How are dates formatted in foreign patent publications?
Foreign patent publications often use different date formats compared to Western standards. According to MPEP 901.05(a):
“Foreign patent publications that use Arabic and Roman numerals in lieu of names to indicate the date show in order the day, month, and year, or alternatively, the year, month, and day. Roman numerals always refer to the month.”
This means that dates in foreign patent publications may appear in formats like DD.MM.YYYY or YYYY.MM.DD, with Roman numerals used to represent months.
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