What is the DOCDB format?

Geändert am Mi, 21 Jan um 4:48 NACHMITTAGS

The DOCDB format is an internationally recognized standard for uniformly representing patent numbers, used in numerous national and international patent systems and databases. DOCDB is the master database of the European Patent Office (EPO) with worldwide coverage.

It consists of three mandatory elements:

Country code (e.g., DE, US, JP, EP, WO)
Document number without spaces or special characters
Kind Code/Publication type (e.g., A1, B1)

Kind Codes:
A/A1/A2 = Publication of application (specification)
B/B1 = Grant (patent specification)

Example:

Original: DE 10 2010 053 686 A1
DOCDB: DE102010053686A1

This format ensures that patent data can be uniquely identified, compared, and automatically processed worldwide.