What are the meanings of the patent document symbols?

Patent document symbols are symbols used to refer to a particular aspect of a patent. These symbols can be found at the beginning of the patent document, and they help to identify related prior art and references. In the United States, patent documents are assigned a number based on their day of filing. The document number consists of six parts. The symbols for a patent document number include a letter combination, a number, dashes, and other symbols. The first two characters are letters used to identify the country in which the patent is filed. For example, “US” identifies a patent filed in the United States, and “EP” identifies a patent filed in Europe. The next four characters are a number that represents the year of filing, which is preceded by an “x” or “y” symbol. A “x” before the last four characters stands for the filing year, while a “y” stands for the issue year. The last four digits are a serial number assigned to the patent. These numbers are assigned sequentially to all patents filed during the year. In addition to the document number symbols, there are also symbols that indicate the kind of patent. These can be categorized in terms of types of invention, such as utility patents, design patents, and plant patents. For example, a utility patent is indicated by a “U” with a circle around it, while a plant patent is indicated by a “P” with a rectangle around it. Overall, patent document symbols are used to identify and classify patents based on different criteria. By interpreting these symbols, one can determine the type of patent, the country in which it was filed, and the year of filing or issuing.

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