---
id: "pct_application_number"
kind: "datatype"
status: "draft"
is_pii: false
categories: ["legal"]
langs: ["common"]
quality: 75
url: "https://registry.apicrafter.io/datatype/pct_application_number"
---

# PCT international application number (`pct_application_number`)

> **Draft.** Draft records have not been reviewed yet and may be incomplete or wrong; do not treat them as authoritative for legal or compliance decisions.

Number that the receiving Office gives to an international patent application under the Patent Cooperation Treaty when it first receives it. Since 1 January 2004 it is PCT, a slash, the two-letter WIPO ST.3 code of the receiving Office (IB for the International Bureau), the four-digit year, a slash and a six-digit serial number. Older numbers have a two-digit year and a five-digit serial number. The regexp does not check that the two letters are an assigned ST.3 code.

- Personal data (PII): no
- Categories: Legal and compliance (legal)
- Countries: global
- Languages: Common to most languages (common)
- Classification: identifier

## Detection

Regular expression (Python `re`):

```
^PCT/[A-Z]{2}(?:(?:19|20)\d{2}/\d{6}|\d{2}/\d{5})$
```

## Examples

- `PCT/US2003/023187` — Application filed with the United States receiving Office in 2003
- `PCT/US95/03744` — Older form with a two-digit year, from the WIPO Handbook
- `PCT/IB2004/12345` (invalid example) — A four-digit year needs a six-digit serial number

## Sources

- doc: <https://www.wipo.int/pct/en/texts/ai/s307.html>
- doc: <https://www.wipo.int/documents/d/standards/docs-en-07-02-02.pdf>

## Quality

Score 75/100. Missing: mapping (Wikidata, Schema.org, ...), translation, detector coverage.

JSON: <https://registry.apicrafter.io/api/v1/datatypes/pct_application_number.json> · Edit: <https://github.com/apicrafter/metacrafter-registry/edit/main/data/datatypes/any/legal/pct_application_number.yaml>