Free Tool · Citation Generator
How to cite a patent
Enter a U.S. patent number and get a correct citation in APA 7, MLA 9, Chicago, IEEE, or BibTeX — formatted to each style guide's patent rules.
Reference
How each style cites a patent
- APA 7
- Inventor, A. A. (Year). Title (U.S. Patent No. X,XXX,XXX). U.S. Patent and Trademark Office. URL
- MLA 9
- Inventor, First, et al. Title. US Patent X,XXX,XXX. Day Mon. Year.
- Chicago
- Inventor Name et al. Title. US Patent X,XXX,XXX, issued Month Day, Year.
- IEEE
- A. Inventor et al., “Title,” U.S. Patent X XXX XXX, Mon. Day, Year.
- BibTeX
- @patent{key, author={…}, title={…}, number={…}, year={…}, month={…}, url={…}}
FAQ
Frequently asked questions
How do you cite a patent?
Cite a patent by its inventorinventorThe person who actually conceived the invention. Listed on the patent regardless of who owns it.Read more →(s), title, patent number, and issue date, formatted to the style you need — Bluebook for legal writing, IEEE for engineering, or APA, MLA, and Chicago for academic work. This tool generates each format from a patent number.
What is the Bluebook format for a patent?
Bluebook cites a US patent roughly as: inventorinventorThe person who actually conceived the invention. Listed on the patent regardless of who owns it.Read more → name, U.S. Patent No. followed by the number, and the issue date in parentheses. The exact punctuation matters in legal writing, which is why the generator formats it for you.
Keep going · Related guides