I noticed that some US patent numbers end with a letter, A, B, C etc., but cannot be searched on the USPTO's web site, unless you search it without the letter. What is the significance of the letter and is it a different patent from the one without a letter at the end?
On Thu, 24 Apr 2008 10:17:32 -0700 (PDT), "william...@aol.com"
<william...@aol.com> wrote: >I noticed that some US patent numbers end with a letter, A, B, C etc., >but cannot be searched on the USPTO's web site, unless you search it >without the letter. What is the significance of the letter and is it >a different patent from the one without a letter at the end?
Those letters are not part of the US patent number; they are the WIPO international publication "kind code," which is generally not included in the USPTO Web patent full-text databases.
>>I noticed that some US patent numbers end with a letter, A, B, C etc., >>but cannot be searched on the USPTO's web site, unless you search it >>without the letter. What is the significance of the letter and is it a >>different patent from the one without a letter at the end?
> Those letters are not part of the US patent number; they are the WIPO > international publication "kind code," which is generally not included > in the USPTO Web patent full-text databases.
I didn't follow the link, but an 'A' is a first publication stage, 'B' second, and 'C' third, except that the US doesn't do a third stage, so doesn't use 'C'. Some other letters are also used, like 'H' for a reissue. The letter is usually followed by a digit that shows the actual number of times that particular case has been published.
Older US patents were not published until granted, so regular patents all had an 'A' without a digit after the number, as that was the only stage of publication. When publication before grant was introduced that became an 'A1' document, because it was the first publication stage and the first actual publication, and then the granted patent became a 'B' document as it was then the second stage, but it is more specifically a 'B2' document if it follows the 'A1' or a 'B1' document if the 'A1' stage is skipped, either because it was granted before the 'A1' was due to be published (18 months after filing) or because there was a non-publication request.
On Tue, 6 May 2008 08:07:21 +0000 (UTC), Alun L. Palmer wrote... > I didn't follow the link, but an 'A' is a first publication stage, 'B' > second, and 'C' third, except that the US doesn't do a third stage, so > doesn't use 'C'.
I think 'C' is used for reexamination certificates.
-- Tim Jackson n...@timjackson.plus.invalid (Change '.invalid' to '.com' to reply direct)
> On Tue, 6 May 2008 08:07:21 +0000 (UTC), Alun L. Palmer wrote... >> I didn't follow the link, but an 'A' is a first publication stage, 'B' >> second, and 'C' third, except that the US doesn't do a third stage, so >> doesn't use 'C'.
> I think 'C' is used for reexamination certificates.
Correct.
Steve -- The above posting is neither a legal opinion nor legal advice, because we do not have an attorney-client relationship, and should not be construed as either. This posting does not represent the opinion of my employer, but is merely my personal view. To reply, delete _spamout_ and replace with the numeral 3
>>>I noticed that some US patent numbers end with a letter, A, B, C etc., >>>but cannot be searched on the USPTO's web site, unless you search it >>>without the letter. What is the significance of the letter and is it a >>>different patent from the one without a letter at the end?
>> Those letters are not part of the US patent number; they are the WIPO >> international publication "kind code," which is generally not included >> in the USPTO Web patent full-text databases.
>I didn't follow the link, but an 'A' is a first publication stage, 'B' >second, and 'C' third, except that the US doesn't do a third stage, so >doesn't use 'C'. Some other letters are also used, like 'H' for a reissue. >The letter is usually followed by a digit that shows the actual number of >times that particular case has been published.
>Older US patents were not published until granted, so regular patents all >had an 'A' without a digit after the number, as that was the only stage of >publication....
That is all basically correct, except that -- I repeat -- the kind code is not part of the patent number.
Patent publications are uniquely identified internationally by four pieces of data, as specified by WIPO standard ST.16: country code, year of issue, publication kind code, and document number. For US patent collections before application publication began in 2001, all that was required was the patent number, since it was unique; it implied the US country code, a kind code of "A" (actually "A1", since the kind code is a two-character field), and its Tuesday issue date.
That is now changed, but the kind code, although it is often printed immediately following the document number for convenience (just as the country code "US" is often printed immediately preceding the document number), is not actually part of the patent number, any more than the issue date is.
> On Tue, 6 May 2008 08:07:21 +0000 (UTC), "Alun L. Palmer" > <elekt...@yahoo.com> wrote:
>>>>I noticed that some US patent numbers end with a letter, A, B, C >>>>etc., but cannot be searched on the USPTO's web site, unless you >>>>search it without the letter. What is the significance of the letter >>>>and is it a different patent from the one without a letter at the >>>>end?
>>> Those letters are not part of the US patent number; they are the WIPO >>> international publication "kind code," which is generally not >>> included in the USPTO Web patent full-text databases.
>>I didn't follow the link, but an 'A' is a first publication stage, 'B' >>second, and 'C' third, except that the US doesn't do a third stage, so >>doesn't use 'C'. Some other letters are also used, like 'H' for a >>reissue. The letter is usually followed by a digit that shows the >>actual number of times that particular case has been published.
>>Older US patents were not published until granted, so regular patents >>all had an 'A' without a digit after the number, as that was the only >>stage of publication....
> That is all basically correct, except that -- I repeat -- the kind code > is not part of the patent number.
> Patent publications are uniquely identified internationally by four > pieces of data, as specified by WIPO standard ST.16: country code, year > of issue, publication kind code, and document number. For US patent > collections before application publication began in 2001, all that was > required was the patent number, since it was unique; it implied the US > country code, a kind code of "A" (actually "A1", since the kind code is > a two-character field), and its Tuesday issue date.
> That is now changed, but the kind code, although it is often printed > immediately following the document number for convenience (just as the > country code "US" is often printed immediately preceding the document > number), is not actually part of the patent number, any more than the > issue date is.
> -- Larry
That's hair splitting, especially as for certain countries, such as Japan, the same number with a different code is a different invention. Kind of you to say it's basically correct, as I've been in this business for 24 years, so I would hope it would be.
