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Updated: Jan 4, 2005 |
The best way to search for a publication number is to use one of the search fields designed specifically for publication number searching. There are publication number-specific search fields on the Quick/Number form, the Advanced form, and the Boolean form. These publication number search fields are tolerant of the differences in patent number formats.
You can also search for publication numbers (as number strings) in text search boxes (e.g., on the Quick/Number form, on the Advanced form) but, when searching for publication numbers as text strings, the system is unable to "help" with patent number format differences.
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A basic understanding of publication number construction and a brief explanation of how Delphion Research treats publication number variations in the different collections will help with your research.
A 12-character publication number is the Delphion standard. The full publication number always starts with the 2-character country code and always ends with the 2-character kind code (or one or two underscores as placeholders for the kind code). See the Delphion Help Center list of kind codes.
The 8 characters in the center can be thought of as the "core" of the publication number — they could include a year, a prefix, or a city code. If the characters in hand do not equal 8, then "leading zeroes" are added (to the numeric part) so that the full publication number is 12 characters.
- One or more of the first numerals used may be zeroes based on the collection (the EPA and EPB use this convention).
- In certain collections, initial numerals indicate the year the patent (or application) was granted (US Applications and PCT publications follow this convention).
- For US Granted patents, there may be a two-character prefix. See the Delphion Help Center explanation of US Granted prefixes.
- For IT (Italy) patents, there may be a two-character city code.
- Leading zeroes may be added during processing when required to "normalize" the publication number to the 12-digit Delphion standard. If leading zeroes are required and a prefix or city code is used, the leading zeroes are added after the prefix or city code and before the publication number digits.
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The following examples demonstrate the use of leading zeroes to build a publication number out to the 12-character Delphion standard. In each of the examples, the publication number is first shown exactly as it appears in the source patent document.
When searching for patents by publication number, commas, spaces, and slashes should be omitted from your queries.
US Granted: US 6,258,784 B1
EP Granted: EP 0 611 368 B1
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US Applications, recent PAJ abstracts and WIPO documents are the exception to the rule. Because of publication number format differences, the best way to search for these numbers is to use one of the search fields designed specifically for publication number searching — these fields are tolerant of publication number format differences.
US Applications and recent PAJ abstracts have long publication numbers that need to be reduced to 12 characters for searching. The following shows how that is accomplished:
US Applications are 15 characters. Before searching, reduce them to the Delphion standard 12-character format in this manner:
- Remove the middle two zeroes in the year (the first four characters)
- Remove the zero immediately following the year
Example: US 20020035272A1 (15 characters) becomes US22035272A1 (12 characters)
Current PAJ abstracts are 14 characters. Before searching, reduce them to the Delphion standard 12-character format by removing the middle two zeroes in the year (the first four characters).
Example: JP 2001000859 A2 (14 characters) becomes JP21000859A2 (12 characters)
WIPO changed its publication number format in July 2002 and publication numbers before and after that date differ.
Before July 2002:
- The standard WO 11-character publication number format was: WO YY/12345 KK
- Delphion added a leading zero to build the number to the 12-digit standard in the following manner: WO0YY12345KK. However, while this is the format that is stored, if you use the publication number fields on any of the search forms, the system will automatically add the leading zero for you, allowing you to search on WOYY12345.
After July 2002:
- The original WO documents remained in the 11-character format: WO YY/12345 KK
- Reissued WO documents retain their original 11-character format: WO YY/12345 KK OR take a new 12-character format: WO YY/123456 KK
- Newly issued WO document take the new 12-character format: WO YY/123456 KK
- Delphion uses the new 12-character format provided by the WO: WOYY123456KK (Note: The WO at the present time is showing the first character as a zero in its new 12-character format to allow for growth into a 6-number core number.)
Use the publication number-specific search fields on the Quick/Number form, the Advanced form, or the Boolean form for the most reliable search results. These fields are designed to be forgiving of changes like these. For example, with a WO patent from 1998, a publication number-specific search field will accept either WO9833629 or WO09833629 and give you the requested patent.
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Publication number searching: form, field, and format:
Following is a quick guide to the best ways to search by publication number. See Step-by-step publication number searching for more detailed instructions for publication number searching on each of these forms.
| Form |
Field |
Format |
| Quick/Number |
Publication Number |
- Select country from drop down
- Enter "core" publication number in entry box
- Omit kind code
|
| Advanced |
Publication Number |
Enter the full 12-digit publication number including the country code and any appropriate prefixes. The kind code is optional.
Note: Do not use for patents for which we have images-only (e.g., US Granted back file). |
| Boolean |
Pub Number |
Enter the full 12-digit publication number including the country code and any appropriate prefixes. The kind code is optional.
Note: Do not use for patents for which we have images-only (e.g., US Granted back file). |
| Boolean |
Pub Number only |
Enter the publication number without the country code or the kind code, but do include any appropriate prefixes.
Note: Do not use for patents for which we have images-only (e.g., US Granted back file). |
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The Publication Number search field on the Quick/Number form is shown following.
To search by publication number from the Quick/Number form,
- See the Publication Number area on the form.
- Select the issuing country/authority in the drop-down box.
- Enter the publication number in the entry box.
Note: Enter numerals and prefixes (when appropriate) only, do not enter the country code or the kind code.
- Click the Search button located directly next to the number entry box.
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The Publication Number search field on the Advanced form is shown following.
To search by publication number from the Advanced form,
- At the top of the form, select the collection you want to search.
- Scroll down to the Date & Code Fields section.
- Enter the full publication number in the Publication Number field.
NOTE: Enter the country code, any appropriate prefixes. The kind code is optional.
- Click any of the Search buttons on the form.
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The Pub Number and Pub Number only search fields on the Boolean form are shown following.
To search by publication number from the Boolean form,
- In the first All Fields selection box, select to search either Pub Number or Pub Number only.
- If using Pub Number, enter the full 12-digit publication number, including country code and any appropriate prefixes.The kind code is optional.
- If using Pub Number only, enter the publication number without the country code or the kind code, but do include any prefixes.
- Use the selection boxes to indicate the collection you want to search and whether you want front pages or full text. You can also use the date fields to better target your query.
- Click Search.
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