Template:Cite patent

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This template is used on approximately 6,200 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, provides 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 = }}

Full parameter set in horizontal format
`{{cite patent \|country= \|number= \|inventor= \|invent1= \|invent2= \|status= \|title= \|pubdate= \|gdate= \|fdate= \|pridate= \|assign1= \|assign2= \|url=}}`

Full parameter set in vertical format

Vertical list

Prerequisites

Brief instructions / notes

{{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 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, Kozakai Toshihiko, "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

To cite US patent 7,143,445, use:

{{cite patent
 |country=US
 |number=7143445
 |status=patent}}

Results in: US patent 7143445

To cite US patent 7,143,445, published 2006-11-28, use:

{{cite patent
 |country=US
 |number=7143445
 |gdate=2006-11-28}}

Results in: US 7143445, issued 2006-11-28

To cite US patent application 2006265789 use:

{{cite patent
 |country=US
 |number=2006265789
 |status=application}}

Results in: US application 2006265789

To cite European patent application 1727416, use:

{{cite patent
 |country=EP
 |number=1727416
 |status=application}}

Results in: EP application 1727416

Maintenance categories

Category:Pages using cite patent with unknown parameters (11)

COinS

This template produces COinS metadata; see COinS in Wikipedia for background information.

TemplateData

This is the TemplateData for this template used by TemplateWizard, VisualEditor and other tools. See a monthly parameter usage report for Template:Cite patent in articles based on its TemplateData.

TemplateData for Cite patent

General patent template for citing patents or patent applications from any country is drawn from the espacenet database.

Template parameters[Edit template data]
Parameter		Description	Type	Status
Country code	`country` `country-code` `country`	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	`number` `publication-number` `patent-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	`status` `description` `status`	application or patent – if pending, use application; if granted, use patent Default patent Example patent	Line	suggested
Date of publication	`pubdate` `publication-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	`gdate` `issue-date`	the date of grant (issuance) of a patent; required if status/description is not "application" Example 2017-02-01	Unknown	suggested
Inventor 1 surname	`invent1` `inventor-surname` `inventor1-surname` `inventor-last` `inventor1-last` `inventor` `invent-1`	surname – 1st inventor Example Smith	Line	suggested
Inventor 2 surname	`invent2` `inventor2-surname` `inventor2-last` `inventor2`	surname – 2nd inventor	Line	optional
Inventor 3 surname	`invent3` `inventor3-surname` `inventor3-last` `inventor3`	surname – 3rd inventor	Line	optional
Inventor 4 surname	`invent4` `inventor4-surname` `inventor4-last` `inventor4`	surname – 4th inventor	Line	optional
Inventor 1 given name	`inventor1-first` `inventor-given` `inventor1-given` `inventor-first`	given name – 1st inventor	Line	suggested
Inventor 2 given name	`inventor2-first` `inventor2-given`	given name – 2nd inventor	Line	optional
Inventor 3 given name	`inventor3-first` `inventor3-given`	given name – 3rd inventor	Line	optional
Inventor 4 given name	`inventor4-first` `inventor4-given`	given name – 4th inventor	Line	optional
Inventor 1: Wikipedia article	`inventorlink` `inventorlink1`	Wikilink biographical article name, no square brackets	Page name	optional
Inventor 2: Wikipedia article	`inventorlink2`	add biographical article name, no square brackets	Page name	optional
Inventor 3: Wikipedia article	`inventorlink3`	add biographical article name, no square brackets	Page name	optional
Inventor 4: Wikipedia article	`inventorlink4`	add biographical article name, no square brackets	Page name	optional
Assignee, first	`assign1`	first assignee's name	Line	optional
Assignee, second	`assign2`	second assignee's name	Line	optional
URL	`url`	Explicit URL to patent information Default http://worldwide.espacenet.com/textdoc?DB=EPODOC&IDX={{{CountryCode}}}{{{PublicationNumber}}}	URL	optional