What are Kind Codes in patent documents and how are they used?

Kind Codes, also known as WIPO Standard ST.16 codes, are letters and numbers used to distinguish different types of patent documents and their publication levels. The MPEP states:

“WIPO Standard ST.16 codes (kind codes) include a letter, and in many cases a number, used to distinguish the kind of patent document (e.g., publication of an application for a utility patent (patent application publication), utility patent, plant patent application publication, plant patent, or design patent) and the level of publication (e.g., first publication, second publication, or corrected publication).”

Kind Codes are important because they:

• Identify the type of patent document (e.g., utility patent, design patent)
• Indicate the publication level (e.g., first publication, corrected publication)
• Help in standardizing patent document identification across different patent offices

For example, “US 7,654,321 B1” indicates a U.S. Patent with no previously published patent application, while “US 2003/1234567 A1” represents a U.S. Patent Application Publication from 2003.

To learn more:

• Kind Codes
• WIPO Standard ST.16
• patent document types
• patent publication levels