Common Citation Document (CCD)

The Common Citation Document (CCD) application aims to provide single point access to up-to-date citation data relating to the patent applications of the IP5 Offices. It consolidates the prior art cited by all participating offices for the family members of a patent application, thus enabling the search results for the same invention produced by several offices to be visualised on a single page.

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Access the Common Citation Document

CCD download function - NEW!

The CCD now allows you to download the cited documents data for a single patent application and its simple family. Optionally, you can also download the cited document data for the members of the extended patent family. You can choose between CSV or Excel format for the download.

Some of the citation data (in Excel format) will have active hyperlinks to the EPO's Espacenet to view cited patent documents. The CSV format also allows users to import the data into their own patent management systems.

The creation of the CCD application is part of an ongoing process of technical harmonisation at the international level aimed at establishing an appropriate infrastructure to facilitate greater integration of the global patent system.