What are the best practices for citing Internet sources in patent office actions?

This page is an FAQ based on guidance from the Manual of Patent Examining Procedure. It is provided as guidance, with links to the ground truth sources. This is information only: it is not legal advice.

When citing Internet sources in patent office actions, examiners should follow best practices to ensure clarity and reproducibility. According to MPEP 904.02(c):

“The bibliographic information (author, title, date of publication, publisher, Internet address, etc.) for an Internet source should be provided in the same manner that bibliographic information is provided for publications in other media.”

Best practices include:

• Providing complete URLs for direct access to the cited information.
• Including the date when the Internet source was accessed or retrieved.
• Capturing a snapshot or printout of the web page if the content is likely to change.
• Using persistent identifiers like DOIs when available.
• Clearly indicating the relevant portions of the Internet source that apply to the application.

By following these practices, examiners ensure that applicants and other stakeholders can easily locate and review the cited Internet sources, maintaining transparency in the examination process.