2024年1月1日发(作者：)

Engineering & Science Library

Anatomy of a U.S. Patent Document

Source: Country that issued the patent.

INID codes

Title of the invention

Inventor

Assignee/Owner

Application

number and date

Prior publication data:

Number and date of

previously published

application.

Related U.S. application

data: Number and date of

prior application(s)

related to this patent.

International Patent

Classification

U.S. Patent Classification:

USPC codes represent the

subject matter of the

invention. 36/3A is the

code for shoe and boot

ventilated uppers.

Field of search: USPC codes

consulted by the patent

examiner during the prior art

search.

Drawing: Representative

drawing selected from the

drawing sheets.

The USPTO publishes

unexamined applications

18 months after the earliest

filing date. Prior to 2001,

applications were kept

secret until a patent issued.

References: U.S. and

foreign patent documents

and other publications

cited as related prior art

by the inventor and

patent examiner.

Patent examiner: Official

who examined the

application.

Patent attorney: Legal

counsel hired by the

inventor to prosecute the

application.

Abstract: Simple,

non-technical

description of the

invention.

Term adjustment:

Additional days

added to the term

of the patent to

make up for

processing delays.

Selected INID Codes

10 Patent number

12 Document type

21 Application number

22 Date of application

45 Date of patent

51 IPC classification

52 National classification

54 Title of the invention

56 References

57 Abstract

58 Field of search

60 Related application data

65 Published application data

72 Inventor(s)

73 Assignee (owner)

74 Attorney or agent

Document number: The prefix US indicates that this is a U.S. patent. The

B2 code indicates that this patent has a previously published application.

Date of Issue

Front page: the first page of a patent

document containing bibliographic data.

INID codes: Patent offices use INID codes to identify

bibliographic data on the front page of patent documents.

(See sidebar.) These two-digit codes, which may be enclosed

in parentheses, brackets or circles, came into general use in

the 1970s. INID is an acronym for Internationally agreed

Numbers for the Identification of (bibliographic) Data.

Document number and date printed at the top of

every sheet.

Drawing sheets: Located after the front page. Drawings

are common in patents for electrical and mechanical

devices as well as articles of manufacture; chemical and

biotechnology patents may or may not include drawings.

The patent office selects one representative drawing to

appear on the front page of the patent.

Drawings must confirm to drafting guidelines set by the

patent office. They must be labeled clearly and provide

enough detail for the reader to understand the invention’s

design and use.

Types of U.S. patents:

1. Utility patent - protects new and useful: