This template is used on many pages and changes may be widely noticed. Test changes in the template's /sandbox or /testcases subpages, or in your own user subpage. Consider discussing changes on the talk page before implementing them.
This template identifies a patent or patent application and links to the patents entry in the espacenet database, and also provides some additional information about the cited patent. Suggested uses are within a pair of <ref></ref> tags or as part of a (patent) bibliography at the end of the article. This template should not be used in the body of an article; for more details, see the External Links guideline.
General patent template for citing patents or patent applications from any country is drawn from the espacenet database. This database is more useful than the USPTO database since it highlights related patents/applications in other countries as well as providing current status information and offers a multi-language interface (English/French/German).
Usage
Copy the text below into an article to reference a patent
Most commonly used parameters in vertical format
{{cite patent| country =| number =| inventor =| invent1 =| invent2 =| status =| title =| pubdate =| gdate =| fdate =| pridate =| assign1 =| assign2 =| url =}}
{{cite patent| country =| number =| inventor =| invent1 =| invent2 =| status =| title =| pubdate =| gdate =| fdate =| pridate =| assign1 =| assign2 =| url =}}
REQUIRED
if "status=application"
unless "status=application"
two letter country code
patent or patent application publication number
list of inventors (free format)
first inventor name
second inventor name
application/patent
title
publication date (YYYY-MM-DD)
granted date (YYYY-MM-DD)
filing date (YYYY-MM-DD)
(earliest) priority date (YYYY-MM-DD)
first assignee name
second assignee name
explicit URL (if not present on espacenet)
If a field name is listed in the Prerequisites column, it is a prerequisite for the field to the left.
Parameters
The fields should be filled in with the following information
{{cite patent| country =<!-- two letter country code -->| number =<!-- patent or patent application publication number -->| inventor =<!-- list of inventors (free format) -->| invent1 =<!-- first inventor name -->| invent2 =<!-- second inventor name -->| status =<!-- application/patent -->| title =<!-- title -->| pubdate =<!-- YYYY-MM-DD -->| gdate =<!-- YYYY-MM-DD -->| fdate =<!-- YYYY-MM-DD -->| pridate =<!-- YYYY-MM-DD -->| assign1 =<!-- first assignee name -->| assign2 =<!-- second assignee name -->| url =<!-- Explicit URL -->}}
Explanation of fields:
The country must be the two letter country code, e.g. "US" or "WO" (for international patent applications) See here for the full list of country codes.
Do not put commas in patent number
Applications must be identified by publication number
Add " | title = title " to display the title. Required
Add " | status = application " if the citation is a pending application. Preferably include " | status = patent " if a granted patent.
Add " | assign1 = assignee " to display the assignee. Increase the numeral for subsequent assignees. Template currently handles two assignees.
Add " | inventor = inventor list to provide the inventor names. Displayed by the template but not used to generate COinS meta data. If |inventor= is present but blank, no inventor names will be displayed, even if |invent1= contains a name.
Add " | invent1 = inventor last name, inventor first name " to provide the inventor name. Displayed by the template and also used to generate COinS meta data. Increase the numeral for subsequent inventors. Template currently handles four inventors.
Add " | pubdate = YYYY-MM-DD " to provide the publication date of an application. This is only displayed if "status=application" is included. For granted patents, use gdate. Required if "status=application".
Add " | gdate = YYYY-MM-DD " to provide the date of grant of a patent. Is displayed unless "status=application" is included. Preferentially include "status=patent" to confirm that the patent is granted, but this is not required. Required unless "status=application".
Add " | pridate = YYYY-MM-DD " to provide the (earliest) priority date. Not displayed, but could be useful to include for future reference. Including multiple priorities unnecessarily complicated.
Add " | fdate = YYYY-MM-DD " to provide the filing date. Not displayed, but used to generate COinS meta data and may prove useful in future.
Add " |url=url " to provide an explicit URL to the patent information. This is only necessary for patents that aren't present on espacenet.com; typically very old patents.
Details
The "country" parameter must be a two letter country code without periods (e.g. US or EP, not U.S., USA, or E.P.)
The number parameter must be the patent number or patent application publication number without any intervening commas or other punctuation (e.g. 2135432, not 2,135,432; likewise, 2005108455, not 2005/108455). You may need to experiment with the precise form for published US patent applications or PCT applications, which are slightly unusual. Help for getting the correct number format can be found here.
Add "|status=application" (without quotes) if you are citing a patent application rather than a patent. Patent applications must be referred to by publication number, not application number.
One (or both) of the publication date or the grant date must be included, as must the title.
Examples
To cite WIPO (aka PCT) patent application WO 2005/083605 A1, use:
{{cite patent| country = WO
| number = 2005083605
| status = application
| title = Insurance fee calculation device, insurance fee calculation program,
insurance fee calculation method, and insurance fee calculation system
| pubdate = 2005-09-09
| fdate = 2005-02-24
| pridate = 2004-02-26
| invent1 = Kozakai Toshihiko
| assign1 = Aioi Insurance Co Ltd
}}
Results in:
WO application 2005083605, ਫਰਮਾ:Cite patent/authors, "Insurance fee calculation device, insurance fee calculation program, insurance fee calculation method, and insurance fee calculation system", published 2005-09-09, assigned to Aioi Insurance Co Ltd
two letter country code (ISO 3166-1 alpha-2); the top 10 countries by patent application in 2011 were - JP=Japan, CN=China, US=United States, KR=South Korea, DE=Germany, FR=France, GB=United Kingdom, CH=Switzerland, NL=Netherlands, RU=Russia
Example
JP
String
suggested
Publication number
numberpublication-numberpatent-number
patent or patent application publication number ... do not include commas (e.g. 1,700,545 should be 1700545)
Line
suggested
Title
title
patent title
String
required
Status
statusdescriptionstatus
application or patent - If pending, use application. If granted, use patent
ਮੂਲ ਰੂਪ
patent
Example
patent
Line
suggested
Date of publication
pubdatepublication-date
the publication date of an application, required if status/description=application; use format YYYY-MM-DD
Example
2017-01-01
Line
suggested
Filing date
fdate
the filing date; this is not displayed, but is used to generate COinS meta data and may have future utility. Use YYYY-MM-DD
Example
2017-01-01
Date
optional
Priority date
pridate
the (earliest) priority date; this is not displayed, but could be useful to include for future reference. Including multiple priorities is unnecessarily complicated. Use YYYY-MM-DD
Example
2017-02-01
Unknown
optional
Date of issue
gdateissue-date
the date of grant (issuance) of a patent; required if status/description _is not_ "application"
