The bibliographic data on the front page of a patent document is identified by the use of INID codes in parentheses, brackets or circles. INID codes are defined under WIPO Standard ST.9. Below is a list of codes that correspond to data on the U.S. patent at right.
| Code | Description |
| 10 | Document number: The prefix US indicates that this is a U.S. patent. The B2 code indicates that this patent has a previously published application. |
| 12 | Document type (Patent) |
| 21 | Application number |
| 22 | Date of application |
| 45 | Date of patent |
| 51 | IPC classification |
| 52 | National classification: The main classification, H04M 1/0235, is the code for slidable or telescoping telephones. |
| 54 | Title of the invention: Limited to 500 characters or less. |
| 56 | References: U.S. and foreign patent documents and other publications cited as related prior art by the inventor and patent examiner. |
| 57 | Abstract: A brief, non-technical description of the invention. |
| 58 | Field of search: Classifications consulted by the patent examiner during the prior art search. |
| 60 | Number and date of provisional application |
| 63 | Number and date of the continuation application |
| 65 | Number and date of previously published application |
| 71 | Applicant: The person, company or organization that filed the application. |
| 72 | Inventors |
| 73 | Assignee: Owner at the time the patent issued. The assignee can be a person, company or organization. |
| 74 | Patent attorney, agent or firm: Patent professional hired by the inventor to prosecute the application. |
Other Data
Primary examiner: the name of the patent office employee who examined the application.
(*) Term adjustment: Additional days added to the term of the patent to make up for processing delays. The term of the patent at the right has been adjusted by 11 days.
U.S. published applications have a similar format. The USPTO publishes unexamined applications 18 months after the earliest filing date. Prior to 2001, applications were kept secret until a patent issued.
The drawings section contains one or more pages of black and white drawings that illustrate the technical details of the invention. Drawings are not required for some types of inventions. For example, inventions related to a process or method of doing something do not require drawings.
Photographs are permited only when the invention is not capable of being illustrated by a black and white drawing or where the invention is shown more clearly in a photograph. Examples include cell cultures, histological tissue cross sections, animals, plants and crystalline structures. U.S. plant patents almost always have colour photographs.
Drawings must conform to drafting guidelines set by the patent office. They must be labeled clearly and provide enough detail for the reader to understand the invention’s design and use. In the case of U.S. patents, drawings follow the front page. The patent office selects one representative drawing to appear on the front page of the patent.
Specification
The specification is a written description of the invention. It includes a discussion of the related prior art (previously issued patents and other publications), a description of the drawings, how the invention solves a specific technical problem, and the preferred embodiment of the invention. The specification must describe the invention in sufficient detail so that anyone of ordinary skill in the same technical field can understand it.
Claims
Paragraphs located at end of the specification that define the scope of protection of a patent. The phrases “I claim” or “What is claimed” precedes the numbered claims. Patents must have at least one claim, but most usually have several and some hundreds of claims. The claims define the legal boundaries of the invention in the way a property deed defines the physical boundaries of an area of land.
The first claim in the patent above reads,
1. A portable electronic device, comprising:
a first housing;
a second housing coupled to the first housing and movable relative thereto between a closed position and an open position;
an antenna positioned in the first housing;
a low frequency shield coupled to the antenna and adapted to inhibit changes to the frequency response of the antenna when the portable electronic device is moved between the open position and the closed position; and
a high frequency chassis resonator coupled to the low frequency shield and adapted to increase high frequency sensitivity of the antenna
