In an office order issued some time back, our patent office streamlined the numbering of patent applications and request for examinations. This numbering system came into effect from 1st January 2016. The new numbering system is in line with global best practices.
This new numbering system provides for patent applications having a 12 character numeric fixed length standard and applicable to all patent offices. The 12 character numeric length also includes Year of Filing, jurisdiction, type of application, and application number.
The format for patent applications is explained as follows: YYYYJTNNNNNN
| Y | Y | Y | Y | J | T | N | N | N | N | N | N |
| 2 | 0 | X | X | 1/4 | 1/9 | X | X | X | X | X | X |
Jurisdiction: Delhi — 1 | Mumbai — 2 | Kolkata — 3 | Chennai — 4 |
TYPE:
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 |
| Ordinary | Ordinary-Divisional | Ordinary-Patent of Addition | Convention | Convention-Divisional | Convention-Patent of Addition | PCT NP | PCT NP Divisional | PCT NP Patent of Addition |
N: Signifies a six digit fixed length running serial number.
Each application will have a date of filing and will be in the format: YYYY/MM/DD where Y is Year, M is month and D is Day.
For example: A first ordinary application filed in Delhi would be 201611000001, etc.
Request for Examination: u/r 24B (1) (i) – Normal
Format: RYYYYJNNNNNN
| R | Y | Y | Y | Y | J | N | N | N | N | N | N |
| 24(1)(i) | 2 | 0 | X | X | 1/4 | X | X | X | X | X | X |
R signifies a request under Section 24(1)(i) – i.e. a normal request
YYYY denotes year of filing
J: Jurisdiction of patent application filed.
NNNNNN denotes the application number.
Request for Examination: u/r 20 (4) (ii) – Express
Format: XYYYYJNNNNNN
| X | Y | Y | Y | Y | J | N | N | N | N | N | N |
| 20(4)(ii) | 2 | 0 | X | X | 1/4 | X | X | X | X | X | X |
X signifies a request under Section 20(4)(ii) – i.e. an Express request
YYYY denotes year of filing
J: Jurisdiction of patent application filed.
NNNNNN denotes the application number.
As with applications, Request for Examinations will also have a date of filing and will be in the format: YYYY/MM/DD where Y is Year, M is month and D is Day.
In one of my initial posts on Spicyip, I had suggested a similar numbering scheme for patent applications. I am sure that this will standardize the process and make the retrieval etc. much easier.