Patent Citation Generator
Cite a granted patent or a published application. Enter the inventor, the patent's title, its number, the issue date and the patent office, and get the reference in APA 7, MLA 9, Chicago 18 and 10,834 other styles. Free, no sign-up.
How to Use the Patent Citation Generator
- 1. Enter the inventor and the title. Name the first inventor, as the patent lists them, and type the title as printed on the patent's front page.
- 2. Put the patent number in Format / medium. Write it as it appears, such as U.S. Patent No. 6,285,999. The form has no separate number box.
- 3. Add the issue date and the patent office. Use the date the patent was granted, not the filing date, and type the office in Publisher / Site, for example U.S. Patent and Trademark Office.
- 4. Paste the URL. Google Patents and the USPTO both give a stable address for the document.
- 5. Choose a style and copy. Pick APA, MLA, Chicago or any of the 10,834 styles, then trim the duplicated number described below.
What a Patent Citation Contains
A patent is a legal document with an inventor, a number, an issuing office and two dates: when it was filed and when it was granted. The styles agree on the inventor and the number and differ over the dates.
| Element | APA 7 | MLA 9 | Chicago 18 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Author | Inventor, initials | Owner or inventor, full name | Inventor, full name |
| Title | Italic, sentence case | Plain type, as the patent prints it | Italic or plain, headline case |
| Number | In parentheses after the title: (U.S. Patent No. 1,234,567) | After the title, as the office writes it: US 6,285,999 B1 | After the title: US Patent 6,285,999 |
| Dates | Year of issue | Day, month, year of issue | Filed … and issued …, both in full |
APA 7 names the inventor as the author, gives the year the patent was issued, and puts the title in italics, then the number in parentheses and the patent office as the source. MLA 9, following the MLA Style Center's guidance for patents, treats the owner as the author, the number after the title, and the issuing agency as the publisher, with a second container for the database where you found it online. Chicago cites a patent in a note with the inventor's name, the title, the number, and both dates, in the form filed … and issued …. Patents are usually cited in notes only, so check whether your instructor also wants a bibliography entry.
Patent Citation Examples
US Patent 6,285,999, which Lawrence Page filed on January 9, 1998 and was granted on September 4, 2001.
U.S. Patent 6,285,999
APA 7:
Page, L. (2001). Method for node ranking in a linked database (U.S. Patent No. 6,285,999). U.S. Patent and Trademark Office. https://patents.google.com/patent/US6285999
APA in-text:
(Page, 2001)
MLA 9:
Page, Lawrence. Method for Node Ranking in a Linked Database. US 6,285,999 B1, United States Patent and Trademark Office, 4 Sept. 2001.
MLA in-text:
(Page)
Chicago 18 note:
Lawrence Page, Method for Node Ranking in a Linked Database, US Patent 6,285,999, filed January 9, 1998, and issued September 4, 2001.
Chicago 18 bibliography:
Page, Lawrence. Method for Node Ranking in a Linked Database. US Patent 6,285,999, filed January 9, 1998, and issued September 4, 2001.
What the Generator Gives You
Enter the Page details with U.S. Patent No. 6,285,999 in the format box, and the generator returns the right pieces in APA but prints the number twice: once in parentheses after the title and again in square brackets. Delete the bracket. Chicago repeats it as well, and prints only the issue date, so add the filing date by hand. MLA 9 abbreviates September as Sept., while the generator prints Sep.; correct that when you paste. If you leave the format box empty, the entry loses the patent number altogether.
Frequently Asked Questions
- How do I cite a patent in APA 7?
- Give the inventor, the year of issue, the title in italics, the number in parentheses and the patent office: Page, L. (2001). Method for node ranking in a linked database (U.S. Patent No. 6,285,999). U.S. Patent and Trademark Office. https://patents.google.com/patent/US6285999. In text: (Page, 2001).
- How do I cite a patent in MLA 9?
- Treat the owner as the author, give the title, the patent number, the issuing office and the date of issue: Page, Lawrence. Method for Node Ranking in a Linked Database. US 6,285,999 B1, United States Patent and Trademark Office, 4 Sept. 2001. If you found it online, add the database or site in italics and the URL as a second container.
- How do I cite a patent in Chicago style?
- Cite it in a note by inventor, title, patent number, and both dates: Lawrence Page, Method for Node Ranking in a Linked Database, US Patent 6,285,999, filed January 9, 1998, and issued September 4, 2001. Chicago usually lets patents live in the notes; add a bibliography entry only if your instructor asks.
- Which date do I use, the filing date or the issue date?
- APA and MLA use the date the patent was issued. Chicago gives both: the filing date and then the issue date. For a published application that has not yet been granted, cite the publication date and the application number instead.
- Who is the author of a patent?
- The inventor named on the front page. If there are several, list them in the order the patent does. The company that owns the patent is the assignee; name it as the author only for an APA group author when no inventor is listed.
- How do I cite a patent from Google Patents?
- Cite the patent itself, not Google. Use the inventor, title, number and issuing office, then paste the patent's Google Patents URL. MLA adds the website as a second container; APA and Chicago only need the URL.
- Which citation styles does the patent generator support?
- All 10,834 styles in the library, including APA 7, MLA 9 and Chicago 18. The source type is preset to Patent.
Related Tools
How to cite a Patent in each style
Format rules, templates, and worked examples for the styles most often required.