Examples and Intellectual Property Offices Practices
Part 7 of the Handbook on Intellectual Property Information and Documentation
This part contains surveys which cover different stages of the life-cycle of IP documents. They focus on various aspects of processing and publication of patent, trademark and industrial design documentation by the intellectual property offices. They are a source of information on the practices implemented worldwide and the specific characteristics of IP documents.
Representation of calendar dates ↑
- Part 7.1: Representation of calendar dates - Variations in the representation of calendar dates based on the Gregorian calendar, as printed in industrial property documents or in official gazettes (January 2023)
Survey analysis [PDF] | Collated responses | Individual responses | Survey questionnaire [PDF]
Previous version (November 1997) [PDF]
Numbering systems ↑
- Part 7.2.2: Survey of numbering systems used, or intended to be used, by industrial property offices with regard to applications, published documents and registered rights (April 2021)
Previous version (June 2001) [PDF] - Part 7.2.3: Numbering systems and date formats introduced or planned to be applied with regard to the arrival of the year 2000 (January 2000) [PDF]
- Part 7.2.4: Survey on the presentation of priority application numbers (December 2018) [PDF] | Annex
- Part 7.2.5: Survey on application numbering systems (June 2013) - IPO responses | collated results
- Part 7.2.6: Numbering of applications and priority applications - current practices (December 2025)
- Part 7.2.7: Numbering of applications and priority applications - former practices (December 2025)
Examples and kinds of patent documents ↑
- Part 7.3.1: Examples and kinds of patent documents listed according to code (March 2020)
- Part 7.3.2: Inventory of kinds of patent documents listed according to the issuing industrial property office (November 2022)
Corrections, alterations and supplements relating to patent information ↑
- Part 7.4.1: Survey concerning correction procedures in patent offices (December 2009)
- Part 7.4.2: Examples concerning correction procedures of patent offices (December 2009)
Bibliographic information in patent gazettes ↑
Supplementary Protection Certificates (SPCs) ↑
- Part 7.7: Survey on the grant and publication of Supplemental Protection Certificates (SPCs) and Patent Term Extensions (PTEs) (November 2019)
Survey analysis | Collated responses | IPO responses | Survey questionnaire
Citation practices relating to patent information ↑
Codes used by intellectual property offices ↑
Optical Character Recognition (OCR) practices ↑
- Part 7.11: Survey on the implementation and promotion of WIPO Standard ST.22 (June 2012) - IPO responses | collated results
Use of WIPO Standards ↑
Mapping of national/regional IP legal status events to Standard events ↑
- Part 7.13.1: Mapping tables of national/regional patent legal status events to the events of WIPO Standard ST.27 (May 2026)
- Part 7.13.2: Mapping tables of national/regional industrial design legal status events to the events of WIPO Standard ST.87 (May 2026)
- Part 7.13.3: Mapping tables of national/regional trademark legal status events to the events of WIPO Standard ST.61 (May 2026)
Authority File of published patent documents provided by Offices ↑
Identifiers for Persons and Entities ↑
- Part 7.15: Survey on the use of identifiers for applicants (November 2019)
Survey analysis | Collated responses | IPO responses | Survey questionnaire
Practices for Visual Elements ↑
- Part 7.16: Survey on electronic visual representation of industrial designs (November 2019)
Survey analysis | Collated responses | IPO responses | Survey questionnaire - Part 7.17.1: Survey on the use of 3D models and 3D images in IP data and documentation (April 2021)
Survey analysis | Collated responses | IPO responses | Survey questionnaire - Part 7.17.2: Survey on the implementation of WIPO Standard ST.91 (October 2024)
Survey analysis | Collated responses | IPO responses | Survey questionnaire
Public Access to Patent Information ↑
- Part 7.18.1: Survey on public access to patent information, part 1 (April 2021)
Survey analysis | Collated responses | IPO responses | Survey questionnaire - Part 7.18.2: Survey on public access to patent information, part 2 (March 2022)
Survey analysis | Collated responses | IPO responses | Survey questionnaire
Practices for digital transformation↑
- Part 7.19.1: Survey on Office practices for digital transformation (November 2022)
Survey analysis [PDF] | Collated responses | Individual responses | Survey questionnaire [PDF] - Part 7.19.2: Survey regarding challenges experienced by Offices in digitizing IP documentation
Collated responses [PDF] | Individual responses | Survey questionnaire [PDF]