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

# PCT international publication number (WO) (`wo_publication_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 International Bureau of WIPO gives to a published international patent application under the Patent Cooperation Treaty. Since 2004 it is WO, the four-digit year of publication, a slash and a six-digit serial number, such as WO 2004/123456; data often uses a compact form with a kind code A1 to A4, A8 or A9. Older numbers have a two-digit year and a five- or six-digit serial number.

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

## Detection

Regular expression (Python `re`):

```
^WO ?(?:(?:19|20)\d{2}/?\d{6}|\d{2}/?\d{5,6})(?: ?A[1-489])?$
```

## Examples

- `WO 2004/012345` — Publication number in the format of PCT Administrative Instructions Section 404
- `WO2004012345A2` — The same publication in compact form with its kind code
- `WO 95/26134` — Older form with a two-digit year, from the WIPO Handbook
- `WO 2004/12345` (invalid example) — A four-digit year needs a six-digit serial number

## Sources

- doc: <https://www.wipo.int/pct/en/texts/ai/s404.html>
- doc: <https://www.wipo.int/en/web/patentscope/data/kind_codes>
- 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/wo_publication_number.json> · Edit: <https://github.com/apicrafter/metacrafter-registry/edit/main/data/datatypes/any/legal/wo_publication_number.yaml>