United States
(published on or after 2 Jan 2001)
Exemplary publ. no.
Code meaning
US 2003/0157684 A1
first publication of application
US 2004/0038291 A2
second or subsequent publication of application, requested by applicant
US 2004/0185440 A9
correction of error(s) in previous publication (either A1 or A2); error(s) made by USPTO
US 6,207,883 B1
patent which was not published as a patent application
US 6,791,013 B2
patent which was prior published as a patent application (US 2002/0068359 A1)
US 6,197,585 C1
re-examined patent; claims may be unchanged, amended or canceled; appear to only be published in Official Gazette (OG)
re-exams are requested by applicant or third party
US RE038,571 E1
re-issued patent; claims may be broadened or narrowed; re-issuances are requested by applicant
US 2004/0177423 P1
first publication of plant patent application
US PP15,114 P2
plant patent which was not published as a patent application
US PPnn,nnn P3
plant patent which was published as a patent application
(published prior to 2 Jan 2001)
Assigned code^
Code meaning
“A”
patent
“B”
re-examined patent
“E”
re-issued patent
“P”
plant patent
^ kind codes did not appear on the face of patents
Europe
Europe follows WIPO standard ST.50 for corrections.
Exemplary publ no.
Code meaning
A1
patent application published with the search report
A2
patent application published without the search report
A3
search report published with the front page (bibliometric data) of the application
A8
correction of front page data of A1 or A2; only front page re-published
A9
correction of application; complete reprint of document A1 or A2 or A3
B1
granted patent
B2
amended specification (e.g., claims) of granted patent
B8
correction of front page data of B1 or B2; only front page published
B9
correction of application;
Wn*
indicates that the correction affects all types of media and products (electronic, paper, etc); a supplementary code used in combination with the original code (e.g., W1A1); number “n” indicates the number of corrections (e.g., 1 is first correction; 2 is second correction)
*The “W” codes are printed on the front page of the document. As they are confusing, hypothetical examples follow:
The following events occur in the order listed.
A patent application is published as EP 999999 A1
An error is discovered in the front page data.
The front page is republished in paper and on CD as an A8 type of publication and the front page shows EP 999999 A8; in the field (15) Corrected information, the code W1A1 is shown.
Errors are discovered in the claims.
The entire specification is republished in paper and on CD as an A9 type and front page shows EP 999999 A9; in the field (15) Corrected information, the code W2A1 is shown.
WIPO (encompasses PCT applications)
An application filed at WIPO (World Intellectual Property Organisation) is published 18 months after the earliest related patent application is filed in the home country.
A Patent Examiner at the WIPO receiving office performs a prior art search and sends a search report to the applicant. The search report is also published, either as an attachment to the patent application document or separately – depending on whether or not the search report is ready at the time of publication of the application.
Exemplary publ no.
Code meaning
WO 1999/001560 A1
patent application published with the search report
WO 2001/073119 A2
patent application published without the search report
WO 2001/073119 A3
search report published with the front page (bibliometric data) of the application
Republications
If an application is re-published to make corrections or amendments on the first page, in the body of application, or in the claims, the kind codes (A1, A2, A3) are appended with further designators.
Note that in the PCT Gazette (www.wipo.int/ipdl/en) publication of an A3 document is considered to be a republication and is marked as such in the results list.
A corrected application will have the mark CORRECTED VERSION at the top of the first page of the publication. It will also note on the front page where information can be found about the corrections. See for example, WO 2001/073119.
Kind Code
pre-June 2001
Code meaning
A1L
an A1 application, republished with modified+ claims compared to the A1
A1M
an A1 application, republished with modified first page or text
A2L
an A2 application, republished with modified claims compared to the A2
A2M
an A2 application, republished with modified first page or text
A3M
an A3 search report, republished with modified front page
+modified can mean that there are either amendments or corrections or both
After June 2001, the designators A1, A2, A3 are retained and an “R” code (from R1-R9) is appended. For example – A1 R1; A2 R6; etc)
These designators can be found in the Cambia IP Resource database output, but are not seen on the front page of the printed publication.
Additional Kind Code
post-June 2001
Code meaning
R1
Amended claims
R2
Additional search report
R3
Revised search report
R4
Late published search report
R5
R6
Correction of text (e.g., corrected drawings)
R7
R8
R9
Revised search report translation
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