
 granted), or
 

 • on regional documents when identifying one or more of the
 relevant filing data or publication data of the PCT international
 application or of another regional application (or the regional patent, if
 already granted).
 

 (ii) All data in code (86), (87), (96), or (97) should be
 presented together and preferably on a single line. The application number
 or publication number should comprise the three basic elements as shown in
 the example in paragraph 17 of WIPO Standard ST.10/B, i.e., the two letter
 code identifying the republishing office, the document number, and the kind
 of document code.
 

 (iii) When data to be referenced by INID Codes (86) or (87)
 refer to two or more regional and/or PCT applications, each set of relevant
 filing or publication data of each such application should be displayed so
 as to be clearly distinguishable from other sets of relevant data, e.g., by
 presenting each set on a single line or by presenting the data of each set
 grouped together on adjacent lines in a column with a blank line between
 each set. When data to be referenced by codes (86), (87), (96), or (97)
 refer to two or more PCT international applications and/or regional
 applications (or regional patents, if already granted), each set of relevant
 filing or publication data of each such application (or granted patent)
 should be displayed so as to be clearly distinguishable from other sets of
 relevant data, e.g., by presenting each set on a single line or by
 presenting the data of each set grouped together on adjacent lines in a
 column with a blank line between each set.
 

 (iv) The languages under codes (86), (87), (96), and (97)
 should be indicated by using the two-letter language symbols according to
 International Standard ISO 639:1988.
 

 (v) The country of origin in code (93), if mentioned,
 should be indicated by using the two letter code according to WIPO Standard
 ST.3.
 

 (vi) The document “Terms of Protection”, which provided
 information related to code (24), has been moved to the Archives.
 

 II. NUMBERS FOR IDENTIFICATION OF BIBLIOGRAPHIC DATA ON THE FIRST PAGE OF
 INDUSTRIAL DESIGNS (INID NUMBERS) INID codes for industrial designs are similar to, but not
 identical to, those used for patents and like documents. INID codes for industrial
 designs may be of most interest to design patent examiners.
 

 INID Codes and Minimum Required for the Identification of
 Bibliographic Data for Industrial Designs (based on WIPO Standard
 ST.80) 
 (10) Data concerning the registration/renewal

 °(11) Serial number of the registration and/or number of
 the design document
 

 °°(12) Plain language designation of the kind of published
 document
 

 °(14) Serial number of the renewal where different from
 initial registration number
 

 °(15) Date of the registration/Date of the renewal

 (17) Expected duration of the registration/renewal

 (18) Expected expiration date of the
 registration/renewal
 

 °°(19) Identification, using the two-letter code according
 to WIPO Standard ST.3, of the authority publishing or registering the
 industrial design.
 

 Note: 

 °°Minimum data element for design documents only

 (20) Data concerning the application

 °(21) Serial number of the application

 °(22) Date of filing of the application

 °(23) Name and place of exhibition, and date on which the
 industrial design was first exhibited there (exhibition priority data)
 

 (24) Date from which the industrial design right has
 effect
 

 (27) Kind of application or deposit (open/sealed)

 (28) Number of industrial designs included in the
 application
 

 (29) Indication of the form in which the industrial design
 is filed, e.g., as a reproduction of the industrial design or as a specimen
 thereof 
 

 (30) Data relating to priority under the Paris
 Convention
 

 °(31) Serial number assigned to the priority
 application
 

 °(32) Date of filing of the priority application

 (33) Two-letter code, according to WIPO Standard ST.3,
 identifying the authority with which the priority application was made
 

 Notes: 

 (i) With the proviso that when data coded (31), (32) and
 (33) are presented together, category code (30) can be used, if so desired. 
 

 (ii) For international deposits made under the Hague
 Agreement, the two-letter code “WO” is to be used. 
 

 (40) Date(s) of making information available to the
 public
 

 (43) Date of publication of the industrial design before
 examination by printing or similar process, or making it available to the
 public by any other means
 

 (44) Date of publication of the industrial design after
 examination, but before registration, by printing or similar process, or
 making it available to the public by any other means
 

 (45) Date of publication of the registered industrial
 design by printing or similar process, or making it available to the public
 by any other means
 

 (46) Date of expiration of deferment 

 (50) Miscellaneous Information

 °(51) International Classification for Industrial Designs
 (class and subclass of the Locarno Classification)
 

 (52) National classification

 (53) Identification of the industrial design(s) comprised
 in a multiple application or registration which is (are) affected by a
 particular transaction when not all are so affected
 

 °(54) Designation of article(s) or product(s) covered by
 the industrial design or title of the industrial design
 

 °°(55) Reproduction of the industrial design (e.g.,
 drawing, photograph) and explanations relating to the reproduction
 

 (56) List of prior art document, if separate from
 descriptive text
 

 (57) Description of characteristic features of the
 industrial design including indication of colors
 

 (58) Date of recording of any kind of amendment in the
 Register (e.g., change in ownership, change in name or address, renunciation
 to an international deposit, termination of protection)
 

 Notes: 

 (i) Code (52) should be preceded by the two-letter code,
 according to WIPO Standard ST.3, identifying the country whose national
 classification is used (the two-letter code should be indicated within
 parentheses).
 

 (ii) °°Minimum data element for design documents only.

 (60) References to other legally related application(s) and
 registration(s)
 

 (62) Serial number(s) and, if available, filing date(s) of
 application(s), registration(s) or document(s) related by division
 

 (66) Serial number(s) of the application, or the
 registration, of the design(s) which is (are) a variant(s) of the present
 one
 

 Note: 

 Category code (60) should be used by countries which were
 previously part of another entity for identifying bibliographic data
 elements relating to applications or registrations of industrial designs,
 which data had initially been announced by the industrial property office of
 that entity.
 

 (70) Identification of parties concerned with the
 application or registration
 

 °°(71) Name(s) and address(es) of the applicant(s)

 (72) Name(s) of the creator(s) if known to be such

 °°(73) Name(s) and address(es) of the owner(s)

 (74) Name(s) and address(es) of the representative(s)

 (78) Name(s) and address(es) of the new owner(s) in case of
 change in ownership
 

 Note: 

 °°If registration has taken place on or before the date of
 making the industrial design available to the public, the minimum data
 requirement is met by indicating the owner(s); in other cases, by indicating
 the applicant(s). 
 

 (80) Identification of certain data related to the
 international deposit of industrial designs under the Hague Agreement
 Concerning the International Deposit of Industrial Designs and data related
 to other international conventions.
 

 Information regarding designated Contracting
 Parties/Contracting Parties concerned
 

 (81) Contracted Partied Concerned 

 I Contracted Parties designated under the
 1934 Act 
 

 II Contracted Parties designated under the
 1960 Act 
 

 III Contracted Parties designated under the
 1999 Act 
 

 (82) Statements contained in the international
 application
 

 (83) Indication as to whether there is a
 possibility of review or appeal
 

 (84) Designated Contracting State(s) under regional
 convention.
 

 Information regarding the owner(s)

 (85) Habitual residence of the owner(s)

 (86) Nationality of the owner(s)

 (87) Domicile of the owner(s)

 (88) State in which the owner(s) has (have) a real and
 effective industrial or commercial establishment
 

 (89) “Applicant’s Contracting Party”

 Note: 

 The data to be referenced by INID codes (81) to (88) should
 be indicated by using the two-letter code according to WIPO Standard
 ST.3.
 

 
 

 
 901.05(c) Obtaining Copies [R-01.2024]

 Until October 1, 1995, the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (Office)
 received copies of the published specifications of patents and patent applications
 from nearly all the countries which issued them in printed form. The Office receives
 most foreign patents in electronic form. The foreign patents so obtained are
 available to examiners from the USPTO’s automated search tools such as Patents
 End-to-End (PE2E) SEARCH, Foreign Patent Finder, Global Dossier, other foreign patent
 websites, and from the Foreign Patents Service Center (FPSC) located in the
 Scientific and Technical Information Center (STIC).
 

 Until October 1995, it was the practice in the Office to classify
 and place only a single patent family member for each invention in the examiner
 search files. In addition, all non-English language patent documents placed in the
 examiner files were accompanied, to the extent possible, by an English language
 abstract. For countries where the specification is printed twice, once during the
 application stage and again after the patent has been granted, only the first
 printing was, in general, placed in the search files, since the second printing
 ordinarily does not vary from the first as to disclosure. The Derwent World Patents
 index is available on the PE2E SEARCH system and provides patent family information
 and Derwent titles and abstracts in English of foreign patent documents.
 

 In addition to databases previously available in
 legacy search systems, PE2E SEARCH includes a foreign patent database named Foreign
 Image and Text (FIT). FIT contains a collection of foreign documents in full English
 text (i.e., abstract, description, claims) with accompanying images. The full text
 English documents are either natively in English or translated by a vendor. The
 vendor uses a variety of sources, including human and machine translations of the FIT
 data.
 

 Copies of various specifications not included in the search files,
 whether non-English-language patent documents or documents not printed or available
 for exchange, may come to the examiner’s attention. For example, they may be cited in
 a motion to dissolve an interference, be cited by applicants, or turn up in an online
 search. Upon request, STIC will obtain a copy from its extensive collection, or if
 necessary, from the patent office of the particular country. In the case of unprinted
 patent documents, STIC will request that the date of granting and the date the
 specification was made available to the public be indicated on the copies provided by
 the country of origin. If the examiner wishes to obtain a copy of a specification
 from an international application filed under the Patent Cooperation Treaty (PCT) or
 a patent application from a WIPO-CASE participating Office, the Global Dossier Public
 Access is a tool which provides online access to the file histories of related
 applications. See MPEP § 901.08 for additional
 information. 
 

 Examiners can request copies of any foreign patent documents by
 submitting an online request using the Foreign Patent Request Form available through
 STIC’s NPL website on the USPTO intranet. Examiners may also request copies directly
 from the Foreign Patents Service Center (FPSC) of STIC. If examiners so choose, they
 can make copies themselves. The most current patent documents are accessible through
 the USPTO’s automated search systems, which allow public and USPTO users to look up,
 view, and print foreign documents. Older documents can be found on microfilm or print
 copies in the Main Service Center of the STIC. See MPEP § 903.03 . The
 STIC Foreign Patents Service Center and the Electronic Information Centers (EICs)
 will assist examiners with accessing patent data from foreign countries. If examiners
 prefer self-service, PE2E SEARCH and other foreign patent websites are available for
 foreign patent retrieval. Additionally, STIC staff are able to retrieve foreign
 patent information for examiners.
 

 

 
 901.05(d) Translation [R-01.2024]

 Examiners may consult the translators in the Translations Service
 Center of the Scientific and Technical Information Center (STIC) for oral assistance
 in translating foreign patents or literature that are possible references for an
 application being examined. Examiners may also request human (written) translations
 of pertinent portions of references being considered for citation or already cited in
 applications. See MPEP § 901.06(a) , STIC Services - Translations, and
 MPEP
 § 903.03 , Availability of Foreign Patents.
 

 Examiners may request human (written) translations at any point in
 the examination process, at the discretion of the individual examiner, but are
 encouraged to use machine translations, oral assistance, and language reference
 resources. See MPEP § 2120 . Examiners can request
 human (written) translations, or machine translations, by submitting an online
 request using the corresponding Translation Request Form available through STIC’s NPL
 website on the USPTO intranet. The Translations Service Center uses email as the sole
 delivery method for human (written) translations. The STIC maintains a listing of
 available machine translations tools on its website https://ptoweb.uspto.gov/patents/stic/ .
 

 Examiners may also contact in-house translators for
 on-the-spot oral translations in person, via phone, email, or Office Communicator, as
 a quick means to obtain information about a document. A listing of available
 translators and their office hours is available by selecting the “Patent Human
 Translation” option on the STIC website. 
 

 Equivalent versions of foreign specifications, that is, members of
 the same patent family, are often available in English or other languages known to
 the examiner. In addition, copies of previously translated documents are stored in
 the Translations Service Center. Before any translation request is processed, the
 staff of the Translations Service Center checks for equivalents or previous
 translations. The staff of STIC’s Foreign Patent Service Center or the Translations
 Service Center can assist examiners in locating equivalents or abstracts. See
 MPEP §
 901.06(a) , STIC Services - Foreign Patent Services. 
 

 

 

 
 901.06 Nonpatent Publications [R-08.2012]

 All printed publications may be used as references, the date to be
 cited being the publication date. See MPEP § 2128 - § 2128.02 .
 

 The Scientific and Technical Information Center (STIC) maintains an
 Electronic Information Center (EIC) or Library in each Technology Center. Copies of
 non-patent literature can be requested from these facilities. See MPEP § 707.05(e) for
 information on how to cite such publications.
 

 
 901.06(a) Scientific and Technical Information Center
 (STIC) [R-01.2024]
 

 The Scientific and Technical Information Center (STIC) Library is
 located at the Madison East Building, Concourse Level, Room 00A89, 600 Dulany Street,
 Alexandria, VA 22314. STIC maintains Electronic Information Centers (EICs) for each
 Technology Center (TC) whose mission is to assist patent examiners in the patent
 process by providing fast, accurate, prior art searches, document delivery services,
 the provision of foreign patent copies, translations of foreign documents, and access
 to non-patent literature in electronic format and in print.
 

 
 35 U.S.C. 7 
 Library. 

 The Director shall maintain a library of scientific and other
 works and periodicals, both foreign and domestic, in the Patent and Trademark
 Office to aid the officers in the discharge of their duties.
 

 

 Technical literature, foreign patent documents, and reference and
 online search services available in STIC are all important resources for the patent
 examiner to utilize. These resources provide material which must be known or searched
 to determine whether claims of applications are directly anticipated and, therefore,
 unpatentable under the provisions of 35 U.S.C. 102 . STIC handbooks,
 textbooks, periodicals, reports, and other materials assist examiners in deciding the
 question of patentable invention in cases in which the primary search indicates that
 there is some novelty as compared to any single reference in the art
 ( 35 U.S.C.
 103 ). These resources enable the examiner to determine whether
 the features novel in the particular combination searched would be obvious to a
 person skilled in the art from the general state of knowledge as reflected in the
 technical literature. 
 

 I. STIC COLLECTIONS 

 A. Books (Electronic and Print) Based on recommendations by patent examiners and
 subject area experts, STIC reviews, selects and purchases primarily
 English-language publications in all fields of applied technology. A decisive
 priority is given to electronic resources. 
 

 A legacy collection of print materials,
 circulating and reference, is available in the Main STIC. All available STIC
 resources, print and electronic, are discoverable through the STIC Online
 Catalog. EIC staff will also assist examiners in finding information pertinent
 to the subject matter of a patent application. A request to purchase a
 publication not currently available from STIC and not obtainable through
 Interlibrary Loans (usually a book or an industry standard) can be submitted by
 using the NPL Purchase Request Form available on the STIC NPL website. NPL
 purchase requests are accepted at any time throughout the year. 
 

 B. Periodicals STIC provides access to a vast collection of electronic
 periodicals and a small legacy collection of print periodicals. Incorporated
 into the collection is a number of titles pertinent to the examination of
 design patent applications and titles of interest to nonexamining areas of the
 U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO). 
 

 Requests for the purchase of new subscription titles are
 accepted at any time throughout the year.
 

 All periodicals are discoverable through the STIC Online
 Catalog. 
 

 C. Foreign Patent Documents The USPTO receives foreign patent documents through exchange
 agreements with almost all countries that print or otherwise publish their
 patent documents. This makes STIC’s collection of foreign patent documents the
 most comprehensive in the United States.
 

 The collection is located in Main STIC. The most current part
 of the collection is made available to examiners and the public through the
 USPTO’s automated search tools which allow users to look up, view, and print
 documents. The earliest patent documents, as far back as 1617, and documents
 from smaller countries are found in the paper collection in the stacks or at
 remote sites. 
 

 Most foreign countries issue official patent and trademark
 journals corresponding to the Official Gazette of the United States
 Patent and Trademark Office. These journals are shelved under
 country name. Most countries issue name indexes; some also issue classified
 indexes. Indexes are shelved with the journals.
 

 The official journals of a few countries include abstracts of
 the disclosures of the patents announced or applications published. 
 

 D. Special Collections Although STIC still houses substantial print collections, the
 majority of the collections are now in the form of electronic books, journals,
 and foreign patents. Many rare and historical book collections have been
 digitized in order to provide electronic access and preserve the materials. The
 electronic books and journals are accessible via the STIC NPL website. To
 locate the NPL Services for Examiners on the USPTO intranet site, go to the
 Patent Examiner’s Toolkit and click on NPL-STIC. Collections are arranged by TC
 and are also accessible by title via the STIC Online Catalog.
 

 Each Electronic Information Center has a small
 print collection tailored to the art areas covered by the TC.
 

 II. HOW TO LOCATE MATERIALS IN STIC 

The STIC Online Catalog
 The primary vehicle for locating electronic books and
 journals, database and subscription resources, books in print and other
 materials is the STIC Online Catalog. Examiners can access the catalog from
 their desktops via the Patent Examiner’s Toolkit or via the STIC NPL
 website.
 

 Catalog records for electronic resources contain direct links
 to those resources. Most of the electronic resources are accessible to anyone
 accessing them from the USTPO network. For a few commercial databases,
 examiners must submit an account creation request. More information is
 available on the STIC NPL website. 
 

 For the materials in the legacy print
 collection, the catalog records provide location, call number, and
 availability. For call numbers, STIC uses the Library of Congress
 classification system.
 

 III. LOAN POLICY All STIC materials in print except non-circulating items may be
 checked out at the Reference Desk in the Main STIC. Non-circulating material
 includes reference publications, journals in print, foreign patent documents, and
 microfilm. Examiners may also request materials from other libraries. If books in
 print are needed from another library for official use, a request can be made to
 the Reference Delivery Branch to see the Table of Contents of said book, and a
 portion of the book may be photocopied, or if not found in print format, an e-book
 may be purchased instead through the Library Services Branch. STIC’s staff can
 answer questions regarding the accessibility and lending practices of other
 libraries.
 

 IV. STIC SERVICES 

 A. Reference Services STIC’s staff assists examiners in the use of the STIC services
 and its resources. Upon request, they provide guidance on finding information
 in the electronic and print collections, and updates on the status of service
 requests. If any problems are encountered in locating materials or finding
 answers to informational needs, please check with the staff. They are ready and
 willing to assist. Queries may be made in person or by phone, email, instant
 message or simply using the Ask-STIC chat-room.
 

 B. Online Text/Prior Art and Bibliographic Searches STIC staff located in the EICs in each TC perform
 prior art and bibliographic searches for examiners using commercial databases
 (CDBs) and subscription resources. STIC staff access many CDBs such as ProQuest
 Dialog, Scientific and Technical Network (STN), Questel-Orbit, IP.com and
 others. When they are identified as meeting the needs and requirements of the
 Office, new database vendors are added. A list of the databases offered by each
 vendor is available on the vendors' websites.
 

 CDBs extensively cover the fields of knowledge
 examined by USPTO, and make it possible for expert search staff to retrieve
 bibliographic information e.g. title, author, publication date, source,
 language etc., and may also include abstracts, chemical structures, and DNA
 sequences. Often the full text of the articles, depending on the database, can
 be provided in PDF or other electronic formats.
 

 CDBs and other subscription resources provide
 access to non-patent literature that is typically not available on the
 internet, and require expert knowledge in order to use special indexing,
 perform complex chemical substance and structure searches, and utilize
 classification search systems that improve retrieval. Examiners can submit a
 request for a prior art/text search by using the Text/Regular Form on the STIC
 NPL website. For bibliographic searches, examiners may submit a request for a
 legal/litigation search by using the Litigation Form. Patent Family searches
 may be requested by using the Foreign Patent Request Form or contacting staff
 in the EICs. Completed searches are emailed to the examiners. 
 

 Online searching of nucleic and amino acid
 sequences is conducted by the staff of the STIC EIC for TC1600 through the use
 of an in-house computer system developed for this purpose. On an as-needed
 basis, introductory classes are conducted by STIC staff to assist examiners in
 understanding the sequence search results. Examiners can also conduct this
 search on their own via the in-house ABSS search system. 
 

 Examiners may also conduct searches of online commercial
 databases independently of STIC staff. Once approval for a commercial database
 login and password from the supervisory patent examiner (SPE) has been
 obtained, training by the vendor is provided through the USPTO Learning Center.
 Individual assistance in searching these databases is also available from the
 Electronic Information Centers (EIC) staff, especially for searching chemical
 structures and DNA sequences.
 

 C. Foreign Patent Services The staff of the Foreign Patents Service Center of the STIC is
 available to assist with any problem or informational need regarding foreign
 patent document retrieval or foreign patent documents. These services are also
 available to examiners in the Electronic Information Centers.
 

 Online patent family searches are performed for patent
 examiners by the Foreign Patents Service Center. The services provided include:
 identification of English-language or preferred-language equivalents;
 determination of priority dates and publication dates; searches by inventor
 name or abstract number; other patent family and bibliographic document
 retrieval searches; and foreign classification information.
 

 Examiners who choose to perform their own foreign patent
 searches after receiving appropriate training through the Office of Patent
 Training can consult foreign patent experts for difficult document retrieval
 searches. 
 

 The staff of the Foreign Patents Service Center can supplement
 the online document retrieval searching effort with manual searches of foreign
 patent journals, including Official Gazette(s), patent
 concordances, and/or indexes. The staff also provides training on the use of
 the foreign patent collections.
 

 SPECIAL NOTE: Members of the public can order copies of
 foreign patent documents from the Foreign Patents Service Center.
 

 D. Translations Examiners may consult the translators in the Translations
 Service Center of STIC for oral assistance in translating foreign language
 patents and foreign document sources that may be possible references for
 applications being examined. Oral translations are performed for a large
 variety of languages. Examiners may review a list of available translators from
 the STIC main page at https://ptoweb.uspto.gov/patents/stic/ . Examiners may also
 request written translations of pertinent portions of references being
 considered for citation or already cited in applications. Full translations are
 also made upon request. Written translations can be made from virtually all
 foreign languages into English. See also MPEP §
 901.05(d) .
 

 The Translations Service Center maintains a database of all
 previously completed document translations. Patent translations are indexed by
 country and patent number; articles are indexed by language and author or
 title. Any copies of translations coming to examiners from outside the Office
 should be furnished to the Translations Service Center so that it may make
 copies for its files. 
 

 E. Interlibrary Loans When needed for official business purposes, STIC will obtain
 from other libraries materials such as journal articles or book chapters not
 available in-house. Requests can be submitted to the STIC EIC facility in an
 examiner’s TC or via the electronic form on the STIC NPL website. STIC has
 purchasing agreements with libraries throughout the U.S.
 

 F. On-Site Photocopying For the convenience of the Examining Corps, photocopy machines
 are available for employee use in STIC. These are to be used for photocopying
 STIC materials which do not circulate, or for materials which examiners do not
 wish to checkout.
 

 G. Obtaining Publication Dates Requests pertaining to the earliest date of publication or
 first distribution to the public of publications should be made to the STIC EIC
 facility in the examiner’s TC. For U.S. publications, the staff can obtain the
 day and month of publication claimed by the copyright owner. The same
 information can be obtained for foreign publications through correspondence
 although it will take a little longer.
 

 H. Tours Special tours of the STIC and its service centers can be
 arranged for examiners or for outside groups by contacting the STIC EIC
 facility in the examiner’s TC.
 

 

 
 901.06(b) Borrowed Publications [R-07.2015]

 See MPEP § 901.06(a) , STIC Services - Interlibrary Loans.
 

 

 
 901.06(c) Alien Property Custodian Publications [R-01.2024]

 Applications vested in the Alien Property Custodian during World War
 II were published in 1943 even though they had not become patents.
 

 Care must be taken not to refer to these publications as patents;
 they should be designated as A.P.C. published applications.
 

 An A.P.C. published application may be used by the examiner as a
 basis for rejection only as a printed publication effective from the date of
 publication, which is printed on each copy.
 

 The manner of citing one of these publications is as follows: A.P.C.
 Application of ............, Ser. No. ............, Published ............
 

 The Patent Search Room contains a complete set of A.P.C. published
 applications arranged numerically in bound volumes.
 

 

 
 901.06(d) Abstracts, Abbreviatures, and Defensive Publications [R-08.2017]

 Abstracts and Abbreviatures are U.S. Patent and Trademark Office
 publications of abandoned applications. Defensive Publications (the O.G. defensive
 publication and search copy) are U.S. Patent and Trademark Office publications of
 provisionally abandoned applications wherein the applicant retains their rights to an
 interference for a limited time period of 5 years from the earliest effective U.S.
 filing date. On May 8, 1985, the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office stopped accepting
 Defensive Publication requests and began accepting applications for Statutory
 Invention Registrations (SIRs), although there was an overlap period where both
 Defensive Publications and Statutory Invention Registrations were processed; see
 MPEP §
 711.06 and § 711.06(a) . Statutory Invention
 Registrations replaced the Defensive Publication program. However, requests for a
 statutory invention registration filed on or after March 16, 2013 will not be
 processed, as the provisions of pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 157 governing
 Statutory Invention Registrations were repealed. See MPEP §
 1101 . Statutory Invention Registrations are numbered with
 document category “H,” beginning with “H1.” Defensive Publications and Statutory
 Invention Registrations are included in subclass lists and subscription orders.
 

 Distinct numbers are assigned to all Defensive Publications
 published December 16, 1969 through October 1980.
 

 

 For Defensive Publications published on and after November 4, 1980,
 a different numbering system is used.
 

 

 A conversion table from the application serial number to the
 distinct number for all Defensive Publications published before December 16, 1969
 appears at 869 O.G. 687. The distinct numbers are used for all official reference and
 document copy requirements.
 

 

 

 
 901.07 Patent Family Information [R-01.2024]

 Patent family information is available at the U.S. Patent
 and Trademark Office (Office) primarily through commercial databases. See
 MPEP §
 901.05 regarding patent family. Examiners have access to this
 information either directly through the automated search tools or indirectly through the
 search services of the Scientific and Technical Information Center (STIC). Additionally,
 Examiners may utilize the Common Citation Document website accessible through the
 Examiner’s Toolkit to obtain patent family information. 
 

 I. AVAILABLE DATABASES Derwent’s World Patents Index (WPI) and International
 Patent Documentation Center (INPADOC) are two databases used for retrieving foreign
 patent information.
 

 The WPI database is loaded in-house at the Office and is
 integrated with the Office’s automated search system. WPI in-house is used whenever
 abstracts are needed or when searches in addition to publication date or patent
 family are required, such as searches on inventor name or IPC (International Patent
 Classification). WPI in-house is also the first choice for searches for publication
 dates or patent families because of its ease of use and low cost.
 

 INPADOC is used for quick searches for publication
 dates or patent families. The Office enjoys cost effective rates for INPADOC due to
 an agreement between the Office and the International Patent Documentation Center
 (now part of the European Patent Office) negotiated several years ago. The agreement
 applies only to INPADOC as accessed directly on the INPADOC computer in Austria, not
 to INPADOC as available on other commercial database systems such as ORBIT, DIALOG,
 or STN.
 

 II. ACCESS TO FOREIGN PATENT INFORMATION Patent examiners may directly search WPI in-house or
 INPADOC or both. 
 

 Examiners may also request foreign patent searches
 through STIC. For STIC services, see MPEP § 901.06(a) , paragraph IV.
 

 

 
 901.08 Global Dossier Public Access [R-08.2017]

 Global Dossier Public Access provides secure, online
 access to the file histories of related applications from participating IP Offices. This
 includes all international application filed under the Patent Cooperation Treaty (PCT)
 as well as patent applications from World Intellectual Property Organization-Centralized
 Access to Search and Examination (WIPO-CASE) participating offices. By using this
 service, examiners will be able to view Office Actions (along with machine
 translations), citations, and classification data for those applications. This service
 also provides Office Action Indicators to help examiners identify applications that
 contain office actions, a Collections View for saving documents and applications for
 review later on in the session, and the ability to download the documents in an
 application. See www.wipo.int/case/en/ for additional information regarding
 WIPO-CASE. 
 

 

 [top] 

 

 

 
 

 
 

 

 

 

 
 
 
 901-Prior Art 
 901.01-Canceled Matter in U.S. Patent Files 
 901.01(a)-Ordering of Patented and Abandoned Provisional and Nonprovisional Application Files 

 
 

 901.02-Abandoned Applications 

 901.03-Pending Applications 

 901.04-U.S. Patents 
 901.04(a)-Kind Codes 

 
 

 901.05-Foreign Patent Documents 
 901.05(a)-Citation Data 

 901.05(b)-Other Significant Data 

 901.05(c)-Obtaining Copies 

 901.05(d)-Translation 

 
 

 901.06-Nonpatent Publications 
 901.06(a)-Scientific and Technical Information Center (STIC) 

 901.06(b)-Borrowed Publications 

 901.06(c)-Alien Property Custodian Publications 

 901.06(d)-Abstracts, Abbreviatures, and Defensive Publications 

 
 

 901.07-Patent Family Information 

 901.08-Global Dossier Public Access 

 
 

 902-Search Tools and Classification Information 
 902.01-Classification Manual for the U.S. Patent Classification System 
 902.01(a)-Index to the U.S. Patent Classification System 

 
 

 902.02-Class and Subclass Definitions in USPC 
 902.02(a)-Definition Notes in USPC 

 902.02(b)-[Reserved] 

 
 

 902.03-Classification Information 
 902.03(a)-Patent Classification Home Page on the Internet 

 902.03(b)-Patent Classification Home Page on the USPTO Intranet 

 902.03(c)-[Reserved] 

 902.03(d)-[Reserved] 

 902.03(e)-Automated Search Tools: PE2E SEARCH 

 
 

 
 

 903-Classification in USPC 
 903.01-Statutory Authority 

 903.02-Basis and Principles of Classification in USPC 
 903.02(a)-[Reserved] 

 903.02(b)-Scope of a Class in the USPC 

 
 

 903.03-Availability of Foreign Patents 

 903.04-Classifying Applications for Publication as a Plant Patent Application Publication in USPC 

 903.05-Addition, Deletion, or Transfer of U.S. Design Patents by USPC Classification 

 903.06-Harmonized Subclasses 

 903.07-Classifying and Cross-Referencing Design and Plant Applications at Allowance 
 903.07(a)-Cross-Referencing Design and Plant Applications — Keep Systematic Notes During Prosecution 

 
 

 903.08-[Reserved] 
 903.08(a)-[Reserved] 

 903.08(b)-[Reserved] 

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 904-How to Search 
 904.01-Analysis of Claims 
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 904.01(b)-Equivalents 

 904.01(c)-Analogous Arts 

 
 

 904.02-General Search Guidelines 
 904.02(a)-Classified Search 

 904.02(b)-Search Tool Selection 

 904.02(c)-Internet Searching 

 
 

 904.03-Conducting the Search 

 904.04-Search of Related Post-Grant Proceedings 

 
 

 905-Cooperative Patent Classification 
 905.01-Classification Scheme for CPC 
 905.01(a)-CPC Titles 
 905.01(a)(1)-References within CPC Titles 

 905.01(a)(2)-Notes Found in CPC schemes 

 905.01(a)(3)-Warnings Found in CPC schemes 

 905.01(a)(4)-Guidance Headings Found in CPC Schemes 

 
 

 
 

 905.02-CPC Definitions 

 905.03-Classifying in CPC 
 905.03(a)-The CPC Database 

 905.03(b)-Approach to classification in CPC 

 905.03(c)-Combination Sets 

 
 

 
 

 906-International Classification of Patents for Inventions 

 907-Locarno Classification Designations 

 908-[Reserved] 

 909-Routing and Docketing of Applications 
 909.01-Assignment, Transfer and Classification Challenges under Cooperative Patent Classification (CPC) 
 909.01(a)-New Applications in CPC 

 909.01(b)-Classification and Assignment to Examiner in CPC 

 909.01(c)-Immediate Inspection of Amendments 

 909.01(d)-Classification Challenge Procedure in CPC 

 
 

 909.02-Applications: Assignment and Transfer in USPC 
 909.02(a)-New Design and Plant Patent Applications under 35 U.S.C. 161 

 909.02(b)-Classification and Assignment to Examiner 

 909.02(c)-Reserved 

 909.02(d)-Transfer Procedure 

 909.02(e)-General Guidelines Governing the Assignment of Nonprovisional Design and Plant Applications for Examination 

 
 

 
 

 

 

 
 

 
 
 

 
 

 

 
 
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 03/09/2026 20:50:54