British patent numbers 1916 - 1981

Since the start of 1916 published patent specifications (for patent applications filed before 1 July 1978*) have been numbered in a series starting at 100001 in January 1916, separate from patent application numbers. Although the majority of patent applications filed before 1 July 1978 had been granted and published by the early 1980s, a small number continue to be published today. The present serial number is somewhat over 1605000; there are no British patent numbers between 1610000 and 2000000.

*Patent applications filed after 1 July 1978 are published with seven figure serial numbers beginning with "2".

Note: After 1916 generally only granted patents were published; those not granted were never published and no information on them is now available. However following the introduction of the Patents & Designs Act 1907 (Section 91(4)), patent applications originating abroad and which claimed priority were laid open for public inspection after 12 months (later, 18 months), if not granted by then; many of the patent applications laid open were also printed and given numbers in the six-figure series - these are available. The practice of printing these foreign applications ceased during World War II, and was abolished under the Patents Act 1949.

If you write to the UK-Intellectual Property Office in connection with any British patent number, please precede the number with the letters "GB" to make it clear that a British patent is being referred to - similar serial numbers appear on the patents of many countries.

The following table shows the lowest patent number for specifications published in each calendar year.

The first column contains a list of the years 1916 to 1937. The second column contains a list of the earliest patent numbers published during those years. A list of the years 1938 to 1959 are in the third column and a list of the earliest patent numbers published during these years in the fourth column. A list of the years 1960 to 1981 are in the fifth column and a list of the earliest patent numbers published during these years in the sixth column.
Year Patent No Year Patent No Year Patent No
1916 GB100001 1938 GB477016 1960 GB829181
1917 GB102812 1939 GB497409 1961 GB861801
1918 GB112131 1940 GB512178 1962 GB889571
1919 GB121611 1941 GB530617 1963 GB918311
1920 GB136852 1942 GB542024 1964 GB949031
1921 GB155801 1943 GB550067 1965 GB982551
1922 GB173241 1944 GB558091 1966 GB1015491
1923 GB190732 1945 GB566191 1967 GB1058501
1924 GB208751 1946 GB574006 1968 GB1102801
1925 GB226571 1947 GB583360 1969 GB1142501
1926 GB244801 1948 GB595746 1970 GB1180651
1927 GB263501 1949 GB614704 1971 GB1222451
1928 GB282701 1950 GB633754 1972 GB1263601
1929 GB302941 1951 GB650021 1973 GB1306401
1930 GB323171 1952 GB667061 1974 GB1346401
1931 GB340201 1953 GB687841 1975 GB1384031
1932 GB363615 1954 GB704741 1976 GB1424101
1933 GB385258 1955 GB724991 1977 GB1464401
1934 GB407311 1956 GB745421 1978 GB1500801
1935 GB421246 1957 GB768941 1979 GB1540351
1936 GB439856 1958 GB791071 1980 GB1560781
1937 GB458491 1959 GB809321 1981 GB1584611