British patent numbers (under the Patents Act 1977) 1979 to present day

The Patent Act 1977 came into force on 1 January 1978; all patent applications filed under the act are published as applications, 18 months from their priority date. The numbers under which these patent applications are published form a new series of 7-digit numbers beginning with GB2000001 (published on 4 January 1979). You will find a table showing the earliest number published each year below:

Earliest patent number published each year under the Patent Act 1977

For British patent numbers of 7-digit format beginning GB1------, see "British Patent Numbers 1916 - 1981".