Standard ST.10

It has been recognized that, with an increasing international exchange of published patent documents, there is a need to adopt some uniform procedures relating to the format and physical characteristics of patent documents, as well as to the layout and presentation of bibliographic data components. This need may be summarized as a desire amongst industrial property offices that issue patent documents to achieve the following, namely:

(a) to increase the informative value of patent documents;

(b) to facilitate the use of patent documents;

(c) to facilitate the use of modern techniques in the production, storage and distribution of such documents, e.g., using electronic data processing.

For the purposes of this series of Standards (ST.10/A to ST.10/D), the following definitions are given:

(a) the term “patent documents” includes patents for inventions, plant patents, design patents, inventors’ certificates, utility certificates, utility models, patents of addition, inventors’ certificates of addition, utility certificates of addition, and published applications therefor. “Documents” means patent documents, unless otherwise stated;

(b) the term “composed documents” means patent documents in which the text, for publication purposes, is mechanically, optically or electronically set to produce a desired layout and presentation;

(c) the term “non‑composed documents” means patent documents in which, for publication purposes, the layout and presentation of the text is determined by the documents as filed by the applicant. For publication purposes, the first page of a “non‑composed document” can be identical to that of a “composed document”;

(d) the term “layout” means the arrangement of the textual elements, irrespective of their graphic appearance;

(e) the term “presentation” means the graphic appearance of textual elements, irrespective of their position;

(f) the term “margins” means an area adjacent to the edge of a page, left completely blank and limited by the first printed matter—other than line numbering or a repetition of the document identification (e.g., identification of the issuing office or organization, document number, kind of document code, bar code).

References to the following Standards are of relevance to this series of Standards:

• WIPO Standard ST.2:
  Standard Manner for Designating Calendar Dates by Using the Gregorian Calendar;

• WIPO Standard ST.3:
  Recommended Standard on Two‑Letter Codes for the Representation of States, Other Entities and Intergovernmental Organizations;

• WIPO Standard ST.6:
  Recommendation for the Numbering of Published Patent Documents;

• WIPO Standard ST.9:
  Recommendation Concerning Bibliographic Data on and Relating to Patents and SPCs;

• WIPO Standard ST.13:
  Recommendation for the Numbering of Applications for Industrial Property Rights (IPRs);

• WIPO Standard ST.16:
  Recommended Standard Code for the Identification of Different Kinds of Patent Documents;

• WIPO Standard ST.18:
  Recommendation Concerning Patent Gazettes and Other Patent Announcement Journals.