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Search for patents with our full-text search engine. Just enter a search term into
the box below and a list of the matching patents will be displayed.
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Help: Specifying EPO Patent Kind Codes
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European (EPO) patents are typically re-published at different stages of the
patenting procedure. Hence, there can be multiple publications associated
with a given patent. Publications of the same patent are differentiated
by a kind code, which consists of a letter (typically A or B) followed
by a number. A kind codes (e.g., A1, A2) are used for patent
applications; B kind codes (e.g., B1, B2) are used for issued
patents.
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Default Kind
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In the absence of a kind code suffix, GetthePatent.com will return the most recent version of the patent that
is available. That is, if the patent has issued, the latest B version of the patent is
returned. Alternatively, if the patent has not issued, the A1 or A2 version
of the patent is returned.
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Explicit Kind Code Selection
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You can explicitly specify a particular version of the patent publication, by
appending the kind code to the end of the patent number (e.g., EP534321A2). When
you explicitly specify the kind code suffix, our server will retrieve only that
particular variant of the patent publication. (If the specified kind code is not available, a
hyperlinked list of available kind codes will be displayed.)
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An Example
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Consider patent EP 534 321. The patent has issued, so if you do not specify
a particular kind code (e.g., EP534321), the B1 version
of the patent is returned.
Because the application for this patent was filed without a search report,
the patent application was published with the kind code A2.
Hence, to retrieve the patent application, you would use the number EP534321A2.
The search report for the patent has the kind code A3. To retrieve the
search report, you would use the number EP534321A3.
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Please note that for billing purposes, each distinct kind code is considered a unique patent image document. That is, if you
retrieve both EP534321A2 and EP534321, you will be billed for two unique patent image documents.
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