Global Patent Lineage

Introduction

Innovation is global. Most patents extend beyond a single filing, forming families that span jurisdictions and evolve over time. Understanding these patent families helps organizations manage compliance, assess ownership risk, and conduct accurate due diligence across borders and supply chains.

CycloneDX models patents and patent families, developed in collaboration with the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) and aligned with ST.96 for consistency across international patent systems. Every patent family in CycloneDX can reference authoritative patent office data, allowing seamless navigation between concise BOM summaries and detailed global records.

CycloneDX recognizes that patents may apply not only to components but also to services and formulation processes, or even to individual steps within those processes.

Highlighted fields

PropertyUsage Description
patentNumberThe unique number assigned to the granted patent by the issuing authority.
applicationNumberThe unique number assigned to a patent application when it is filed with a patent office. It is used to identify the specific application and track its progress through the examination process.
jurisdictionThe jurisdiction or patent office where the priority application was filed, specified using WIPO ST.3 codes.
patentLegalStatusIndicates the current legal status of the patent or patent application, based on the WIPO ST.27 standard.
patentAssigneeA collection of organisations or individuals to whom the patent rights are assigned. This supports joint ownership and allows for flexible representation of both corporate entities and individual inventors.
priorityApplicationThe priorityApplication contains the essential data necessary to identify and reference an earlier patent filing for priority rights. In line with WIPO ST.96 guidelines, it includes the jurisdiction (office code), application number, and filing date-the three key elements that uniquely specify the priority application in a global patent context.
externalReferencesAn external reference to the authoritative patent information.
membersA collection of patents or applications that belong to this family, each identified by a `bom-ref` pointing to a patent object defined elsewhere in the BOM.
This example defines two related patents for an Efficient Data Processing Algorithm filed in the US and EU. Each includes key metadata, legal status, and external references, enabling global traceability and alignment with WIPO ST.96 for verification through official patent offices. The patents array supports two types of objects: patents and patent families. The first two objects are patents while the third object is a patent family, containing the patents that are members of the family.

Examples

{
  "$schema": "http://cyclonedx.org/schema/bom-1.7.schema.json",
  "bomFormat": "CycloneDX",
  "specVersion": "1.7",
  "serialNumber": "urn:uuid:123e4567-e89b-12d3-a456-426614174000",
  "version": 1,
  "definitions": {
    "patents": [
      {
        "bom-ref": "patent-1",
        "patentNumber": "US1234567890",
        "applicationNumber": "12345",
        "jurisdiction": "US",
        "publicationNumber": "US-12345",
        "title": "Efficient Data Processing Algorithm",
        "abstract": "A novel system and method for improving data processing efficiency.",
        "filingDate": "2021-01-15",
        "grantDate": "2022-06-01",
        "patentExpirationDate": "2042-01-15",
        "patentLegalStatus": "in-force",
        "patentAssignee": [
          {
            "name": "Tech Innovators Inc.",
            "url": [ "https://techinnovators.com" ]
          }
        ],
        "externalReferences": [
          {
            "type": "patent",
            "url": "https://uspto.gov/patent/US12345678B1",
            "comment": "Official USPTO page for the patent."
          }
        ]
      },
      {
        "bom-ref": "patent-2",
        "patentNumber": "EU1234567890",
        "applicationNumber": "12345",
        "jurisdiction": "EU",
        "priorityApplication": {
          "applicationNumber": "US1234567890",
          "jurisdiction": "US",
          "filingDate": "2021-01-15"
        },
        "publicationNumber": "EU-12345",
        "title": "Efficient Data Processing Algorithm",
        "abstract": "A novel system and method for improving data processing efficiency.",
        "filingDate": "2021-01-15",
        "grantDate": "2022-06-01",
        "patentExpirationDate": "2042-01-15",
        "patentLegalStatus": "in-force",
        "patentAssignee": [
          {
            "name": "Tech Innovators Inc.",
            "url": [ "https://techinnovators.com" ]
          }
        ]
      },
      {
        "bom-ref": "patent-family-1",
        "familyId": "PF-2023001",
        "priorityApplication": {
          "applicationNumber": "12345",
          "jurisdiction": "US",
          "filingDate": "2021-01-15"
        },
        "members": ["patent-1", "patent-2"],
        "externalReferences": [
          {
            "type": "patent-family",
            "url": "https://uspto.gov/patent-family-5678",
            "comment": "Official record of the patent family."
          }
        ]
      }
    ]
  }
}

Authoritative Guide