Skip to main content
DownloadPatent

Patent document downloads

Which patent number formats are supported?

Use the country examples and the kind-code rules to make a mixed reference list easier to resolve.

Published Sep 16, 2026

Back to the guides

Article content

The number format matters because it tells DownloadPatent which office and document kind to look up. To check one number, enter it in the patent lookup: a recognized publication or grant number opens that patent's page.

Examples by office

  • China: `CN 104704658 A`, `CN 308690548 S`, and the illustrated application format `CN 202330520742.7`.
  • Japan: `JP 2017165727 A` or the supported local publication notation shown in the coverage guide.
  • Taiwan: `TW I606827`, `TW D237262`, and `TW 112306341` as an application example.
  • Korea: supported publication-number labels such as `10-2017-0012345` are accepted in the supported forms.
  • Europe: `EP 1234567 A1`.
  • United States: `US 2024/0039765 A1`.
  • WIPO: `WO 2019/029387 A1`.

Publication versus application numbers

Use a publication number when you have one. A supported application number is a starting point for finding a corresponding publication; it does not prove that the application was published or that a PDF is available. Not every local label, registration number, design notation or application format is supported.

If a row is not recognized, keep the country prefix, remove unrelated punctuation only when appropriate, and preserve the kind code. If the format remains unsupported, check the source reference manually rather than guessing a different document.

Find practical guidance for patent numbers, original PDFs, and downloading documents in batches.

Open Patent downloads