HowTo : Patent Family members

Dear Users,

This is THE question, but there are many answers...

Not all the IP experts have the same vision of what is a family:

- For INPADOC/OPS/MP9, a patent family (extended family) is a big cluster grouping all the patents sharing any priority link, (eg the father, the uncles, the children, the cousins, etc.)

- For ESP@CENET, a patent family (simple family) is a narrower cluster grouping all the patents sharing exactly the same priority links (eg. only the siblings or a "fratrie" in French or equivalents),

- For DERWENT, a patent family is less or more a simple family + some other patents not necessarily linked by priorities, but that the Derwent specialists consider as siblings (eg a patent applied after the priority time of 12 months).

This is the theory...
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Regards / Cordialement
Bruno Mannina
Technical Support / Support Technique